WVU kicked off the Sun Belt Conference Championship in style, coming back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Georgia Southern in Morgantown.
The top-seeded playoff hosts starred in the first of two matches at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium on Sunday, playing eighth seed Georgia Southern before Kentucky and South Carolina take the field at 7 p.m.
Just as it did in the teams’ regular season matchup in October, Georgia Southern scored two goals on the Sun Belt Regular Season Champions. This time, junior backup Zachary Martin scored both and did so in less than a minute.
With under 10 minutes remaining in the first half, Martin bumped in a backwards header off a corner kick from Massimo Caruso to put Georgia Southern up 1-0.
Goalkeeper Marc Bonnaire found himself upset after the Georgia Southern goal, leading to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for WVU. Defenseman Alistair Danjon took the penalty kick, which Bonnaire blocked toward Martin, who tapped in to score on Bonnaire’s right.
WVU left the half just down one thanks to a successful penalty kick by junior forward Marcus Caldeira, but the deficit loomed over the Mountaineers for roughly 25 minutes of game time.
In the 61st minute, senior defenseman Carlos Hernando scored a header of his own off a corner kick from Frederik Jorgensen to tie up the match. Hernando’s goal was his only shot of the night in 45 minutes played.
After the second goal, West Virginia kept the pressure on to finish with 14 more shots than Georgia Southern in the match. The Mountaineers earned all six corner kicks of the second half, which helped keep the Eagles out of a scoring position.
Ultimately, though, Georgia Southern kept West Virginia quiet through most of the second half until Sun Belt Player of the Year Sergio Ors Navarro capped off the comeback with an explosive jump toward the net for a header. Dante Huckaby earned the assist with the corner kick in the 81st minute.
Bonnaire had to make one last save in the match with 37 seconds remaining, but in the end, Ors Navarro’s goal would be the last, as WVU ended Georgia Southern’s season, 3-2.
With the win, WVU will see the field again on Wednesday against the winner between Kentucky and South Carolina. That match is set for 7 p.m.
Photo by Korey Moore, Blue Gold Sports
