Soccer Visits Italy
March 26, 2004 03:37 PM | General
March 26, 2004
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| Izzo-Brown |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia University women's soccer team recently returned home from a 10-day training trip to Italy in which the Mountaineers played five matches, garnering a 2-2-1 record.
Originally planned for last year but postponed due to the outbreak of war in Iraq, this year's trip included matches in the Italian towns and villages of Venice, Como, Florence, Milan and Pisa. West Virginia faced tough competition ranging from the U-21 Italian national team, to whom the Mountaineers fell 1-0, to Como 2000, a professional club squad WVU beat 3-0.
"Anytime you get the opportunity to play games, it will make you better," comments head coach Nikki Izzo-Brown. "We saw this trip as a chance to add five games to our spring schedule. Any time you are competing in 10 contests and the rest of the country is only competing in five, you have the advantage.
"We faced a high level of competition and with the differences in soccer philosophy between the United States and Europe, we were forced to adapt to some different looks. Overall, this was certainly a learning experience and it gave our team a chance to grow and develop. Those five games helped us discover our strengths and weaknesses. On and off the field our team was able to bond and build team chemistry, something we feel is extremely beneficial to the growth of our program given the fact that we recently graduated such a strong, talented senior class."
Since 2001 the Mountaineers have organized their budget so that, in conjunction with private contributions and fundraisers, they would have the funding needed for the tour.
West Virginia has taken advantage of the NCAA rule that allows teams to travel abroad once every four years previously as well. In 1999, the women's soccer team participated in a similar training trip in Brazil. Men's basketball has made trips to Australia and New Zealand while the women's basketball has team visited Puerto Rico. The rifle team has competed in Russia, the rowing team in England and the swimming and diving teams in Venezuela.
The Mountaineers will continue their spring competition with three games on Saturday, March 27 when they travel to Bluefield, W.Va., for the Mountain State Tournament. WVU will face ACC foes Wake Forest and N.C. State as well as the Roanoke Stars, a club team from Virginia.
"We are really excited to be getting the opportunity to play highly competitive teams from the ACC, especially at the Mountain State tournament" says Izzo-Brown. "This is a chance for us to play great soccer against opponents from a different conference."
