The No. 4 West Virginia men’s soccer team will look to continue their advance against No. 1-seed Kentucky for a spot in the Sun Belt Tournament Final on Wednesday night.
The Mountaineers beat Coastal Carolina in the first round of the tournament, winning 1-0. West Virginia’s lone goal came from freshman Marcus Caldeira finding the top-left corner of the net in the 70th minute. Junior goalkeeper Jackson Lee made three huge saves in the contest.
West Virginia will have a tough task ahead of them facing the No. 1-seeded Wildcats, who also rank No. 2 nationally. Kentucky has not lost a game all season long, and are 12-0-5 on the year.
West Virginia and Kentucky played to a 3-3 draw in Morgantown on Oct. 15, in a game the Mountaineers held a late lead, before letting it slip away.
The Mountaineers have never beaten Kentucky, and West Virginia’s victory over Coastal Carolina was the first ever win in a conference tournament for West Virginia under head coach Dan Stratford.
Kentucky heads into this match having beaten No. 8 seed South Carolina 2-1 on Sunday.
The Wildcats rank third in the nation in goal differential, seventh in the country in goals, and 16th in the country in team goals against average.
West Virginia has not lost a match since Sept. 27, as they went through the entire month of October, picking up wins or ending matches in a draw.
West Virginia and Kentucky is set to kickoff at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, with the match being televised on ESPN+.
Photo from Sun Belt Conference
