West Liberty, W.Va. – After making their first-ever appearance in the conference tournament a year ago, the West Liberty University men's soccer team is back in the postseason for the second consecutive season as they travel to Davis & Elkins on Sunday afternoon. The quarterfinal match-up between the Hilltoppers and Senators is set for 3 p.m. at Nutall Field in Elkins, West Virginia, the site of WLU's top-25 upset to open the 2023 season.

GAME DETAILS

• Location: Elkins, W.Va. (Nuttall Field)
• Kickoff: 3 P.M.

WEST LIBERTY STORYLINES

• West Liberty enters Sunday's match with a record of 5-6-6 (4-6-4 MEC) on the season following a 1-1 draw at Wheeling to end the regular season on Wednesday.
• The Hilltoppers finished the regular season sixth place in the conference standings and clinched the six seed in the Mountain East Conference Men's Soccer Tournament, earning their second consecutive postseason appearance.
• WLU placed a program record of six players on the all-conference teams released on Friday afternoon, as Vitor Otsuka, Mark Donnelly, and Jasper Newton were named All-MEC Second Team. The group of Noah Underwood, Zachary Forehand, and Rhys Lewis were named as All-MEC Honorable Mention selections, while Newton and Forehand also held spots on the All-MEC Freshman Team.
• Donnelly leads West Liberty with four goals on the year while Otsuka has found the back of the net three times this season. Lewis, Forehand, Jan Goebel, and Oskar Voges have each added a pair of goals.
• Otsuka is one of six players on the team with an assist and has notched a team-high of six, which is tied for second most in the MEC. Goebel, Lewis, Newton, Tim Stickland, and Shimon Ichimiya each have one.
• Otsuka (3 goals, 6 assists) leads the team with 12 points while Donnelly (4 goals) is second on the team with eight points.
• In goal, Underwood has played 1,440 minutes thus far this season. He has made 67 saves for a .798 save percentage on 196 shots faced, while posting a 1.06 goals-against average. In the draw against WVWC he broke the school's single-season shutouts record, notching his fifth of the year. Underwood also enters the postseason only 11 saves away from tying the MEC career record (all games), over the course of his career he has currently totaled 323 saves while the conference record stands at 334.
• Through 17 matches, West Liberty holds the advantage in goals (20-18), corner kicks (100-84), and saves (70-58) while their opponents hold the edge in assists (13-11), shots (204-193), and shots-on-goal (94-80).
• Sean Regan is in his fifth season as the head coach at West Liberty with a record of 21-47-11 with the Hilltoppers. Overall, he is in his 15th season as a head coach in collegiate men's soccer after spending ten previous seasons at nearby Bethany, he holds a career record of 82-165-23 during his time with the Bison and Hilltoppers.

DAVIS & ELKINS STORYLINES

• Davis & Elkins enters Sunday's match with a record of 8-6-3 (7-5-2 MEC) on the season following a 1-0 win at West Virginia Wesleyan to stretch their win streak to three at the end of the regular season.
• The Senators ended the regular season third in the conference standings and clinched the third seed in the Mountain East Conference Men's Soccer Tournament, earning their fourth consecutive postseason appearance.
• The Senators placed seven players on the all-conference teams on Friday afternoon, as Allan Cuartas, Shemar Daley, and Sahar Golov were each named to the All-MEC Second Team. The trio of Modou Faye, Mattia Bui, and Dominique Castano all landed on the All-MEC Honorable Mention list. Golov and Grant Wyles each earned spots on the All-MEC Freshman Team.
• Daley and Johan Magana lead the team with six goals on the year, tying for seventh most in the MEC. Three of Daley's goals occurred in a September 17 match against Frostburg State for one of seven games with three or more goals in the MEC this season.
• Modou leads D&E with six assists in 2023, tying for second in the league. The duo of Daley Castano have each added three assists this season.
• Daley has totaled a team-best 15 points on the season with six goals and three assists, while Magana is second with 14 points off six goals and two assists.
• Grant Wyles has appeared and started in 15 matches for D&E, totaling 1,350 minutes in goal while making 69 saves with a 0.831 save percentage on 184 shots faced. He holds a 0.93 goals against average to go along with six shutouts this season. He ranks second in the conference in goals-against average, total saves, and saves per game (4.60), and is third in save percentage.
• Through 17 matches Davis & Elkins has held the advantage in goals (23-21) and saves (75-63) while their opponents have held the edge in shots (211-177), shots-on-goal (100-86), and corner kicks (80-65). They have been even with their opponents in assists (17-17).
• Meir Lewin is in his first season as the head coach at Davis & Elkins with a record of 8-6-3 during his time with the Senators. He is in his fourth season as a head coach in collegiate soccer with a 38-18-9 career record after spending the three previous seasons at North Carolina Wesleyan.

SERIES HISTORY

• Davis & Elkins leads the all-time series 8-1.
• The Hilltoppers and Senators split the regular season series with both teams winning on the road. WLU opened the season with a 4-0 upset of then No. 12 D&E on September 2, and then a month later on October 11 the Senators earned a 1-0 win at the West Family Athletic Complex.