Game is at Louisville this year, not Cary, unfortunately. Will be televised on ESPNU.
WVU has been one of the top teams in the country all season and is 17-2-4, playing in the tough Sun Belt Conference (not a joke). Common opponents are UCF, Uof and Louisville.
- UCF beat us 2-1 in the season opener; WVU tied them 2-2 in September. Both of those games happened so long ago, not sure if there is anything to glean from that or not.
- We beat Uof 2-0 on Sept. 1; WVU beat them 3-2 on Oct. 12 and 2-0 in the SBC Tournament. Same thing as above - not sure these mean anything.
- Louisville, on the other hand, might tell us something. WVU beat the Cards 1-0 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Nov. 19. Ten days earlier, we beat them 4-1 and beat them 5-0 earlier in the season.
Nine of their top eleven players are international. Yutaro Tsukada (12 g, 9 a) and Marcus Caldeira (12 g, 3 a) are the ones to keep an eye on. Those two have combined for a whopping 146 shots with 68 of those on goal.
Tsukada has scored seven goals in his last seven games, including in three straight. But it's almost entirely those two - WVA is 65th in the country in shots per game at 12.74; we are 19th at 14.81. Only two other players on the team has taken more than 10 shots.... we have 11 players that have taken more than 10 shots.
For reference, Sylla, Richmond, Meinhard, and Parrish have 140 shots on the season with 69 on goal.
When neither Tsukada nor Caldeira score, WVU is 1-2-3 and is averaging just 1 goal a game. In their other 17 games, they are averaging 2.41 goals a game - which would rank 6th in the country. As it is, they are 19th, right behind Louisville and ahead of Wake.
We are second in the country in scoring offense at 2.71.
Defensively, they are allowing .96 goals a game - 39th best in the country. For reference, ND is 3rd (.636), New Hampshire 4th (.643), UNC 6th (.668), we are 21st (.839), Charlotte 22nd (.843), Wake 26th (.884) and Stanford 38th (.950).
Haven't watched them play yet, may try to watch a little. But I'm liking this matchup for the good guys.
WVU has been one of the top teams in the country all season and is 17-2-4, playing in the tough Sun Belt Conference (not a joke). Common opponents are UCF, Uof and Louisville.
- UCF beat us 2-1 in the season opener; WVU tied them 2-2 in September. Both of those games happened so long ago, not sure if there is anything to glean from that or not.
- We beat Uof 2-0 on Sept. 1; WVU beat them 3-2 on Oct. 12 and 2-0 in the SBC Tournament. Same thing as above - not sure these mean anything.
- Louisville, on the other hand, might tell us something. WVU beat the Cards 1-0 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Nov. 19. Ten days earlier, we beat them 4-1 and beat them 5-0 earlier in the season.
Nine of their top eleven players are international. Yutaro Tsukada (12 g, 9 a) and Marcus Caldeira (12 g, 3 a) are the ones to keep an eye on. Those two have combined for a whopping 146 shots with 68 of those on goal.
Tsukada has scored seven goals in his last seven games, including in three straight. But it's almost entirely those two - WVA is 65th in the country in shots per game at 12.74; we are 19th at 14.81. Only two other players on the team has taken more than 10 shots.... we have 11 players that have taken more than 10 shots.
For reference, Sylla, Richmond, Meinhard, and Parrish have 140 shots on the season with 69 on goal.
When neither Tsukada nor Caldeira score, WVU is 1-2-3 and is averaging just 1 goal a game. In their other 17 games, they are averaging 2.41 goals a game - which would rank 6th in the country. As it is, they are 19th, right behind Louisville and ahead of Wake.
We are second in the country in scoring offense at 2.71.
Defensively, they are allowing .96 goals a game - 39th best in the country. For reference, ND is 3rd (.636), New Hampshire 4th (.643), UNC 6th (.668), we are 21st (.839), Charlotte 22nd (.843), Wake 26th (.884) and Stanford 38th (.950).
Haven't watched them play yet, may try to watch a little. But I'm liking this matchup for the good guys.
