WVU Men’s Soccer has the opportunity to win its first Sun Belt title under Dan Stratford this weekend.
After the narrow defeat of Georgia Southern over the weekend, West Virginia hosted Kentucky in the Sun Belt Conference semifinals on Wednesday.
Despite strong defensive efforts from Kentucky, holding WVU to two 35-minute stretches without scoring, the Mountaineers’ pressure was enough to get them over the edge, as they beat the Wildcats 2-1.
Kentucky entered the match with aggression and caught the Mountaineers off guard to score in just the second minute. Senior forward Logan Dorsey made the goal to the right of goalkeeper Bonnaire for the early lead.
Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Sergio Ors Navarro covered for the Mountaineers shortly thereafter, finishing an impressive, multiple-player attack off a corner kick with a goal of his own to tie the match.
Ors Navarro and Dorsey each scored their 14th goal of the season in the opening minutes, staying tied for the most goals in the Sun Belt this season. Defenseman Frederik Jorgensen and midfielder Felix Ewald earned the assists for Ors Navarro’s goal.
The remaining 40 minutes of the half saw no goals scored, nor did the final 36 minutes of the second half, as WVU scored its second and final goal at the 53:31 mark.
Senior defenseman Carlos Hernando scored the goal off another assist by Jorgensen, who passed the ball to Hernando after a free kick awarded to Simon Carlson. Hernando’s goal was his second of the season after he notched his first on Sunday against Georgia Southern.
Despite the two goals allowed, Kentucky goalkeeper Casper Mols played an impressive match considering West Virginia’s 14 shots, of which he saved four. Marc Bonnaire, who earned the goalkeeper spot on the Sun Belt’s second team, matched his one allowed goal with one save in the match.
At the same time as WVU’s match, No. 8 team in the nation Marshall hosted James Madison in the other semifinal. The Thundering Herd scored once in the first half to take the win 1-0.
Marshall will travel to Morgantown for a 1 p.m. championship match start on Sunday. The Mountaineers tied Marshall in the teams’ only meeting in the regular season finale.
Photo by Tanner Mountz, Blue Gold Sports
