MORGANTOWN — The WVU men’s soccer team should be able to begin the NCAA tournament with a penalty kick on Thursday.
That’s because the Mountaineers were fouled hard Monday, the day the NCAA selection committee robbed the 10th-ranked Mountaineers of one of the 16 national seeds.
“For me, the RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) is there for a reason,” WVU head coach Dan Stratford said. “We’re a top 16 team in the RPI. We’re just one of three teams with a loss. We’ve played 20 games with 10 games against teams that made the NCAA tournament last year.”
Rather than getting a first-round bye, the Mountaineers (12-1-7) will host North Florida (7-7-4), out of the Atlantic Sun Conference, at 7 p.m. Thursday, with the winner traveling to No. 11-seed Virginia next Sunday.
The RPI ranks teams based on overall record and strength of schedule. WVU was No. 16 in the RPI following its penalty-kicks victory against Marshall on Sunday.
WVU won both the Sun Belt Conference regular-season title and the tournament’s championship and has been ranked in the top 10 in the national polls all season, including two stints at No. 1 in the nation.
Yet the Mountaineers were left out of the national seeding, while Marshall earned a No. 13 national seed, even though the Thundering Herd finished second behind WVU in the Sun Belt standings.
Did that leave a sour taste in WVU’s mouth?
“We need to use it as motivation, and a little bit of anger, perhaps,” Stratford said. ”We need to take it out on, hopefully not just one team, but two teams later this week.”
It wasn’t just that the Mountaineers — who advanced to the College Cup last season before falling in the national semifinals — were left out that rubbed Stratford the wrong way.
It was also who the committee put in above the Mountaineers.
“You have an Indiana team that’s No. 21 in the RPI and is a 14-seed,” Stratford said. “That’s not Indiana’s fault. That is an opinion that’s played a role in that decision somewhere. The math would tell you we deserved to be one of those seeded teams.”
The NCAA men’s soccer tournament consists of a 48-team field, with the 16 national seeds all getting a first-round bye.
Ohio State received the No. 1 overall seed, followed by Pitt, Denver and Georgetown.
“We believe we’re built for this time of year,” Stratford said. “We have a really experienced group. I mentioned to our guys there may be no other team in the country with as much tournament experience as us. We have a ton of returning guys who have experience on this stage. We’ll know how to handle it with great maturity.”
