For the second time in three years, the West Virginia men’s soccer team find themselves in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament.
In 2021, The Mountaineers made it to the quarterfinals before falling to Georgetown on the road in a penalty shootout. Looking back at that game, head coach Dan Stratford has no issues with how his team played at all.
“I think back to the Georgetown game with incredible pride for the way that we played the game,” said Stratford. “We went there and we played with our identity and we went for it. It was two very good teams at the time in a really close contest and we came out on the wrong side of a penalty shootout. There was no element of that game where I felt like we fell short of effort, application, or intent.”
When talking about what was learned from that game, Stratford said he presented a challenge to the players to make sure they have the mental capacity to be a great team for two more weeks.
“I think what’s changed and I think where we’ve tried to be a little more strategic is that when I spoke to the group on Monday, the challenge I presented to the players is that two weeks from today, someone’s playing for a national championship. Do we have the mental fortitude, focus and the mental endurance, whatever you want to call it, do we have the capacity to be great for two weeks. Can we have the mindset that there’s 14 days in the season, that we’ll play three games, we would train nine times, and what would it take for you individually and us as a team collectively to be great for two weeks, two measly weeks.”
For West Virginia, things are different than in 2021. This year, the Mountaineers will host the quarterfinals this year. With a win, the Mountaineers would find themselves in the Final Four for the first time in program history.
The Mountaineers will take on Loyola Marymount on Saturday at Dick Dlesk Stadium. Kickoff is set for 2:00 and can be seen on ESPN+.
