MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Sometimes, distance can make all the difference.
Over one month ago, the buzz around the West Virginia University women’s soccer team was at an all-time high. Ranked No. 8 in the country, the Mountaineers maneuvered through a challenging Big 12 Championship bracket and hoisted a trophy in Kansas City for the second straight season. The new hardware fit in perfectly with the squad’s third Big 12 regular-season trophy, earned after posting a 7-0-1 record in conference play.
Then, like a sucker punch one never sees coming, the buzz turned sour just six days later, as the Mountaineers, a No. 3 seed in the 2014 NCAA Tournament, failed to move past Georgetown in the first round, settling for a 0-0 draw against the Hoyas at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium on Nov. 15 and dropping a 4-3 decision in a penalty kick shootout.
Almost four weeks removed from the sudden end to a brilliant season, 19-year coach Nikki Izzo-Brown looks back on the year that was with a smile and an appreciation for what was accomplished.
“There was a lot of sacrifice and focus put in to make this a successful season for this program,” Izzo-Brown reflected. “I think that NCAA Tournament game is a hard one to swallow – we had so many opportunities to finish, and then we ended up not advancing because of penalty kicks. It’s hard because we ended on a tie, and the team knows that wasn’t its goal. We need to focus on that result so we can learn on to fix it in the future, but also, I think it’s appropriate to appreciate all the good this team accomplished, too.”
Following a year which saw the Mountaineers’ offense run through two key components - 2013 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-America and Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year Frances Silva and forward Kate Schwindel – WVU had to work to find its goals this season. It wasn’t a pretty start, as the squad opened with a 1-2 record, dropping a 3-1 match at eventual NCAA Tournament quarterfinalist Penn State in the season opener on Aug. 22 and falling 2-0 to then-No. 21 Duke in the Morgantown opener on Aug. 29. The Mountaineers persevered, and the goals eventually came with ease, as WVU scored 33 times in its final 15 matches for a 2.2 per-game average.
“Everyone stepped up this year, especially when we were forced to play without Kate for six games,” Izzo-Brown explained. “I think this team’s versatility was on full display throughout the season, as athletes stepped up at different times and made things happen for us.”
Injury was not the only cause for lineup absences this year. The Mountaineers trained throughout preseason without three of their starters – sophomores Kadeisha Buchanan (defender) and Ashley Lawrence (midfielder), and redshirt-freshman Amandine Pierre-Louis (forward) – as the trio was competing for Canada and the 2014 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup. Buchanan and Lawrence also were called up by the Full Canadian National Team for a pair of friendlies in late October, forcing the Mountaineers to play a key Big 12 homestand against Oklahoma State and Oklahoma short-handed.
WVU did not flinch, though, as the team rallied from behind to defeat OSU, 2-1, in double-overtime on Oct. 24 and trump OU, 3-1, on Oct. 26, to clinch its third straight Big 12 regular-season title.
“We found that when different adversities were swirling, different people would step up into the leadership roles,” said Izzo-Brown. “Leah Emaus, Kailey Utley and Cari Price were huge that weekend. Throughout the year, different athletes stepped up to make sure this team finished a match with a victory.”
Utley was the hero of the OSU victory, netting the team’s two goals. The All-Big 12 Second Team honoree earned the start at forward this season and finished with 15 points (5 G, 5 A), the second-best team total. The St. Louis, Missouri, native, enjoyed a break out, high-impact season, along with first-time starter Maggie Bedillion (defender), Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Michaela Abam, the team’s leading point earner (16) and goal scorer (8), and midfielder Price.
As most soccer enthusiasts know, goals don’t guarantee victories, and the Mountaineer defense did its part to ensure the squad stacked wins once it found its scoring touch. The WVU back line, led by center backs Carly Black and Buchanan, an NSCAA First Team All-America, Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy semifinalist and the two-time reigning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, recorded 12 shutouts in 2014, including five in Big 12 regular-season play, with four coming on the road, marking the first time in program history the Mountaineers posted a shutout in each of their road league matches. The 12 clean sheets were two short of the program’s single-season record.
Junior Hannah Steadman, a Tennessee transfer, earned the start in net in all 22 matches and was credited with 11 of the shutouts, the third-best single-season total in program history.
“As the season progressed, Hannah eliminated the mistakes that were made early in the year and began to collect shutouts,” said Izzo-Brown. “She really buckled down from the beginning of the year to the end, and that’s what you want – you want each individual to get better, but also for the team to do its job.”
Steadman was one of nine Mountaineers to earn an All-Big 12 honor in 2014, a conference-best mark. In addition to Abam and Buchanan’s top awards, Izzo-Brown was named the Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year for the third straight season, becoming the first coach in conference history to earn three consecutive awards.
Without a doubt, the Mountaineers solidified their place as the team to beat in the Big 12, posting a 21-1-2 record in three seasons. WVU rides a 26-match unbeaten streak in conference games played in Morgantown, having not dropped a league contest at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium since Oct. 2, 2009.
“Any time you win in the second-best conference, according to NCAA RPI, I think that says a lot about your team’s ability to play at a high level and constant desire to improve and grow,” said Izzo-Brown. “There was a lot of focus this year, and the mindset has been to maintain our spot as the conference’s best team.”
While the Mountaineers walked away from Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium in November with a bitter taste in their mouths, the squad has much to look forward to in 2015. Only four seniors depart, with Schwindel and defender Jess Crowder the lone starters, and eight juniors return, with the goal of matching this year’s senior class’ tally of seven conference titles.
The Mountaineers, ranked No. 15 in the final NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division I Women’s National Rankings with a 16-2-4 overall record, will most certainly be one of the top teams to watch next year. The squad will carry a program-record 19-match unbeaten streak into its 20th season opener, and Izzo-Brown expects the target on the Mountaineers’ backs to grow.
“There’s a standard for winning for West Virginia women’s soccer that each team wants to uphold every year,” Izzo-Brown concluded. “It’s tough to win, and it’s even harder in the Big 12 Conference. No team wants to do less than the team before it.”
