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After shocking No. 9 Rutgers 1-0 on the road in the Big East Conference quarterfinals last Sunday, No. 24 West Virginia women’s soccer will have to battle another top 10 team in No. 10 Marquette tonight in Storrs, Conn.
The win over the Scarlet Knights not only strengthened West Virginia’s (9-5-6) NCAA Tournament resume, but it also propelled it into its second Big East semi-final match in as many years.
"We are playing well at the right time, and I think the better team won last Sunday," said WVU head coach Nikki Izzo-Brown. "We are playing great soccer, and we’re creating a lot of opportunities. On that last chance against Rutgers, we were able to finish the attack and came away with the win."
Entering the tournament, the Mountaineers’ chance of an NCAA Tournament bid was up in the air for the first time in nearly 10 years. Though they possessed a top 30 RPI, they only had eight wins.
History has shown over the years that most teams need at least 10 wins to receive an at-large bid.
Nevertheless, Izzo-Brown feels her Mountaineers are on track for their 10th-straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
"We feel very strongly that we’ll be in the NCAA Tournament with the way our RPI is at the moment," said Izzo-Brown. "We’ve beat some very strong teams lately, and we feel very confidant that we can receive an at-large bid if need be."
But make no mistake about it, the team has its sights set on an automatic berth by virtue of the Big East Championship.
"I definitely want to win the Big East, especially as a senior," said senior co-captain Nicole Mailloux. "Like when Natalie Cocchi left, she felt so accomplished as a senior because she was able to get that. We all really want this."
WVU defeated the Golden Eagles for the fifth time in as many meetings on Sept. 24th after capitalizing on freshman Caroline Szwed’s first career goal in the 1-0 win.
The Mountaineers were still outshot 13-7 by Marquette for only the second time in the team’s first 10 games. Through 20 games this season, West Virginia has only been outshot four times as WVU has outshot its opponents 304-184 on the season.
A primary reason for Marquette’s success on the offensive attack was its star forward Rachel Sloan, who recorded six of those 13 shots. Sloan leads the Eagles with 15 points on five goals and five assists. Both of those categories lead the team.
"She’s fantastic," said Izzo-Brown. "Her performance was one of the main things I took from that game because of how much she threatens our defense, but we’ve made some adjustments to hopefully slow her down.
"But they are a very, very physical team. They apply a lot of pressure and constantly rotate players in and out, so they are always pressing. It’s going to be a battle on Friday."
The road to the Big East Tournament hasn’t been an easy one for the Mountaineers. They spent much of the season trying to overcome one of the youngest lineups in the program’s 14-year history as well as dealing with many of the players coming down with the flu midway through the season.
But 20 games into the season, the team is on the verge of a Big East title game and another NCAA Tournament bid. Despite all the ups and downs the team says its hard work is finally starting to pay off.
"We’ve had to really grind it out this season, but it’s going to be like that sometimes," said WVU leading scorer Megan Mischler. "Last year we were loaded with talent and experience, this year we’re young and still learning. But we’ve worked really hard, and I think we’re capable of winning this tournament."
A win against Marquette would catapult the Mountaineers into the Big East title game on Sunday against the winner of St. John’s and No. 4 Notre Dame. The championship game will be televised locally on WVPBS at noon.
Tonight’s game is set to begin at 7:30 p.m., and will be shown live on the CBS College Sports Network.
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