MORGANTOWN — If you drive on Van Voorhis Road in Morgantown, coming around the turn in front of Suncrest United Methodist Church, you can kind of see a glimpse of Milan Puskar Football Stadium, where West Virginia plays football on Saturday in front of an average 60,000 screaming fans.

You continue west down Van Voorhis, at the top of the hill, is Hope Coliseum, where the basketball team plays. The two biggest sports teams are within an eyeshot of each other.

If you look harder, and take the turn, in the shadow of the basketball arena is Dlesk Soccer Stadium, where both soccer teams play. Realistically, and figuratively, and even financially, the soccer stadium and team are overshadowed by basketball and football.

The soccer teams have outshone football, at least, in terms of success this year. On Monday, both women’s and men’s soccer were ranked No. 5 in the Rating Percentage Index (RPI). Men’s soccer came in at No. 4 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, and women’s soccer broke into the top 25 at 25.

Men’s soccer is 7-1-2 and hasn’t lost since Sept. 3, and women’s soccer is 8-2-2 and hasn’t lost since the third game back in August. Both teams are on a heater.

Long-time women’s coach Nikki Izzo-Brown has had WVU at the top of college soccer for years, but men’s coach Dan Stratford is newer, being hired in 2020, and is setting his culture. He’s had success, too.

A couple of weeks into the season, both teams are among the top teams in the country.

“I want everybody to win, and having Dan, funny enough, I was here when Dan played,” Izzo-Brown said. “For me, to see the success he’s having, and all the staff is having, it really is an exciting moment for me to see them transition, not only for excellent players, but now as coaches. That’s awesome. I’m glad that they hit the fifth RPI, and we’re there, too.”

Financially, soccer and other sports at WVU, not named football and men’s basketball, are at a disadvantage. In the NCAA settlement, schools are now allowed to pay athletes directly parts of their revenue sharing, up to $20.5 million each year. How the schools split that up depends on the athletic department. Most Power Four schools were projected to split it 80-90% for football and 10-20% for basketball, depending on the caliber of the program. What’s left over is for the other sports. That’s not a lot.

Athletic director Wren Baker said he’s splitting up the revenue sharing by giving out what the sport brings in. With both soccer programs on an upward trajectory this year, it’s going to be hard for Baker not to give them a slightly bigger part of the pie.

There’s still a lot of season ahead. This weekend, women’s soccer faces Houston in Morgantown, a chance to see a top-25 Mountaineers squad in a favorable matchup on Friday. The Cougars are 6-2-4 and haven’t picked up a win in their last four matches.

Men’s soccer is on the road in the Sun Belt Conference against Coastal Carolina on Friday. It should be another win for the Mountaineers, extending their win streak to three.

Both teams are on track to make some noise in the postseason late in the fall.

Izzo-Brown wants to keep the momentum rolling for both programs and realizes the challenges to keep the pace up throughout the season.

“That’s always a hard balance because they’re student athletes, and that’s something we have to manage and keep balance with,” Izzo-Brown said. “I think our captains do a great job with it, and it’s always something that we’re striving for to keep focus and understanding that the next game becomes that much more important, especially because we haven’t lost, and how important that Houston game is now.”

With the success from both sides, Izzo-Brown said the two programs feed off each other, pushing each other to be great. Maybe that’s what football’s missing: a team to push them. That’s what the crazy, vocal WVU fans are for. It just hasn’t been working.

The football team might be disappointing, and who knows what’s to come from basketball, but soccer is alive and well in Morgantown.

“I think it’s the excitement of soccer,” Izzo-Brown said. “I think they’re doing so well, I’m their biggest cheerleader.”