— By Wesley Shoemaker
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — For the first time in program history, West Virginia men’s soccer is advancing to the College Cup.
West Virginia used three goals from three different players to beat Loyola Marymount, 3-1, advancing to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the 63-year history of West Virginia men’s soccer.
“It’s really, really, special. I said before when I first got the job, I meant it when I said it, I think we can win a national championship here. I wouldn’t have took the job if I didn’t think we had the platform and foundation to win a national championship,” West Virginia coach Dan Stratford said.
“I had to have a moment and let myself enjoy what we’ve achieved and where we are as a program right now and it’s everything,” Stratford added. “I’ve spent the better part of 20 years here in West Virginia now, which is wild. I never got to play in a game like that, so this is the next best thing.”
It was a quick start for the Lions (10-5-6), who scored less than 2 minutes in. They would press the Mountaineers out of the gate, with Steven Anderson finding the bottom right corner of the net to give LMU a 1-0 lead just 1:54 into the match.
“Transparency, it was a terrible start. That’s never the plan. To concede that early, not enough time has transpired to really see what it is they’re doing and how we need to adapt potentially,” Stratford said.
West Virginia (17-2-4) offered a quick response, getting its home crowd at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium right back into things.
Luke McCormick tied the match less than 7 minutes later, receiving a pass from Otto Ollikainen on the outside of the 18-yard box and using his left foot to score his seventh goal of the season in the 9th minute.
“When we went 1-0 down, we just thought we need to win,” West Virginia’s Ryan Crooks said. “We know goals are coming to come and they did six minutes later.”
Goals continued to come, as WVU goalkeeper Jackson Lee found Sergio Ors Navarro, who then did the rest, dribbling past two Lion defenders, before scoring the Mountaineers’ second goal to give his team its first lead in the 16th minute.
The offenses then started to slow down. There were five combined shots the remainder of the first half, matching the same number of shots in the opening 15:34.
In the second half, West Virginia maintained its intensity.
The Mountaineers’ pressure allowed them to control majority of possession and they ultimately broke through for an insurance goal.
Yutaro Tsukada received a cross from Crooks, before he was 1-on-1 with the Lions goalkeeper. Tsukada won the battle, beating him to the near side of the net, and securing WVU a 3-1 advantage in the 67th minute.
“Today’s goal was thanks to this guy next to me (Crooks),” Tsukada said.
The Mountaineers did not let up, as the Lions mounted four more shots, with Lee having only to make one save on a ball that rolled straight to him.
This was West Virginia’s second time in the NCAA Quarterfinals in the last three years. In 2021, the Mountaineers lost to Georgetown.
“For whatever reason in my mind today, it would have felt like a failure if we hadn’t made the Final Four. It is a huge, huge, weight off my shoulders,” Stratford said.
“We’re in unchartered territories again. This is great, but I said there is an even shinier one waiting for us on Monday if we go about the next week to the level of professionalism and the way we approached this game. I don’t think anyone is content, I don’t think anyone is going to relax now. I think there is a really, really, exciting week ahead of us.”
West Virginia next faces No. 9 Clemson on Friday in Louisville. The Tigers defeated Stanford, 2-0 in a quarterfinal Saturday. Oregon State and Notre Dame will clash in the other semifinal match Friday.