On Aug. 3, 1995, West Virginia University hired Nikki Izzo-Brown to lead its brand-new women's soccer program. Three decades later, she is still at the helm, and the Mountaineers have become one of the country's most consistent programs.

Then-athletic director Ed Pastilong named Izzo-Brown the program's first head coach. Before she was on the sideline, she was on the field as a defender at the University of Rochester from 1989 to 1992, where she earned All-American honors.

Izzo-Brown said the mentality that carried her as a player is the one she brought to coaching.

"I think there was just a certain mentality I brought,” said Izzo-Brown, “and if my talent didn't bring me somewhere, then my effort was going to pull me through, and passion was always my power.”

That work ethic has become a defining part of the program's identity, with players like senior defender Olivia Shertzer embodying all that Izzo-Brown teaches.

"Here we really pride ourselves on that blue-collar mentality, and she definitely does too with her 30 years here,” said Shertzer. “She's always been hard work can beat talent any day.”

Under Izzo-Brown, WVU has captured 18 titles. The most notable season came in 2016, when the Mountaineers finished as College Cup runners-up and earned the first No. 1 ranking in program history.

In her 30 years, Izzo-Brown has gone undefeated in non-conference play five times, including this season. She said finishing that stretch without a loss speaks to the team's character, and that its nine seniors will be key moving forward.

"You know, it's not easy to do what we just did,” said Izzo-Brown. “You know, we wanted to win, win out. But not to lose says a lot about the character of this team, and we just have to make sure that we know that we have nine seniors that are leading us, and that experience is really important.”

The Mountaineers have made 24 of the last 26 NCAA Tournaments and are aiming for a 25th appearance and a third in a row.

Izzo-Brown has led WVU to more than 400 all-time wins, including a Big 12 regular-season title in each of the program's first five years in the conference.

Forty-five of her players have gone on to play professionally, and two of them have won Olympic medals, one gold and one bronze.