The Sun Belt Regular Season Champions are back in action on Wednesday night at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
After a close call against eight seed Georgia Southern, the Mountaineers take on the Kentucky Wildcats in the Sun Belt Conference Semifinals. Kentucky entered the tournament as the fourth seed and narrowly took down South Carolina 1-0 following WVU’s match on Sunday.
Elsewhere in the Sun Belt, second seed Marshall, who is ranked No. 8 in the nation, two spots ahead of WVU, hosts James Madison. The winner of each match will play on Sunday at 1 p.m. for the Sun Belt title. The highest remaining seed will host the conference championship.
West Virginia’s starters for the match are goalkeeper Marc Bonnaire, defenders Frederik Jorgensen, Max Broughton, Dante Huckaby, and Carlos Hernando, forwards Marcus Caldeira and Sergio Ors Navarro, and midfielders Otto Ollikainen, Felix Ewald, Ryan Baer, and Isaac Scheer.
1st Half
In just the second minute, Kentucky already has the first goal of the match, as senior forward Logan Dorsey knocks it into the bottom right corner of Bonnaire’s net. The Wildcats lead 1-0.
At 4:55 into the match, Ors Navarro ties the match at 1-1 on a team attack after a corner kick. Ewald and Jorgensen earn the assist.
West Virginia and Kentucky trade fouls, awarding free kicks to Josh Gordon and Sergio Ors Navarro respectively. Mateo Franzotti, who earned a yellow card for unsportsmanlike conduct following WVU’s goal, tallies Kentucky’s second foul in the 11th minute.
Baer comes front and center to take a shot from behind the penalty area but sends it left and out of bounds. Casper Mols takes the goal kick to start the 14th minute.
Ewald leads a charge up the field in the 22nd minute but gets stopped trying to change directions. After spending time on their own side of the field, WVU comes back down for a long possession marked by plenty of ball movement. WVU does not get a shot off and gives Mols the ball at 25:08 after a failed corner kick play.
Jorgensen slides forward to shoot off a pass inside the penalty area but misses the ball, and WVU loses possession. 30 minutes in, neither team has scored since before the 5-minute mark.
Kentucky makes several stops on an aggressive WVU possession but cannot get the ball away from its own net. The Mountaineers have yet to score a second goal but are keeping the pressure on in the first half.
Just before the 36th minute, Caldeira charges in from the right sideline and shoots across the net. WVU retains possession, and Ors Navarro gets a look from in front of the goal but shoots high and over.
West Virginia attempts a sneaky attack, using a corner kick as a short pass to get better position for the pass inside. Jorgensen gets a shot off in the sequence but is blocked at the end of the 38th minute.
Caldeira gets a shot on goal, coming in toward the right side of the net but is off the mark with less than three minutes remaining in the half. Mols’ save is the first from either goalkeeper in the match.
Kentucky gets a promising possession in the final minute but cannot get a shot off, and Bonnaire makes the catch in the air to stop the Wildcat energy. The half ends tied at 1-1.
2nd Half
Mols secures his second save of the match off Simon Carlson’s first shot of the night less than two minutes into the half.
A free kick for Carlson at the 53-minute mark leads to a WVU score. West Virginia takes the lead with a goal by Hernando, who scores in the top left off the assist from Jorgensen.
The officials award West Virginia another free kick after a penalty on a defending Caldeira. WVU puts the pressure on the Kentucky net, but only Baer can get a blocked shot off. Just under 30 minutes remain.
Kentucky holds its first strong offensive possession of the half, ending in a shot blocked off the head of Sam Nyenka. WVU takes it the other way before Kentucky gets it back. Bertil Alban fires a deep shot at Bonnaire, who knocks the ball just in front of himself for the save.
Nyenka shoots off the back of his heel, facing away from the goal. Mols grabs the slow roller for the save at 66:47.
The ball travels back and forth down both ends of the field as Kentucky attempts to build energy for a quick goal. West Virginia makes repeated stops but cannot hold possession themselves for long. Under 15 minutes remain.
Both teams trade shots, but Scheer fails to make it past Kentucky’s first line of defense, and Wildcat midfielder Martin Soereide is off the mark.
Broughton steals the ball from Kentucky in West Virginia’s left corner and passes it off to Ors Navarro, who leads a charge down field. Baer gets fouled in transition and takes a free kick, nearly leading to a WVU goal. The score remains 2-1 in the 80th minute.
Ors Navarro barrels through two Wildcat defenders and jumps over one as he falls to the ground. He takes a cross shot from the left side but sends it out of bounds at the 83-minute mark.
West Virginia holds off Kentucky to advance to the Sun Belt Conference Championship, which the Mountaineers will now host on Sunday.
Photo by Tanner Mountz, Blue Gold Sports
