Marshall Upsets No. 17 WVU in Thrilling Overtime,Advances to Sun Belt Championship
The No. 12 Marshall Thundering Herd defeated the No. 17 West Virginia Mountaineers 3-2 in a dramatic second-overtime contest Wednesday night, ending WVU’s hopes of repeating as Sun Belt Conference champions. Marshall will now host UCF in the championship game on Sunday, after UCF defeated top-seeded Kentucky 1-0.
The hard-fought semifinal clash at Dick Dlesk stadium saw a flurry of goals in the second half and ultimately a heartbreaking defeat for the Mountaineers. With the victory, WVU will now await its fate and an NCAA tournament bid.
“I thought it was a really good game,” saeid the Mountaineers’ head coach, Dan Stratford. “A fiercely contested game, and a game the longer it went on, the more dominant I felt like we were.”
The match was characterized by physicality and intensity, embodying the spirit of the Mountain State Derby rivalry. A point of contention throughout the night was the officiating crew’s reluctance to issue cards or utilize replay review. However, in the 110th minute, a handball was called against WVU inside the penalty area. After review, the referee confirmed the call, awarding Marshall a penalty kick.
Freshman Joao Alves calmly converted the penalty, sending the ball down the middle as WVU goalkeeper Marc Bonnaire dove to his left, securing a 3-2 victory for the Thundering herd.
Stratford expressed frustration with the call, stating, “Slight misjudgment from the two center backs… The ball bounced between them and was coming over Carlos’ [Hernando] head. I think in the running motion, it hit his hand. I haven’t seen it back. I asked the referee, just for clarification… I think ultimately, it’s just a really cruel moment in the game.”
the game marked a stark contrast to their recent meeting just two weeks prior, where WVU dominated Marshall with a 3-0 victory in Morgantown. That result secured the mountaineers the second seed in the tournament.
Marshall broke the deadlock first, with junior Carl Romberg scoring in the 48th minute – their first goal against WVU as the 77th minute of their 2023 encounter. WVU responded swiftly, as sophomore Isaac Scheer leveled the score in the 53rd minute with his second goal of the season, following a recent goal against old Dominion.
However, Marshall quickly regained the lead, with junior Joao Roberto finding the back of the net in the 57th minute. The Mountaineers once again answered, this time through Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Marcus Caldeira, who scored his 10th goal of the season and his third against Marshall this year, tying the game at 2-2.
A remarkable 15-minute span saw four goals scored, a dramatic shift from the previous three meetings between the two schools, which combined for just three goals.
“The longer the second half went on, I thought the stronger we looked; similarly, in overtime,” Stratford commented. “The nature that the goals came almost brought the game to life a bit in the second half there. I just told them I was really proud of the effort.Really, really proud of the performance.”
Despite the back-and-forth action, WVU continued to press the attack, outshooting Marshall 18-11. However, the Mountaineers were unable to capitalize on their opportunities.
WVU will now await the NCAA tournament selection show on November 17, where they are expected to be a high seed despite this setback.Stratford acknowledged the disappointment of missing out on the conference title, but emphasized that the season is far from over.
“It’ll be a tough one to swallow,” Stratford said.”We know the outcome of the other semifinal, so we would’ve gotten to play here again, and now Marshall will get to host, so that will make it sting a little bit more. But we’ve had a fantastic regular season. We’ve got some good ranked wins, and we’ll see how things shake out.”
