Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Izzo-Brown's Tweaks Have Women’s Soccer Winning Again
September 25, 2018 04:56 PM | Women's Soccer
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - If there is one thing watching West Virginia University women's soccer teams for the past 18 years has taught us, it's never to doubt Nikki Izzo-Brown.
Just like Chihuahuas chasing down mailmen, taxes and death, it's a given that Izzo-Brown's Mountaineer teams are going to win soccer matches.
They've been doing it regularly since 2000, and they're finally doing it once again this year.
It just took this team a little bit longer than some of the others to get its bearings, but judging from last week's pair of impressive road victories at nationally ranked Texas Tech and TCU, the compass is finally pointing north.
"For us, it's just been one practice at a time and one game at a time and then at the end of the year be ranked and be where we want to be to win championships and make a run in the NCAA Tournament," Izzo-Brown explained.
Three weeks ago, the pathway to another successful season and the program's 19thstraight NCAA Tournament appearance seemed unclear.
West Virginia's record heading into September was an unexpected 1-2-3, the three ties coming during an eight-day stretch against Arkansas, Purdue and 19th-ranked Northwestern.
Those were wrapped around losses to No. 4 Penn State and No. 11 Georgetown and a 3-0 victory over Xavier.
It was a difficult three weeks of soccer for the Mountaineers against some of the better teams in the country.
"I said this to the team, 'We can go out and be 9-0 and not really know who we are, or we can go out and be 4-2-3 and really have a good understanding of who we are,'" Izzo-Brown pointed out. "I think we'd rather know who we are before we go into conference play than maybe fumble a little bit there."
The view became much clearer when WVU went down to Clemson, South Carolina, and won a tough, 2-1 match against the Tigers.
The Mountaineers jumped out to an early lead, gave up a goal, and then battled back to win it late.
"It was a matter of confidence and as that confidence came, our girls realized that they could win and they could win under different circumstances, whether it was on the road or against a tough ACC team," Izzo-Brown explained. "Clemson just turned around and beat Virginia, who hadn't lost a game. That started the snowball effect a little bit and helped them understand that what we're doing is going to work, even though we needed to make a couple changes."
Making the necessary changes Izzo-Brown feels her team needs has always been a big component in those teams' success through the years. This year, she's used six different lineup combinations so far - all up front - seeking the right mixture of players attacking the goal.
For now, she's settled on seniors Sh'Nia Gordon and Hannah Abraham and sophomore Lauren Segalla up top, with Quinnipiac transfer Nadya Gill teaming with senior Grace Cutler and freshman Addison Clark in the middle.
She's also employing an old Red Auerbach trick he once used so successfully for the Boston Celtics by bringing one of her best offensive players off the bench. Sophomore Stefany Ferrer-vanGinkel has given the team a big boost when she comes into games, scoring five goals in her last five matches.
During last Sunday's 2-0 victory at TCU, Gordon got WVU on the board 25 seconds into the match and then Ferrer-vanGinkel came in to put the Horned Frogs away late in the second half.
Ferrer-vanGinkel did that same thing two days prior at 22nd-ranked Texas Tech after Segalla got the Mountaineers' first goal.
"It gives us a little something different than in the starting 20 minutes we feel is very effective and when Stefany comes in she is definitely bringing that offensive flair and attacking mentality that we think can disrupt things a little bit," Izzo-Brown explained.
And even when things weren't clicking early, or the team was putting dents in the cross bar, Izzo-Brown's talented backline of seniors Bianca St. Georges, Easther Mayi Kith, Vanessa Flores, junior goalkeeper Rylee Foster and promising freshman Jordan Brewster were keeping the Mountaineers in games.
That bought her the time she needed to tweak the offensive attack and get the right players in the right places.
"Along the way, we were always committed to defending," she pointed out.
And now, her team is finally scoring too, outscoring their opponents 12-1 during its current five-game winning streak to improve its record to 6-2-3 heading into Friday's home match against Kansas State.
West Virginia's two wins last weekend gave the Mountaineers' a 16-point RPI boost from 39 to 23, and they have plenty of opportunities to improve that rating in the next couple of weeks with Baylor, Texas, Oklahoma State and Kansas looming.
Three of those matches are at Dick Dlesk Stadium, where West Virginia hasn't lost a conference game since 2009.
That's 39 straight conference victories at home - the most of any Power 5 program and the third-best active winning streak in the country.
"Our goal is to be where we're at right now in conference play but to also get better every day," she added. "I'm not sure we're playing our best soccer right now, but we saw a lot, and we're prepared for where we are right now. I'm never satisfied, but I think we're moving in the right direction."
Was there ever any doubting that wasn't going to be the case?
Just like Chihuahuas chasing down mailmen, taxes and death, it's a given that Izzo-Brown's Mountaineer teams are going to win soccer matches.
They've been doing it regularly since 2000, and they're finally doing it once again this year.
It just took this team a little bit longer than some of the others to get its bearings, but judging from last week's pair of impressive road victories at nationally ranked Texas Tech and TCU, the compass is finally pointing north.
"For us, it's just been one practice at a time and one game at a time and then at the end of the year be ranked and be where we want to be to win championships and make a run in the NCAA Tournament," Izzo-Brown explained.
Three weeks ago, the pathway to another successful season and the program's 19thstraight NCAA Tournament appearance seemed unclear.
West Virginia's record heading into September was an unexpected 1-2-3, the three ties coming during an eight-day stretch against Arkansas, Purdue and 19th-ranked Northwestern.
Those were wrapped around losses to No. 4 Penn State and No. 11 Georgetown and a 3-0 victory over Xavier.
It was a difficult three weeks of soccer for the Mountaineers against some of the better teams in the country.
"I said this to the team, 'We can go out and be 9-0 and not really know who we are, or we can go out and be 4-2-3 and really have a good understanding of who we are,'" Izzo-Brown pointed out. "I think we'd rather know who we are before we go into conference play than maybe fumble a little bit there."
The view became much clearer when WVU went down to Clemson, South Carolina, and won a tough, 2-1 match against the Tigers.
The Mountaineers jumped out to an early lead, gave up a goal, and then battled back to win it late.
"It was a matter of confidence and as that confidence came, our girls realized that they could win and they could win under different circumstances, whether it was on the road or against a tough ACC team," Izzo-Brown explained. "Clemson just turned around and beat Virginia, who hadn't lost a game. That started the snowball effect a little bit and helped them understand that what we're doing is going to work, even though we needed to make a couple changes."
Making the necessary changes Izzo-Brown feels her team needs has always been a big component in those teams' success through the years. This year, she's used six different lineup combinations so far - all up front - seeking the right mixture of players attacking the goal.
For now, she's settled on seniors Sh'Nia Gordon and Hannah Abraham and sophomore Lauren Segalla up top, with Quinnipiac transfer Nadya Gill teaming with senior Grace Cutler and freshman Addison Clark in the middle.
She's also employing an old Red Auerbach trick he once used so successfully for the Boston Celtics by bringing one of her best offensive players off the bench. Sophomore Stefany Ferrer-vanGinkel has given the team a big boost when she comes into games, scoring five goals in her last five matches.
During last Sunday's 2-0 victory at TCU, Gordon got WVU on the board 25 seconds into the match and then Ferrer-vanGinkel came in to put the Horned Frogs away late in the second half.
Ferrer-vanGinkel did that same thing two days prior at 22nd-ranked Texas Tech after Segalla got the Mountaineers' first goal.
"It gives us a little something different than in the starting 20 minutes we feel is very effective and when Stefany comes in she is definitely bringing that offensive flair and attacking mentality that we think can disrupt things a little bit," Izzo-Brown explained.
And even when things weren't clicking early, or the team was putting dents in the cross bar, Izzo-Brown's talented backline of seniors Bianca St. Georges, Easther Mayi Kith, Vanessa Flores, junior goalkeeper Rylee Foster and promising freshman Jordan Brewster were keeping the Mountaineers in games.
That bought her the time she needed to tweak the offensive attack and get the right players in the right places.
"Along the way, we were always committed to defending," she pointed out.
And now, her team is finally scoring too, outscoring their opponents 12-1 during its current five-game winning streak to improve its record to 6-2-3 heading into Friday's home match against Kansas State.
West Virginia's two wins last weekend gave the Mountaineers' a 16-point RPI boost from 39 to 23, and they have plenty of opportunities to improve that rating in the next couple of weeks with Baylor, Texas, Oklahoma State and Kansas looming.
Three of those matches are at Dick Dlesk Stadium, where West Virginia hasn't lost a conference game since 2009.
That's 39 straight conference victories at home - the most of any Power 5 program and the third-best active winning streak in the country.
"Our goal is to be where we're at right now in conference play but to also get better every day," she added. "I'm not sure we're playing our best soccer right now, but we saw a lot, and we're prepared for where we are right now. I'm never satisfied, but I think we're moving in the right direction."
Was there ever any doubting that wasn't going to be the case?
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Soccer
F/D
/ Women's Soccer
MF
/ Women's Soccer
MF/F
/ Women's Soccer
MF
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's Soccer
GK
/ Women's Soccer
F/MF
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's SoccerNikki Izzo-Brown & Alicia Riggins | Wagner Postgame | Nov. 14
Saturday, November 15
Nikki Izzo-Brown | Nov. 10
Monday, November 10
WSOC | Cincinnati Cinematic Recap
Friday, October 31
Ajanae Respass | Cincinnati Postgame | Oct. 30
Thursday, October 30
