West Virginia (4-1-1) needed a late goal to win its first conference game of the season. They are now 1-0 in the Sun Belt Conference after defeating Georgia State, 1-0, at Dick Dlesk Stadium in Morgantown. They also extended their winning streak to three and moved to 4-0 at home on the young season. The game was hanging in the balance in the last 10 minutes, but they found a way to leave with a victory. They are back in action on Tuesday, September 22, against Duquesne at home beginning at 7 p.m. Read more: West Virginia wins first conference match over Georgia State, 1-0.
How it happened
West Virginia controlled the match for the majority of the night but could not find the breakthrough until the 81st minute. The Mountaineers were awarded a corner kick, which was taken by No. 21 Isaac Scheer. He launched the ball into the sea of bodies near the goal, and it ricocheted off the chest of a Georgia State player into the net. The own goal was credited to the team and decided the match.
GOOOOAAAALLLLL!!!
Doesn’t matter how it goes in, as long as it goes in!
81′ | Mountaineers 1, Panthers 0 pic.twitter.com/JF7PJ6PZn9
— WVU Men’s Soccer (@WVUMensSoccer) September 18, 2026
The goal snapped a stretch of misses that had piled up all match. Pablos Pozos, Sammie Wakler, and Juan Alvarez did an excellent job of putting shots on goal throughout the game, but could not get past Jackson Burrell of the Panthers.
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Burrell was excellent in the game, finishing with five saves, while keeping the match scoreless until the final 10 minutes despite WVU’s territorial dominance.
By the numbers
The Mountaineers dominated the shot column. They had 10 shots in the game with six shots on goal. Georgia State finished the match with one shot, which was not on target. WVU goalkeeper Toby Mawer was not tested on goal in the match, which is a testament to the WVU defense. He needed zero saves to keep a clean sheet, while West Virginia was whistled for 15 fouls to Georgia State’s 10.
West Virginia also won the corner kick battle, 12-4, and that stress put on the goal ended up being the difference. Pozos and Walker each finished with two shots on goal on as many shots. Alvarez added another off the bench, while Julen Recalde had one shot on goal.
Three players finished with 90 minutes of action outside of Mawer in goal. Tristan Pusztahegyi, Civan De Jesus Ferreira, and Nacho Martinez all played 90 minutes. Martinez had four of WVU’s 15 fouls. The physical play and the domination of possession ultimately put too much pressure on the Panthers’ goalkeeper and back line. The opportunities mounted for the Mountaineers, and a ball eventually found the back of the net, albeit a mistake made by Georgia State.
The Mountaineers opened conference play with a victory and enjoy home-field advantage in their next match on Tuesday. They follow that with another conference game against in-state rival No. 20 Marshall at Hoops Family Field in Huntington on Sunday, September 27, at 7:15 p.m.
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