MORGANTOWN — It was the type of match that could have turned into some type of neck injury for WVU women’s soccer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown.
For the majority of West Virginia’s 1-0 loss against No. 15 Virginia inside Dick Dlesk Stadium on Thursday, all Izzo-Brown could do was shake her head.
“Tough one tonight,” she began. “Thought we were good enough to win.”
The argument could be made that the Mountaineers (0-1) were good enough to go toe-to-toe with the 15th-ranked team in the country, at least for about 89 minutes and 59 seconds of a 90-minute match.
That one second was the killer, a corner kick in the 64th minute off the foot of Lia Godfrey that landed about a foot away from the left post.
Somehow it found enough of Virginia midfielder Ella Carter’s foot to ricochet into the net past a diving WVU keeper Mackenzie Smith for the lone goal.
“We know better,” Izzo-Brown said. “A couple of people are going to be (disappointed). Not one person wins a game or loses a game for us. We’re going to be disappointed in that goal. Credit to Virginia, but that is something we definitely can eliminate.”
Otherwise it may have been one of the strangest statistical matches.
Virginia’s top offensive player — senior forward Maggie Cagle — played 71 minutes and never got a sniff at the goal.
WVU already had four shots on goal before the Cavaliers (1-0) registered one.
“We were making their keeper make saves all the way to the end,” Izzo-Brown said. “We’re coming at you through the midfield. We’re coming at you through our three-front. Even our outside-backs; Jacey (Rase) came in and created a great chance. It was frustrating.”
WVU took 14 shots, while Virginia took eight. Only two of Virginia’s shots were on goal, but the Cavaliers only needed the one.
“You can’t give a team like Virginia seven corner kicks and expect them not to score,” Izzo-Brown said. “It’s a great understanding for us on where we have to get better. It’s just frustrating to have 14 shots, five on goal, five corner kicks and still have a game like we did tonight.”
If nothing else, WVU proved it can defend in the open field like it is traditionally known for. The Mountaineers did have two breakout chances in the first half that were quickly gobbled up by Virginia defender Tatum Galvin.
Those chances went all the way to the end, with Roxanne Vilain taking one final shot with less than five seconds remaining that went wide right.
It was those missed opportunities that piled up that had Izzo-Brown shaking her head.
“I thought we put a lot of pressure on Virginia,” Izzo-Brown said. “Anyone who watched the game would’ve felt that walking away with a draw would have been a better result, if not us winning. We created enough chances for that.”
