WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University men's soccer team rallied for a wild 2-1 double-overtime win against arch rival Wheeling here Friday under the lights at the West Family Athletic Complex.
Josh Yeaman's second goal of the night with the clock running out in overtime gave Coach
Sean Regan's Hilltoppers (1-2-0) the most thrilling win in the young program's brief history while handing the visiting Cardinals (0-4-0) the most heartbreaking of setbacks.
Trailing 1-0 late in regulation, West Liberty created several good scoring chances down the stretch and even saw an apparent game-tying goal wiped out by a razor-thin offsides flag before Yeaman found a little March magic for the equalizer.
Mikel Ubeda drove a ball into the box from 30 yards out that found Yeaman's foot. Yeaman controlled the ball in traffic and drove it home to knot the score at 1-1 in the 81st minute.
The score remained tied heading into overtime with the Hilltoppers continuing to create scoring opportunities only to lack the finishing touch.
Just when it seemed the game was destined to end in a 1-1 draw, West Liberty forced a late corner kick and Yeaman redirected
Vitor Otsuka's well-placed service into the net for the game-winner.
The Hilltoppers outshot Wheeling by a 22-9 margin on the evening and had a 7-1 edge in corner kicks.
Noah Underwood had 5 saves in goal to pick up his first win of the season for the Black and Gold. Josh Zimmerman was charted with 5 saves for Wheeling.
The Hilltoppers go on the road next week for a March 19 game at Davis & Elkins. It's set for a 5 p.m. kickoff.
MEN'S SOCCCER
West Liberty 2, Wheeling 1, ot
Wheeling 1 0 0 0 – 1
West Liberty 0 1 0 1 – 2
Second Half
WU: Cesar Coello (Alvaro Munoz Lopez), 19:41
WLU:
Josh Yeaman (
Mikel Ubeda), 80:03
Overtime
WLU:
Josh Yeaman (
Vitor Otsuka), 119:23
Match Statistics
Shots: Wheeling 9, West Liberty 22
Saves: Wheeling 5 (Josh Zimmerman 5), West Liberty 5 (
Noah Underwood 5)
Corners: Wheeling 1, West Liberty 7
