Tsukada’s Ninetieth-minute PK offers WVU males a 2-1 win on Senior Evening

MORGANTOWN — The No. 7 West Virginia males’s soccer crew concluded its common season schedule on Tuesday evening with one other late objective to safe a victory at house, this time in opposition to visiting Outdated Dominion on Senior Evening.

Yutaro Tsukada transformed a penalty kick within the Ninetieth minute with simply 33 seconds left within the match giving the Mountaineers (12-1-4) the go-ahead, game-winning objective.

The Monarchs (5-6-5) equalized late within the second half within the eighty fifth minute with a penalty kick of their very own that was buried by Karan Mandair because the guests seemed certain to go house with a powerful draw.

Not lengthy after nevertheless, WVU captain Otto Ollikainen earned a foul contained in the field of ODU that resulted in a PK with lower than a minute left that Tsukada slotted calmly into the again of the online.

With the win, the Mountaineers earn the 3-seed within the Solar Belt Convention match and can journey to Orlando for the primary recreation.

“Clearly we’re relieved that we received the sport and that we discovered a method late on,” WVU head coach Dan Stratford stated. “There are issues we might want to enhance upon coming into postseason play. We weren’t at our greatest at present however we received the sport and have to have a look at the positives. We all know we’ve got simply had among the best seasons in program historical past but additionally know every part we need to obtain is in entrance of us.”

The Mountaineers noticed nearly all of possession on offense within the opening half however every crew earned some harmful possibilities within the attacking third all through. Simply because it appeared we have been headed to a scoreless halftime, the house crew discovered a breakthrough.

A WVU nook kick wasn’t correctly cleared by the Monarchs and allowed WVU defender Max Broughton to whip a move again into the field. After a scrum, Mountaineer defender Carlos Hernando pounced on the unfastened ball and fired it into the online.

“We had some good build-up and I feel the objective got here off a second ball after a set piece,” Stratford stated. “Carlos is a technical participant so when the ball drops to him, whilst a defender, I really feel assured that he has the standard to complete it.”

Stable protection all through the second half noticed the Mountaineers securing their lead however not cushioning it both. Regardless of having a number of possibilities to attain, neither crew discovered the again of the online till the late equalizer for ODU from the Mandair penalty kick.

Shortly after, Tsukada transformed from the spot as properly, giving WVU one other late win at house and securing third place within the Solar Belt with a Senior Evening victory.

“We’ve had an unimaginable common season and hope to hold that into the postseason,” Stratford stated. “We need to proceed to belief the method we’ve got all season and keep in mind that while it could possibly really feel like a win-or-go-home scenario, what we’ve performed thus far has labored and what we’ve performed thus far has allowed us to win as many video games as we’ve got.”

The Mountaineers will journey to Orlando for the opening spherical of the Solar Belt Convention match and can start play on Sunday, Nov. 5.