WVU soccer players earn bronze medals at Rio Olympics

Kadeisha Buchanan and Ashley Lawrence have been two of the most consistent players for the WVU soccer team. Coached by Nikki Izzo-Brown, the pair have developed into two of the best Mountaineers in women’s soccer history.

They’ve also made waves at the international level and that has continued at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Buchanan and Lawrence represented their home country of Canada and helped the red and white earn a bronze medal.

In the third place game of this year’s Olympic games, Canada beat out host-Brazil by a score of 2-1. This was the second-consecutive bronze medal for Canada, as it also finished third in the world at the 2012 London Olympics.

Buchanan and Lawrence showed their strength and versatility in the victory by playing all 90 minutes against Brazil. To put up that kind of effort, as true visitors, is astounding. Buchanan, Lawrence and the rest of the Canadian National Team didn’t back down and proved to be the aggressors of the match.

Both players took one shot for Canada, as their team only attempted seven shots. However, five of Canada’s seven shots were on goal. Brazil, meanwhile, landed 15 shots on goal. Canada was more efficient with its offense and the defense held strong as both Buchanan and Lawrence anchored the back lines at some points in the contest. With that, Brazil only had three-shots on goal.

As Buchanan and Lawrence were starring on the sport’s grandest stage, their Mountaineers were holding strong on the home front. On Friday, the No. 5 WVU soccer team tied No. 2 Penn State, the reigning national champions of women’s soccer by a score of 1-1 in double-overtime. For the Mountaineers to do that without a pair of their best players shows that Coach Izzo-Brown has her team prepared for another successful season.

The veteran head coach was extremely proud of her girls, though, and showed that before the Mountaineers took the field against the Nitany Lions.

"“I am so happy and thrilled for Ashley and Kadeisha to win a Bronze medal on one of the sport’s biggest stages,” Izzo-Brown said. “These two student-athletes have put in so much hard work over the last few years, and they have sacrificed a lot for this achievement. I’m so glad they have a medal to show for their efforts, and all of WVU women’s soccer is proud.”"

Scoring the goals for Canada were Deanne Rose and Christine Sinclair. Both goals came before Brazil was able to get on the board. The homestanding Brazilians found the back of the net with 11 minutes remaining, but it was too little too late.

Buchanan and Lawrence have a little more time to enjoy their success before coming back home to Morgantown for the semester. Classes have already started and the WVU soccer team will still be at Penn State as it is scheduled to play Buffalo on Sunday.

Buchanan and Lawrence will likely play in the WVU soccer team’s home opener, which is on Friday against Clemson. They should receive a rousing ovation when they take the field.

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