MORGANTOWN — The WVU men’s soccer team earned an at-large bid and a No. 5 overall seed Monday into the NCAA tournament.
A top-16 seed in the field of 48 earns the Mountaineers (14-2-4) a first-round bye and two possible home matches.
The No. 5 seed is the highest in the program’s history and WVU will host the winner of the Dayton-Louisville match at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Dayton will travel to Louisville at 7 p.m. Thursday.
WVU defeated Dayton 1-0 during the regular season.
“Obviously we could see some familiar foes early on,” WVU head coach Dan Stratford said. “We’ve already faced Dayton this season and Louisville isn’t too far away. I always keep a close eye on them and I know the staff there very well.”
If WVU wins the second-round match and advances to the Sweet 16, it would also host that game.
“The reality is there’s only 48 teams left, so you’re going to have to play some good teams early on,” Stratford said. “We’re looking forward to it. We’re the No. 5 seed overall, we’re very pleased with that aspect. The reality is you’re going to play a top-15 team in the country (in the Sweet 16).”
Tickets for Sunday’s game will go on sale through the Mountaineer Ticket Office beginning at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for students and $3 for kids 12 and under. WVU students will be admitted for free with a valid WVU Student I.D.
Tickets can be purchased at WVUGAME.com or by calling 1-800-WVU GAME.
With the selection, the Mountaineers have qualified for the NCAA tournament for the 16th time, including four times in the last six years. WVU’s last trip to the NCAAs was in 2021, when the Mountaineers were the No. 11 overall seed.
WVU enters the tournament needing one victory to match the program record.
WVU enters the tournament coming off a 3-2 loss against Marshall in the finals of the Sun Belt Conference tournament. The Thundering Herd received the No. 1 overall seed.
Five Mountaineers earned all-Sun Belt honors, as sophomore Marcus Caldeira and senior Yutaro Tsukada earned spots on the first team, while junior Frederik Jorgensen, senior Luke McCormick, and senior Jackson Lee earned second-team honors.
Tsukada, McCormick and senior Sergio Ors Navarro also earned spots on the Sun Belt all-tournament team.
The 48-team field is made up of champions from 23 conferences, who qualified automatically, in addition to 25 teams that were selected at-large.
TWEET @DomPostSports
