Wide Open Tournament
November 06, 2003 10:46 AM | General
November 6, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University women’s soccer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown sees a wide-open Big East tournament field this weekend in Piscataway, N.J.
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| Lisa Stoia scored one of West Virginia's two goals last Sunday against St. John's to advance to the Big East tournament semifinals. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
“It’s very interesting to see just who is going to take this Big East championship,” said Izzo-Brown. “On any given day any team can win.”
The No. 10-ranked Mountaineers (15-3-1) take on Villanova (14-5-1) in one semifinal match, while No. 3-ranked Notre Dame (19-1-1) battles No. 22 Boston College (14-2-2) in the other.
Last year’s defending champion Connecticut was knocked out in the Big East quarterfinals by Villanova. Notre Dame, which failed to make it to the semifinals last year, has won seven league titles.
West Virginia advanced to the championship game last season where it lost to Connecticut on its home field. WVU is making its third consecutive trip to the semifinals.
Boston College has been to the Big East semifinals seven times and advanced to the championship game once in 1994, while Villanova will be making its sixth semifinal appearance with the goal of advancing to the championship game for the first time in school history.
Making the tournament a wide-open affair is the fact that the four teams will be playing on a neutral site at Rutgers; the Scarlet Knights failed to advance to the semifinals having lost, 2-1 to BC in the quarterfinals last Sunday.
“Having a neutral site helps. Last year I think Connecticut definitely had an edge by having home field advantage,” said Izzo-Brown.
Notre Dame needed overtime to dispose of No. 4-seeded Miami, 2-1, West Virginia struggled to hang on to defeat No. 3-seeded St. John’s, 2-1 after jumping out to a quick 2-0 lead, and Villanova upset Connecticut, 1-0 in Storrs. It was Villanova’s first-ever win against Connecticut.
West Virginia’s match Friday against Villanova pits two teams with stingy defenses. The Wildcats rank fifth in the country as a team with a goals-against-average of 0.492. Villanova has produced 13 shutouts this season and goal keeper Chrissy Dolan ranks eighth in the nation in goal keeping.
West Virginia and Villanova played to a two-overtime scoreless tie back on Oct. 19 in Philadelphia, though Izzo-Brown felt her team had several chances to score.
“We just didn’t finish,” she said.
Although unranked in the NSCAA poll, Villanova did crack the Soccer America rankings at No. 21. Among Villanova’s five losses this year was a 3-0 decision against No. 1-ranked North Carolina on Sept. 28.
The Wildcats come into the semifinals having won four straight matches including a 1-0 victory at Connecticut in the Big East tournament quarterfinals. Despite it being Villanova’s first-ever win against UConn, Izzo-Brown wasn’t surprised with the result.
“We have a lot of respect for Villanova, they have a very good team and we knew it was going to be a battle because both Connecticut and Villanova have such great teams,” said Izzo-Brown.
West Virginia is 1-1-1 in its last three matches. The Mountaineers won four straight after a 2-0 loss at Notre Dame on Oct. 3, but had a difficult time putting St. John’s away last Sunday after jumping out to an early lead. WVU also lost a 4-1 decision to No. 7-rated Penn State on its home field to end the regular season.
“We try to make things very interesting,” Izzo-Brown joked. “The key is when you’re in these situations is to finish your chances and find a way to win. That’s what we did against St. John’s.”
Now that West Virginia is in post-season play, Izzo-Brown believes seniors Chrissie Abbott, Lisa Stoia and Jenn Lewis are going to have to step up and set the pace for the rest of the team.
“They’ve been there and they’re experienced,” said Izzo-Brown. “Lisa Stoia did exactly what we needed her to do on Sunday and I hope she will do the same thing this Friday.”
Abbott, the school’s all-time leading goal scorer, is having another solid season this year with 12 goals, but she has felt the effects of teams ganging up on her. Last year Abbott had the luxury of playing off All-American Katie Barnes. This season Abbott has taken on the brunt of opposing defenses.
“Everybody is paying attention to her,” said Izzo-Brown. “I think the difference between last year and this year is everyone was always talking about Katie Barnes and last year no one respected Abbott. This year everyone is paying attention to Chrissie and I think she doing what she can to help us find a way to win this year.”
Izzo-Brown believes all four teams in the Big East semifinals are deserving of NCAA bids.
West Virginia and Villanova will square off at 7 pm and that contest can be followed live through Yahoo! Sports. Simply click on the link at MSNsportsNET.com and sign up for Yahoo’s subscription service if you are not a Yahoo! subscriber.
The game will also be televised on tape-delay basis Saturday on College Sports Television (CST). Consult your local listings for air times.
If WVU should get past Villanova Friday, the Big East championship match will take place on Sunday, Nov. 9, at noon.
