During the Gold-Blue spring game on Saturday, the West Virginia coaching staff named wide receiver Cyrus Traught the recipient of the 2026 Tommy Nikolich Award.

The award, which is always given out at the end of spring ball, recognizes a walk-on team member who has distinguished himself through his attitude and work ethic. The award is presented in memory of Tommy Nickolich, a former WVU player (1980-82) who passed away from cancer in 1983.

Traugh is a Parkersburg native and graduate of Parkersburg South High School. He began his career at Youngstown State before transferring back home to play for the Mountaineers last season. In his final year with the Penguins, he logged 36 receptions, 409 yards, and a team-leading five touchdowns, two of which came against Pitt.

During the 2025 campaign with the Mountaineers, he saw action against Robert Morris and Kansas, playing 10 snaps against the Jayhawks, but did not record any stats.

Head coach Rich Rodriguez has mentioned him twice this spring as someone who has been doing some good things and making progress. Wide receivers coach Ryan Garrett also showed him some love during his press conference last week.

The Mountaineers completely revamped the wide receiver room this offseason, upping the level of talent at both inside and outside receiver spots, but perhaps Traugh can work his way into the mix if he puts together a strong summer and fall camp. If he’s not a regular in the rotation, he’ll serve as a quality depth piece who can play special teams.

Past Nickolich Award winners:

2025: Clay Ash, RB

2024: Avery Wilcox, S

2023: C.J. Cole, WR

2022: Nick Malone, OL

2021: Graeson Malashevich, WR/H

2020: Osman Kamara, S

2019: Jake Abbott, LB

2018: Evan Staley, K

2017: Nick Meadows, LS

2016: Jon Lewis, DL

2015: Justin Arndt, LB

2014: Michael Calicchio, OL

2013: Connor Arlia, WR                     

2012: Tyler Anderson, DE

2011: Ryan Nehlen, WR

2010: Matt Lindamood, FB

2009: Josh Taylor, DL

2008: Adam Hughes, LS

2007: Andy Emery, LB

2006: Tim Lindsey, LS

2005: George Shehl, H/DB

2004: Jeff Noechel, LB

2003: John Pennington, WR

2002: Moe Fofana, RB

2001: Jeremy Knapp, TE

2000: Ben Collins, LB

1999: Bryan Lorenz, LB

1998: Mark Corman, TE

1997: David Lightcap, DB

1996: Matt Ceresa, OL

1995: Rob Keys, DB

1994: Randy Fulmore, DB

1993: Matt McCulty, WR

1992: Brett Parise, WR, Ray Wilcox, LB

1991: Keith Taparausky, RB

For a moment, it looked like FC Dallas was on its way to another statement win at home tonight.

Petar Musa scored two first half goals, to extend his Golden Boot leading tally to nine goals. But after Dallas grabbed control, the Galaxy found a way back before halftime with goals from Lucas Sanabria and Joseph Paintsil.

The second half brought more chances and more frustration for Dallas, which finished the night with 13 shots to LA’s nine. In the end, the point stretched Dallas’ unbeaten run to five games, though just like last week, it felt like another match where Dallas left points on the table.

Key Moments

7’ – GOAL! After a poor pass back by a LA defender, Petar Musa was free to go one-on-one with the LA goalkeeper. After a touch to get ahead of a defender, Musa slotted home his eighth goal of the season from outside the penalty box.

21’ – Offside! Joaquin Valiente sent a floating ball over the Galaxy defense, where Musa was able to get behind the defense and make an easy play for what appeared to be his second goal of the night. The play was called offside despite a fairly lengthy review period.

38’ – GOAL! This one counts! Musa gets his second of the night off a great ball from Chris Cappis. Logan Farrington picked off the ball in the midfield. He then played Cappis wide to the left of the penalty area. Cappis immediately played a ball back across the goal for Musa to slide in and finish for his ninth of the season.

43’ – Goal LA. Lucas Sanabria got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He took a couple of touches to get outside the penalty box before firing a shot that beat Michael Collodi at the near post.

45+4’ – Goal LA. Gabriel Pec got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He pulled the ball back a bit, which caught a pair of Dallas defenders. This allowed Joseph Painstil to get free behind the Dallas defense as Pec played him through inside the penalty area. Pec immediately smashed home a shot above Collodi to tie the game.

75’ – Another offside goal. This time on a corner kick for Dallas, after a scrum in the penalty box, Kaick hammered home what looked to be the go-ahead goal. But after a few seconds the flag was raised due to a deflection on Osaze Urhoghide, who was in an offside position.

Instant Reaction

Yeah, this is another disappointing result for this team. In a real way, it felt like the first half against Houston from last month. Dallas grabbed the lead, looked in control, but some defensive miscues opened the game up for the visitors to climb back.

With a double-game week coming up, this will certainly be another game where Dallas will wonder ‘what if’ more than anything else…especially when you factor in the two goals called off for offside.

About the Subs

Eric Quill went to his bench for the first time in the 66th minute, as he brought on Santiago Moreno for Logan Farrington. Quill went to his bench again 81st minute with Ran Binyamin and Nolan Norris coming on for Sebastien Ibeagha and Deedson. The final sub came during stoppage time with Herman Johansson and Joaquin Valiente coming off for Sam Sarver and rookie Nick Simmonds, who made his MLS debut.

Man of the Match

No question about it tonight, it has to be Musa.

Where does this fit into the season

As of this writing, the draw puts Dallas into a three-way tie for 5th place with Real Salt Lake and Seattle. Both are in action right now and look firmly in control of their games. I’d expect Dallas to be in 7th place by the end of the night.

What’s next for FC Dallas

Dallas wraps up a three-game homestand next Wednesday night as they host Minnesota United.

Argentine forward’s brace included the match winner against Colorado Rapids in front of over 75,000 fans in Denver.

Lionel Messi scored a brace and ‌German Berterame headed another as Inter Miami earned a ⁠3-2 win over ⁠the Colorado Rapids in Major League Soccer (MLS) on Saturday in Denver.

Messi scored the go-ahead goal in the 79th minute. He started a run just inside midfield and went ⁠unchallenged until the box, where he blasted into the upper left corner for a 3-2 lead.

Rafael Navarro and Darren Yapi each scored for Colorado (4-4-0, 12 points) in front of 75,824 at Empower Field, the second-largest crowd in MLS history.

Miami (4-1-3, 15 points) took a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute after Colorado goalkeeper Zack Steffen’s pass was intercepted by Yannick Bright. Josh Atencio offered a hard challenge ‌and was shown a yellow card after video review.

Messi took the resulting penalty and rolled his shot straight down the middle as Miami took a 1-0 lead.

Colorado had a solid look at the goal when midfielder Wayne Frederick attempted a one-touch lob. Miami goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair was out of position and well beyond the penalty arc after heading away a loose ball, but Frederick’s attempt sailed ⁠over the open net.

In the fifth minute of first-half stoppage ⁠time, Miami extended their lead to 2-0, connecting on a series of passes deep in their attacking third. Messi got the run of play started with a tight touch pass to Rodrigo De ⁠Paul.

De Paul sent Mateo Silvetti on a run to the boundary line. His inward-spinning cross floated to the front of ⁠goal, where Berterame rose above the Colorado defence and ⁠tucked a header under the bar.

Navarro’s goal cut Miami’s lead to 2-1. He started a run in midfield and used a step-over move to get an open shot a few steps into the ‌box that tucked inside the left post past a diving St. Clair in the 58th minute.

In the 62nd minute, second-half substitute Yapi settled on a direct pass from Lucas ‌Herrington ‌and sizzled a shot past St. Clair for the equaliser.

Miami closed the win playing a man down as Yannick Bright was sent off with a red card in the 87th minute.