WVU Women’s Soccer has enjoyed a smooth regular season, but things are about to get serious for the Mountaineers.
Led by head coach Nikki Izzo-Brown for the 29th consecutive season, the Mountaineers are 11-4-2 and 7-2-1 in the conference. On Friday, their record will be finalized, as they take on Houston in the final match of the regular season.
WVU began conference play 5-0-1, with a tie against Arizona, before losing its first match on Oct. 10 to No. 8 TCU and its second one week later to Texas Tech, who shares TCU’s overall and conference records of 13-2-2 and 8-0-2.
With Sunday’s win over Colorado, the Mountaineers secured a top four seed and first round bye in the Big 12 Championship. As such, WVU will take a break following the match in Houston, which Izzo-Brown plans for the team to spend at home.
“I think we were supposed to go out (to Kansas City) Monday, so now we were able to push it back a little bit,” Izzo-Brown said. “It’s going to be huge for us with the travel we’ve been doing.”
For as much as the break is necessary, though, Izzo-Brown says she and her team have had a blast this season.
“Listen, I think I’m the funniest coach in America,” Izzo-Brown said.
Izzo-Brown calls herself a “prankster” when the team is on the road. The coach’s jokes and antics are not malicious, though, and instead target to make the team enjoy each other’s company and the time commitment required to win matches.
“My philosophy is always ‘you can have fun when you’re working hard,’ and it’s always more fun when you win,” Izzo-Brown said. “It’s really important that we enjoy each other when we spend time together.”
As the season comes to a close, Izzo-Brown is equally satisfied with her players’ enjoyment of the year as she is with their success on the field.
In regards to the Mountaineers’ recent defensive success, especially, Izzo-Brown says the team improves every day, showing her coaching style is equally fun and effective.
“It’s always our goal to make sure we are having better understanding, better opportunities, and more success as a unit,” Izzo-Brown said.
“They’ve really focused on doing the little things right and having better habits, so I’m really proud of where they’re at right now, but we have to continue to get better every day, so it’s been good.”
The Mountaineers will hit the road this week for the last time this regular season. Kickoff in Houston and on ESPN+ is slated for 8 p.m. ET on Friday.
Photo by Korey Moore, Blue Gold Sports
