BUTLER TWP — West Virginia University has always been a part of Macy Stanaker.

Now she's looking to return the favor.

The Butler senior officially signed her letter-of-intent Wednesday to continue her academic and soccer career with the two-time Big 12 champion Mountaineers.

“I'm excited. It's always been the only school for me. I've been grooming myself to go there,” Stalnaker said.

Stalnaker's parents both attended WVU, though neither was involved in athletics. She has a grandmother who lives just outside of Morgantown.

“My parents and I went to three or four of their games this past season,” Stalnaker said. “They're like a family. They have such desire to win and they work hard together to win.”

Stalnaker scored 16 goals and added 15 assists for the Golden Tornado this past fall as Butler (8-7-2) fell half a game short of qualifying for the WPIAL playoffs. Butler never reached the postseason during Stalnaker's four years in the program.

Now she's joining a program that has been to the NCAA Tournament each of the past 14 years. Only nine other Division I women's soccer programs in the country can claim that distinction.

Steve Perri, Butler's coach the past two seasons, is the Golden Tornado's fourth girls soccer coach in seven years. Nikki Izzo-Brown is the only coach the WVU women's program has ever knowm. She is 251-96-39 in 18 years there.

The Mountaineers are 14-1-1 in Big 12 play over the past two years. The program reached the Elite Eight in 2007.

“A lot of schools came forward and offered Macy scholarships,” Perri said. “But she knew where she wanted to go and never wavered. She's got the work ethic to play right away down there.

“Her No. 1 attribute as a player is the pace at which she plays. Her mind-set is she's going to get around the defender and the ball is going to wind up in the back of the net.”

Penn State Behrend, Heidelberg (Ohio), Slippery Rock and Indiana (Pa.) were among other schools interested in Stalnaker.

She scored 13 goals and had 11 assists as a junior. She scored nearly 40 goals in her prep career.

“Of her 16 goals last year, nine or 10 came in section play against stellar competition,” Perri said. “She scored three goals in two games against Seneca Vallety and they won the WPIAL championship.”

Stalnaker attended two soccer camps at West Virginia and attended a camp there last weekend that served as a final evaluation of recruits.

She participated in a 7-on-7 tournament, her team reaching the semifinals.

“We did possession drills, played some 11 on 11, met with the strength coach to go over what we'll be experiencing there ... It was pretty detailed,” Stalnaker said.

“Coach (Izzo-Brown) told me I'd be given a chance to play as a freshman, but I know I have to earn it. There are no plans to red-shirt me.”

While WVU is graduating its leading scorer in forward Frances Silva, the Mountaineers do have plenty of forwards returning. A fellow recruit with Stalnaker is Toryn Broadwater, who scored 31 goals in three years for her Virginia high school, played on the Virginia Class AAA state championship team in 2012 and on the Virginia State Cup championship squad last year.

One of six recruits signed by WVU Wednesday, Stalnaker will also compete for time with incoming freshman Heather Kaleiohi of San Diego, Calif., who scored 111 goals in high school.

Stalnaker plans to study forensics at WVU.

“I want to go in there and earn playing time as a freshman,” she said. “I also want to maintain at least a 3.0 grade point average. Their team GPA was 3.3 last year and they earned an academic award in the conference.

“I want to be a part of that, too.”