(Dan Stratford postgame press conference)
Otto Ollikainen’s golden goal in double overtime lifted No. 11 West Virginia past No. 6 Tulsa, 1-0 in the NCAA third round contest in Oklahoma Saturday evening.
The freshman midfielder scored in the 102nd minute of play, sending the Mountaineers to their first Elite Eight appearance in forty years.
OTTOOOO!!! ?#HailWV pic.twitter.com/4vDX2YjCMI
— WVU Men’s Soccer (@WVUMensSoccer) November 28, 2021
“That’s a very good team that we’ve just beaten,” said WVU coach Dan Stratford of Tulsa. “I thought that once we showed that we could set up the high press, they had to change. And they did a little bit.
“We had to grind this out. We had to fight and dig really, really deep. The biggest message they had going into tonight was to have no regrets. From that perspective, it was unbelievable.”
West Virginia (12-3-5) will face the winner of Sunday’s Providence-Georgetown contest in the national quarterfinals next weekend.