Sept. 3, 1999

Morgantown, W Va. -

Illinois took advantage of an early goal in each half to defeat West Virginia University, 2-0 in the first round of the Mountaineer Cup in Morgantown, W.Va.

The Illini improve to 3-0 on the season and will meet Duquesne for the championship at 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Duquesne (1-2) downed Virginia Commonwealth 2-1 in the other semifinal match.

The visitors wasted no time in taking away the home field. Sophomore Emily Brown scored her third goal of the season on a one-time volley just 1:45 into the match. Sarah Heggen got her first start in goal and made four saves to record her first victory in goal. Amy Bessette was simply brilliant in the second half making three diving saves.

After leading 1-0 at half, West Virginia got called for a handball inside the goal box, leading to a penalty kick. Kelly Buszkiewicz, who missed a penalty kick vs. Eastern Illinois, made good on her second opportunity of the year by converting just 6:45 into the second half. That marked her first goal of the season.

For the third straight game, Brown led the team in shots with four. On the season, Illinois has out-scored its opponents 8-1. The Illini have a chance to go 4-0 to start the season for the third consecutive year if they win Sunday.

?This was a great win for us to beat a Big East team,? said head coach Tricia Taliaferro. ?We came out here with the goal to capture the first ever Mountaineer Cup, and there is still one more match to go before we can accomplish that.?