MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – No. 1 seed West Virginia’s surprising 2-0 loss to No. 8 TCU during the Big 12 Conference championship in San Antonio last week dealt a harsh lesson to the Mountaineers.

Head coach Nikki Izzo-Brown’s side entered the tournament as regular-season champions after racking up a 7-0-1 record in its first tilt at the Big 12. Two free headers from two corner kicks ousted the favorites at the tournament’s first hurdle despite carrying a 25-12 advantage in shots.

“Everyone’s got a job to do and we recognized against TCU that when you don’t do your job, things can happen,” said Izzo-Brown after the NCAA championship draw Monday that pitted the Mountaineers against Ivy League title winners Princeton.

WVU’s players have carried out their jobs with near impeccability over the past two months. Baylor was the only Big 12 team to avoid defeat against the conference newcomers during the regular season as West Virginia’s form picked up after the team stumbled to a 2-3-0 record in its first five non-conference games in August. Izzo-Brown’s remodeled back line began to find its shape and the Mountaineers’ profligacy in front of goal dissipated, at least until last week in Texas. The pain of defeat has left the team with a burning desire to make sure it doesn’t underperform again.

“Losses are your best opportunity to learn and I think we learned a good lesson being on the road, coming out and not performing the way we felt we should have,” Izzo-Brown said.

West Virginia had ridden its luck defending set pieces against some of its physically imposing Big 12 opponents. Nine outfield players and goalkeeper Sara Keane packed the 6-yard box at corner kicks against TCU – a tactic employed by the Mountaineers during the regular season. But Izzo-Brown’s players failed to attack the ball as it approached their zone. Monica Alvarado and Kelly Johnson crashed into the heart of WVU’s voluminous rearguard to find the net within the opening 15 minutes of each half.

Izzo-Brown’s offense hadn’t been shut out since a scoreless tie against Miami on Sept. 2, yet her team’s final third play also deserted it against the Horned Frogs. Forwards Kate Schwindel and Kelsie Maloney hesitated when they had good shooting chances in the first half, and senior midfielder Bri Rodriguez forced a big save from TCU goalkeeper Vittoria Arnold shortly after the turnaround.

Schwindel and leading scorer Frances Silva frequently found themselves facing double coverage and WVU’s passes went astray trying to find them in and around the penalty area. Rodriguez blasted a 20-yard shot off Arnold’s left goal post midway through the second half as the Mountaineers scampered to find a way back into the game.

“We just didn’t come out ready,” said Rodriguez, who is entering her fourth and final NCAA tournament. “TCU definitely looked like they wanted it more than we did. We didn’t start playing until we were 2-0 down.”

The loss curtailed an otherwise stellar week for West Virginia. Izzo-Brown received the Big 12 Coach of the Year award, senior left-back Bry McCarthy scooped the Defensive Player of the Year honor, and Rodriguez and Schwindel joined her on the All-Big 12 first team. Silva was picked for the All-Big 12 second team, and three players (Leah Emaus, Kara Blosser and Maloney) made the All-Newcomer side.

Saturday’s game against Princeton is likely to be the last time that McCarthy, Rodriguez and WVU’s other senior players perform before the school’s home crowd at Dick Dlesk Stadium in Morgantown, unless the Mountaineers reach the Elite Eight stage and higher seeded teams in that part of the bracket are eliminated.

“That’s huge,” McCarthy said. “We know that we can play really well at home and it’s going to be a huge advantage for us.

“On any given day we can beat anybody,” the Canadian internationalist said. “We beat Stanford, the No. 1 team. When we come to play and we stick to the game plan we can do anything.”

Ian Thomson is a freelance soccer reporter and founder of The Soccer Observer Web site. Follow him on Twitter at @SoccerObserver.

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