Only one trophy missing from WVU women’s soccer shrine

COMMENTARY

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The trophy case sings of conference championships, tournament titles and that span of 17 NCAA appearances. A career’s worth of victories and validation, and Nikki Izzo-Brown typically charges right past it.

The coach who established and elevated West Virginia women’s soccer is too busy chasing the next win, the next recruit or, to the aim of her current mission, the next trip to the College Cup.

With a ponytail dangling from beneath her WVU ballcap, Izzo-Brown spoke to reporters about her preseason No. 1 team, and she did so a few steps from the awards shrine that has been 21 seasons in the making.

“I put my head down and I walk past these accomplishments and I don’t appreciate them enough,” she said. “I’ve tried in my old age to reflect more, but it’s hard in this business. Once I stand still someone’s going to bypass me, so I’ve got to keep moving.”

West Virginia soccer resides in such an elite zip code these days that even losing two of the most talented players in program history hasn’t dampened expectations. Nine starters return from a club that went 23-2-2 and dominated to the point of statistical absurdity. It reached the national championship having allowed three goals in its previous 16 matches only to fall 3-1 to USC.

“What’s motivating is that we didn’t win and we want to make sure we get back,” said Izzo-Brown, who doesn’t mind her players fixating on what slipped away in San Jose.

The team re-watched the game multiple times during the spring, and senior Alli Magaletta said the takeaway always remained the same: “That it’s really hard to lose.”

It speaks to West Virginia’s depth that Magaletta, a 27-game starter who scored the lone goal in a 1-0 Elite Eight win over Duke, wasn’t among the record-six Mountaineers named to the All-Big 12 preseason squad.

That group will be challenged immediately when WVU faces three top-12 opponents during the season’s first 20 days, starting with Friday’s opener at No. 5 Georgetown. The Hoyas were the lone team to beat West Virginia during the 2016 regular season.

”We have a little tough skin with Georgetown,” Magaletta said. “I think it will be a good test, setting our tone for the season. I’m glad Georgetown is first.”

Izzo-Brown parlayed such a rugged schedule citing the “need to push yourself” early in the season, and it’s a stretch that could be pivotal come seeding time for NCAA home-field advantage. Last November the Mountaineers hosted four tournament matches in Morgantown on their route to the College Cup.

Feeling that first trip to the NCAA final four “sort of legitimized” the consistency of West Virginia’s past teams, Izzo-Brown wants the 2017 iteration to go one step further.

“There’s all the potential in the world here,” she said. “It’s just up to us to see how we develop.”





More Sports

Sports
Beanie Bishop posts top 40-yard dash time at Big 12 Pro Day
March 29, 2024 - 1:21 am
High School Sports
Herbert Hoover improves to 10-0 with 2-1 win over Hurricane
The Huskies collected a pair of victories Thursday in the Guard the Capital Invitational in Charleston.
March 29, 2024 - 12:51 am
High School Sports
Independence bests Wahama, 10-2 in the Guard the Capital Tournament
March 28, 2024 - 9:03 pm
High School Sports
Photo gallery: University defeats Bridgeport, 12-3
March 28, 2024 - 6:24 pm