MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — It was more of a nail-biter than most years, but the West Virginia women’s soccer team kept its postseason streak alive with a 20th consecutive invitation to the NCAA tournament.
The tournament field was unveiled Monday afternoon. The Mountaineers (10-7-2) open the tourney at Georgetown (13-4-3) on Saturday. WVU earned an at-large berth in this year’s field.
West Virginia is 21-19-2 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and has won four straight opening-round matches.
“The NCAA selection committee always has a tough job to do,” coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. “I’m certainly glad that the committee saw the value in our RPI to give us an at-large bid. This team has stepped up this season. It’s been incredible to watch the journey and how they came together and just how badly they wanted to be the team to get to 20.”
VIEW: Complete NCAA soccer tournament bracket
Sophomore forward Alina Stahl paces WVU with 12 points on a team-best five goals and two assists. Freshman forward Julianne Vallerand ranks No. 2 with 11 points (5 G, 1 A), while sophomore forward Lizzie Mayfield has a team-high four assists.
WVU has posted seven shutouts this season, with six credited to senior goalkeeper Rylee Foster. Foster is third among active student-athletes in Division I and second on the school’s career shutouts list with 37.