MORGANTOWN — The West Virginia University men’s soccer team and head coach Dan Stratford have made history in recent years, setting the program record for wins and reaching the first-ever College Cup national semifinal last season in 2023.
The Mountaineers (4-0-1) have also done so in 2024, reaching the No. 1 ranking in the United Soccer Coaches poll for the first time in program history after a 3-0-0 undefeated start. They continued that start with another win and a draw from a two-match road trip in California.
While Stratford and his squad have the same goals no matter where they fall in the rankings, he is certainly one to accept the challenge and experience of achieving the rank of the top team in men’s college soccer.
“It’s significant for our program for a number of reasons,” Stratford said. “It’s important to recognize that since we have so many players that returned from that group there isn’t that imposter syndrome to come along with it. It also comes at a time that we feel equipped and ready to manage that title and recognition.”
WVU will return home on Tuesday to host UNC Greensboro at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium in what could be the first-ever match in Morgantown with the Mountaineers being ranked as the No. one team in the country. The United Soccer Coaches poll will be released Tuesday before the match that evening, and there is a strong chance WVU will remain atop the ranks.
“I hadn’t given it any thought up to this point about playing at home with that ranking,” Stratford said. “The support and crowds that we receive at home and being able to have an added investment from your crowd and support from the fans is crucial. We’ve been undefeated at home for nearly two years and knowing that the home-field advantage plays a huge role in what we are doing is amazing.”
The Mountaineers haven’t lost a match at home since Sept.9, 2022, over two years ago. Stratford said the importance of the support surrounding his program certainly doesn’t go unnoticed by anyone on his team.
At first, it may be slightly surprising to hear Stratford and his team mentioning their embrace of the No. 1 ranking, as many coaches for any sport would say it’s just a number and doesn’t matter. But Stratford said owning the role of the top-ranked team is something he finds important for different reasons.
“It would be easy to say we don’t see the rankings and news and all that but the truth is we do,” he said. “We see those things and when we lost a spot in the rankings after winning our first two games I had a few messages on my phone from players wondering how that happened, so to think that they wouldn’t care when we became number one would be naive. I think it’s part of what you must embrace when trying to be the best program in the country. We know what it meant to us to beat a number one team in Marshall last year, so we know how other teams will feel when they come against us as the number one team.”
