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The Ben Franklin Career Center in Dunbar is accepting enrollments for several of its adult technical training classes.
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WV News) — Nikki Izzo-Brown is the only soccer coach West Virginia's women's soccer program has ever known.
She brought her team into existence, brought it into prominence, even brought it to the NCAA's national championship game in 2016. But the job she did with her 27th team in 2022 will go down as one of her greatest accomplishments.
This was not one of her most heralded teams coming into the season, and it showed right away why, as it lacked any real offensive punch.
The Mountaineers started the season winning only 3 of their first 10 games and four of their first 14, not scoring in six of the first nine encounters.
But, with a defense led by fifth-year senior defender Jordan Brewster, who was named in mid-August to the All-Big 12 Preseason team, they were able to pull off a major miracle as they won the Big 12 Tournament and closed the season with a strong burst.
The Mountaineers closed out the year with six straight victories while sweeping past Oklahoma State, 2-1, No. 16 Texas, 1-0, and then No. 17 TCU, 1-0 to claim the Big 12 championship.
Brewster was there whenever WVU needed it. Against Kansas State down the stretch, she led the defense to its seventh shutout of the season, holding the Wildcats to one shot on goal in 90 minutes, earning herself Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors and assisting on the only goal in the 74th minute.
That Senior Night game represented her 96th start as a Mountaineer, a school record.
WVU, by this time, was showing signs that it had become a premier team. They carried it into the Big 12 Championships with Brewster saving her signature moment until the final when she kicked home the winner in the 93rd minute from 90 yards out — you read that right — to win WVU's fifth Big 12 championship despite owning a No. 4 seed coming in.
It was Brewster's third goal of the season — all game-winners.
It was fifth-year senior Laren Segalla's goal that made the difference in a 1-0 semifinal victory over Texas to get the Mountaineers into position to win the title, WVU's and Izzo-Brown's 18th conference title in 27 years.
"Amazing is the word that comes to mind," Izzo-Brown said. "I'm just amazed at what these women were able to do and how they performed. I was just so proud of them. It was a hard-fought battle and to get a clean sheet against a talented TCU team and find a way to win was so impressive. I'm just so excited for them."
WVU wound up being eliminated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament when it went to Penn State and lost 4-0 to the home team.
Senior goalkeeper Kayza Massey was co-Goalkeeper of the Year in the Big 12, the third goalkeeper of the year in program history, while Brewster was the Big 12's Defensive Player of the Year. Both were first-team all-conference players.
Brewster went on to be named the Big 12 Women's Soccer co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was named a third team All-American.
Meanwhile, it was a disappointing year for the men's program as it moved into the Sun Belt Conference. They were eliminated from the conference tournament by No. 2 Kentucky, 3-0. They finished the year at 7-7-4.
Earlier in the season, WVU's men put together its best game against Kentucky, tying the unbeaten Wildcats 3-3 at Dick Dlesk Stadium before 2,096 fans.
Fifth-year senior defender Aaron Denk Gracia and redshirt senior midfielder/defender Dyon Dromers were named to the Academic All-America Second Team.
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The Putnam County Collaborative Pre-K Program will start accepting registrations next month for its free Pre-K classes for 4-year-olds.
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