West Liberty, W.Va. – The 2023 regular season will come to a close on Wednesday night as the West Liberty University women's soccer team will travel down Route 88 to face Ohio County foe Wheeling. The Hilltoppers and Cardinals are set for a 4 p.m. kickoff at Bishop Schmitt Field.

GAME DETAILS

• Location: Wheeling, W.Va. (Bishop Schmitt Field)
• Kickoff: 4 P.M.

WEST LIBERTY STORYLINES

• West Liberty enters Wednesday's match with a record of 6-7-4 (4-6-3 MEC) on the season following a 2-2 draw with MEC North Division Champion, (RV) Frostburg State on Sunday afternoon.
• The Hilltoppers enter the final match of the regular season in fourth place in the MEC North Division standings, and are only one point behind Fairmont State, who plays at Frostburg State, for third place entering the conference tournament.
• Last week's win over Salem helped West Liberty match the program record for wins in a season, as the Hilltoppers previously recorded six wins on five occasions in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2021.
• Compston leads the team and is tied for seventh in the MEC with nine goals this season while Kost has added seven on the year. Kost is also tied for second in the conference with four game-winning goals on the year. Kost is the only player in WLU history to record multiple multi-goal games in a single season, with two against Salem and West Virginia State.
• Eight other Hilltoppers have found the back of the net in 2023, with Mia Zecca (4), Asia Espiritu (4), Isabella Aperfine (3), Katie Farley (3), Maya Taggart (3), and Ellie Cunningham (2) each scoring multiple goals.
• Compston has recorded a team-best five assists, which is tied for fifth most in the conference, and is one of 12 players to record an assist for the Black & Gold this season. Aperfine is second on the team with three while Farley, Taggart, Zecca, and Rileigh Gualtiere have each collected a pair of assists.
• Overall, Compston is responsible for a team-high of 23 points (9 goals, 5 assists) which is tied for sixth best in the league, and Kost has added 15 points (7 goals, 1 assist).
• Over the course of the past week Compston became the school's new single-season record holder in three stat categories, breaking the points record against Salem (23), and then the goals (9) and assists (5) records against Frostburg State.
• Zara Wickert has started 14 games in goal for West Liberty and has made 15 appearances on the season, totaling 1,281 minutes of playing time while making 88 saves on 258 shots faced. Wickert has posted a 0.779 save percentage and a 1.76 goals-against average while recording three shutouts. She currently ranks second in the conference in total saves and is third in saves per game (5.87). Wickert has notched three double digit save performances this season.
• Through 17 matches West Liberty has held the advantage over their opponents in goals (37-30), assists (22-18), shots-on-goal (133-131), corner kicks (78-74), and saves (100-96) while their opponents hold the edge in shots (288-237).
• The Hilltoppers have set program records for most goals (37), assists (22), and points (96) in a season.

WHEELING STORYLINES

• Wheeling enters Wednesday's match with a record of 5-10-2 (2-9-2 MEC) on the season following their third consecutive loss, a 4-1 decision at home to Notre Dame.
• The Cardinals are currently in fifth place in the MEC North Division standings with eight points and have been eliminated from conference tournament contention.
• Mary DiFonzo leads Wheeling with 12 goals on the season and ranks second among the MEC leaders, while Talynn DeBartolo and Nyah Smith have added seven and six goals respectively.
• DiFonzo has also tallied a team-best five assists on the year, which is tied for fifth overall in the conference. DeBartolo and Smith have also collected four and three assists respectively.
• DiFonzo is one of three players for the Cardinals to record double-digit points, scoring a team-high of 29 points (12 goals, 5 assists) that ranks second in the league. DeBartolo is second on the team with 18 points (7 goals, 4 assists), and Smith is third with 15 points (6 goals, 3 assists.
• Olivia Kqira has started 16 matches and played in 17 games in goal for Wheeling, totaling 1,330 minutes of playing time while making a league-high 123 saves on 308 shots faced. She has posted a 0.769 save percentage and a 2.50 goals-against average while recording a pair of combined shutouts. She also leads the MEC with 7.24 saves per game.
• Through 17 matches the Cardinal's opponents have held the advantage in goals (40-37), assists (26-19), shots (320-221), shots-on-goal (168-116), and corner kicks (109-54) while Wheeling holds the edge in saves (128-77).
• Emmanuel Awotula is in his second season as the head coach at Wheeling with a record of 11-22-3 during his time with the Cardinals. Awotula spent the eight previous seasons at Oakland City and Lincoln (Pa.) to make his career record 36-102-5 in his tenth season as a collegiate head coach.

SERIES HISTORY

• West Liberty leads the all-time series 13-7-2 but is searching for their first win over Wheeling since 2021.
• The Hilltoppers fought back to secure a 3-3 draw against the Cardinals in the first meeting this season on September 24 at the West Family Athletic Complex.