On Sunday, the West Virginia men’s soccer team won its final regular-season home game against Georgia State by the score of 3-2.
West Virginia sent out its seven seniors off in the right way, winning in front of the home faithful on a beautiful, warm autumn day.
The Mountaineers and Panthers battled for much of the first half, appearing to be evenly matched, but it was a pair of WVU goals in the beginning of the second half that made the difference for Mountaineers.
The first five minutes of the Sun Belt Conference matchup was packed with action, as WVU’s Ryan Crooks scored in the second minute of the match off a Yutaro Tsukada pass to give the Mountaineers an early 1-0 lead.
Before the West Virginia goal could even be announced, Georgia state answered, as midfielder Simon Carlson scored on an unassisted goal in the third minute of action, tying the match at 1-1.
WVU registered six more shots in the first half, but none of them got through, and the game went to halftime tied 1-1.
The beginning of the second half is where the Mountaineers made their mark on the match, as Luke McCormick broke the tie in the 50th minute with a wide-open goal in front of the net after Marcus Caldeira attacked and pulled the Georgia State keeper out of the net before finding the open McCormick.
In the 52nd minute, WVU extended its lead to 3-1 when Caldeira answered the bell again by scoring on a header after an initial shot rung off the goal post.
West Virginia kept the attack on Georgia State, as the Mountaineers ended up outshooting the Panthers 14-5 in the second half.
Despite getting plenty of chances, West Virginia would not score again, giving the Panthers a chance to hang around.
In the 72nd minute, Georgia State cut the lead to 3-2 when Evan Schroeder put a shot past WVU keeper Jackson Lee.
The goal by Schroeder gave the Panthers hope for a moment, but West Virginia outshot Georgia State 7-1 in the remaining 14 minutes to seal the victory.
West Virginia won the match by the score of 3-2, sending the seniors off on the right note.
WVU head coach Dan Startford spoke on what senior day meant for him and this group of seniors.
“It was sad to go through the recognition before the game and see some of them tear up,” Stratford said. “It just brings me back to when that day happened for me, and it makes you reflect, and we try to use it as fuel.”
West Virginia has one more game on its regular season schedule before entering the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, and that match will be next Friday, October 28th at Georgia Southern.
The Mountaineers and Eagles will kick off at 7 p.m. from Eagle Field in Statesboro, Georgia.
Discover more from Blue Gold Sports
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
