WVU men’s soccer beats Coastal Carolina in overtime to advance to Sun Belt title game
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MORGANTOWN -- It's as if No. 7 West Virginia men's soccer had tried a similar play a hundred times, and for more than 90 minutes. The Mountaineers earned a cross and fired it into Coastal Carolina's box but came up empty.
Eventually WVU broke through. Graduate defender Aurelien Cormier leathered in a cross to the line of teal and white, and defender Civan de Jesus Ferreira's head emerged and headed it into the back of the net.
"I decided because (Cormier) was going to swing it in, I kind of backed off from the side, and when he swung it in, I just went and attacked the ball," de Jesus Ferreira said. "Yeah, it just went in. I just tried my best to get my head in there. It was a great cross."
de Jesus Ferreira's goal came in the 96th minute to help top-seeded WVU beat No. 5 Coastal Carolina 1-0 in the semifinals to send the Mountaineers to the Sun Belt Conference title. This is WVU's first conference title appearance since 2024, when it played Marshall.
WVU is now on a seven-game winning streak at 12-2-4.
"Not quite how we drew it up," head coach Dan Stratford said. "We've gone on this fantastic run. We're still on this run, thankfully. We've played some brilliant football in recent weeks... It would be unrealistic to think there wasn't going to be a little bit of adversity, a little bump in the road, a little challenge like tonight."
The Mountaineers, being the higher seed, will host No. 6-seeded South Carolina on Sunday at Dick Dlesk Stadium at 1 p.m. for the Sun Belt Conference Championship. The Gamecocks upset No. 2 Marshall 4-3 in overtime as well. South Carolina overcame a 3-0 deficit in the first half to win the game.
The Mountaineers played a majority of the half with a man up. Coastal Carolina was assessed
six yellows during the game, and the Chanticleers were handed a red card in the 57th minute. Coastal Carolina was playing on the back foot. WVU's associate coach Andy Wright actually received a red card, too, which puts him out for the title game.
For almost the entire second half, the Mountaineers were on the attack, but just couldn't break through. WVU had 19 shots in the second half and worked nine corners. In the 85th minute, the Mountaineers looked like they had finally found an opening. Pablo Pozos scored off a deflected pass. The goal was reviewed and overturned because Pozos was offsides, according to replay.
Back to 0-0, which led the game into overtime.
de Jesus Ferreira said when those type of reviews happen, the team is already preparing for it to be reversed.
"We still talk about the next play already," de Jesus Ferreira said. "We were like, even if the goal gets disallowed, let's get ready, let's get set up for the throw-in. We just go in with the mindset of the goal or the red card is getting taken away. We focus on the game instead of being hopeful."
Coastal Carolina played a lot more defensively with a man down. WVU had the advantage from a personnel standpoint, but it was even harder to score because of how the Chanticleers stacked the box, playing for penalties, where it would be an even playing field.
The Mountaineers threw everything they had at them. They had a total of 34 shots in the game. Despite coming up empty so many times, WVU stayed calm and eventually squeaked through.
"We just keep going," Cormier said. "We kept believing that was the main thing between us. We just keep going, keep going."
Coastal Carolina head coach Adam Perron had a plan on how they could score down a man. Coastal Carolina wanted to catch WVU in transition. The Chanticleers had the Mountaineers against a wall a little, but it was unsuccessful in terms of resulting in a goal.
WVU's defense earned a program-record eighth-straight shutout on the back of goalkeeper Toby Mawer and the backline. Defender Tristan Pusztahegyi said the team takes a lot of pride in the clean sheets. The defense actually checks around the league to make sure they are leading the way.
"It's always in the back of our heads," Pusztahegyi said. "It's always good to keep that, so we don't let the other team score. If we don't let them score, we at least get a tie."
The Mountaineers take their program record into a tough matchup against South Carolina. WVU played the Gamecocks once this season on Oct. 3 at home, and the two schools drew, 1-1.
Stratford thinks drawing the Gamecocks is the best outcome for NCAA tournament purposes, since South Carolina was higher up in the RPI. But WVU still has to win the match and secure its second title since 2024.
"They'll be high energy," Stratford said. "They'll be running on a lot of adrenaline for sure.”