The No. 4-seeded West Virginia men’s soccer was going to need all the help they could get when they faced unbeaten No. 1 Kentucky on Wednesday night.
The Mountaineers would conceded an early goal, and would not be able to come back, eventually losing 3-0 to the Wildcats in the Sun Belt Tournament Semifinals.
Coming into the match, Kentucky had not lost a match all season, while West Virginia had not lost a match since September. Kentucky’s strong offensive attack got on the board in the 22nd minute, with Casper Grening beating West Virginia goalkeeper Jackson Lee.
Grening, appeared to be stopped by three Mountaineer defenders, but after the ball deflected off the foot of one of the defender, Grening had an open look at the goal from the top of the box, and was able to beat a diving lee.
West Virginia would have limited chances in the first half, but were unable to register a shot on goal. West Virginia had two corner kick set pieces, and also almost connected in front of the goal multiple times in the first half.
In the second half, West Virginia opened with a frantic pace. The Mountaineers tried to beat Kentucky and ultimately did, but the play was ruled offsides. West Virginia would battle, before the Wildcats doubled their lead.
Kentucky’s Eythor Bjorgolfsson scored in the bottom left of the goal, assisted by Nick Gutmann, to put the Wildcats ahead 2-0 in the 81st minute. Shortly thereafter, Kentucky would score once more, with Gutmann connecting with Enzo Mauriz to put the finishing touches on Kentucky’s 3-0 victory.
West Virginia’s season is most likely over, after making it to the Elite Eight a season ago.
Photo from Sun Belt Conference
