No. 16 WVU faces major opportunity in hosting No. 11 South Carolina
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MORGANTOWN - What awaits No. 16 West Virginia, at 7 p.m. Saturday inside Dick Dlesk Stadium, is a major opportunity to help ease some carnage for now.
There is no guarantee the Sun Belt men's soccer standings will eventually sort itself out in the weeks to come. As it currently stands, half of the league's 10 teams are tied for first place, all sitting at 1-0-1 in league play.
That includes the Mountaineers (5-1-2, 1-0-1 Sun Belt) and their opponent in No. 11 South Carolina, who is in the midst of a major turnaround season.
Until this week, the Gamecocks (7-1-1) were ranked No. 1 in the country in the United Soccer Coaches top 25 poll. That was until a 2-1 loss against Charleston and a 1-1 draw against James Madison last week dropped them 10 spots.
WVU head coach Dan Stratford sees that as irrelevant, since the RPI still has South Carolina as the top team in the country. The RPI is a power poll that heavily weighs strength of schedule and a team's overall record for its rankings.
The RPI is used as a tool for the selection committee in determining seeding and at-large teams for the NCAA tournament.
"The only stat that matters at this time of year is the RPI and they're still No. 1 in the RPI," Stratford said. "It's an unbelievable opportunity for us to get a real resumé builder when you look at the optics of getting an NCAA tournament bid. Regardless of where they are (in the top 25), the RPI doesn't lie at this point. If they're No. 11 (in the top 25), it doesn't matter. They're still No. 1 in our hearts."
And so, what lies ahead for WVU is not only the chance to beat a team that was formerly the No. 1 team in the top 25 poll or the team that is No. 1 in the RPI, but also the opportunity to make a push up the conference standings.
There are statements out there to be made for South Carolina, too, beginning with its early-season run of success is for real.
"It kind of shows the nature of college soccer," Stratford said. "Whether you want to call it volatility or, I think, a really cool attribute. South Carolina didn't make the conference tournament last year and now they sit here No. 1 in the RPI and they were No. 1 in the country not even a year later. It's been quite the evolution for them, but it also highlights how fine the margins are in college soccer."
South Carolina defeated four top 25-ranked teams to open the season with a perfect 7-0 record. The Gamecocks are second in the Sun Belt in goals scored, while their eight goals allowed are second behind West Virginia's six.
Loïc Sany Kong is tied for third with five goals on the season and Mika Habel and Angel Lopez both lead the league with four assists.
All of it has come after going 7-9-2 overall and finishing 1-6-2 in conference play last season.
"They've improved in the nature of how they develop the game," Stratford said. "I think they have some unique aspects to how their defensive lineup moves. They have two really good center midfielders in terms of ball retention. I do think they have improved in their attacking output. The quality of the season they've had so far, the belief they'll have, that type of momentum is always huge."
WVU counters with a defense that simply doesn't allow its opponents to have solid possessions. Mountaineers' goalkeeper Toby Mawer has faced only 17 shots on goal over eight matches. His counterpart, South Carolina's Noah Scheidweiler, has faced 34 shots on goal over nine matches.
It becomes a question of whether or not WVU can keep South Carolina's attack befuddled and restrained long enough to set up some scoring chances of its own.
"I do think they've been more dangerous than what they've been, but I still absolutely believe in what we have and the qualities that we possess that we're going to cause them some problems," Stratford said. "There's a lot of data we'll have on every team we'll play this year, including South Carolina. If we perform to our level, we truly believe our identity and the way we can play will cause them problems."