The WVU men’s soccer team knew exactly what to expect from High Point. But unlike two months ago, this time, they didn’t have the early goal to give them an edge — and that meant they paid the price.
Once again, West Virginia fell behind the Panthers, but this time, the Mountaineers did so without a first-half goal. Instead, the hosts scored the first three goals of the contest, leaving West Virginia to chase. The Mountaineers did it well enough to claw two goals back, but couldn’t find the equalizer, as their season ended in the second round of the NCAA tournament with a 3-2 loss to High Point on Sunday at Vert Stadium.
Exactly two months to the day of the teams’ first meeting, West Virginia (13-5-3) found itself facing a tidal wave in the first half from High Point’s offense. The Panthers (14-1-4) became the rare team to outshoot the Mountaineers, placing six shots on goal to West Virginia’s five.
In the first meeting, Felix Ewald’s goal came after 16 seconds, allowing West Virginia to dictate terms. But this time, the Mountaineers couldn’t break through in the first 45 minutes.
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Instead, Noah Behrmann and Mo Guettel both created something out of nothing past the half-hour mark. Both scored an unassisted marker before the break, forcing the Mountaineers into a two-goal hole at the half. High Point then added a third goal when Daniel Lugo found Chris Niblock for the marker.
For the second straight match, West Virginia would need at least three goals to survive.
WVU Men’s Soccer Fights Back, But Falls Short
Niblock’s goal appeared to stir something in the West Virginia attack. Three minutes later, Isaac Scheer began the comeback attempt by taking a feed from Pablo Pozos and slotting it home. With 34 minutes still to play, a comeback still had a chance.
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Had the Mountaineers found something before the final 10 minutes, victory might have been realistic. Juan Alvarez certainly tried, getting a header to the net before Josh Caron saved it in the 68th minute. In the 82nd minute, Alvarez again sent a ball to the line, only to have the High Point defense clear it away and preserve the edge.
Alvarez finally made good on a scoring chance in the 86th minute, when he set up Marcus Caldeira for the Mountaineers’ second goal. However, with just four minutes left and High Point able to focus on protecting what it had, West Virginia didn’t have enough time to complete the comeback. That proved the last real scoring chance, as the Panthers squeezed the life out of the game and the Mountaineers’ season.
WVU Falls In Second Round Again
West Virginia met its end in the second round for the second straight season. The Mountaineers have become a tournament mainstay under Dan Stratford, winning a game in four of the past five NCAA tournaments. However, they’ve only made a deep run once since joining the Sun Belt, which came when the 2023 team made the College Cup.
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Overall, West Virginia mostly stuck to its game plan well, but teams gradually adjusted to it over the course of the season. Moving forward, the Mountaineers will need to show an ability to be more dynamic and catch opponents off-guard to make a deeper run.
