Mountaineers set to battle South Carolina in Sun Belt semifinals

Adam Grossman, WVU Athletics
·2 min read

ORLANDO, Fla. – The No. 5 West Virginia University men’s soccer team is back on the pitch on Wednesday to take on South Carolina in the Sun Belt Championship semifinals. Kickoff from the UCF Soccer Complex in Orlando is set for 7 p.m.

The Mountaineers advanced to Wednesday’s game after defeating Georgia State, 3-1, in the quarterfinals on Sunday while South Carolina knocked off host UCF in a 2-1 upset victory.

Wednesday’s contest will air on ESPN+. The game also can be heard on 91.7 FM (WWVU) in Morgantown, and live stats are available at WVUsports.com.

In the quarterfinal victory over Georgia State, senior Yutaro Tsukada scored a brace while senior Luke McCormick found the back of the net as well. Sophomore Marcus Caldeira added an assist for the Mountaineers.

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Caldeira leads WVU with 12 goals while Tsukada has eight on the season to go along with his team-high nine assists. McCormick and senior Sergio Ors Navarro have contributed with five goals each this year.

Five Mountaineers earned spots on the All-Sun Belt team with Caldeira and Tsukada being named to the first team. McCormick, junior Frederik Jorgensen, and senior Jackson Lee earned spots on the second team.

Lee has played every minute of the season for the Mountaineers in goal, making 41 saves with a .707 save percentage. He has collected seven clean sheets this year.

Overall, the Mountaineers are 13-1-4 on the season, reaching the 13-win plateau for just the seventh time in program history and only two behind the school record set in 2006.

South Carolina is led by third-year head coach Tony Annan, who is 16-25-9 during his time with the Gamecocks, including 6-8-3 this season after taking down No. 2-seed UCF in the quarterfinals, 2-1, on Sunday.

Adam Luckhurst leads South Carolina with six goals while Kasper Lehm has a team-high four assists.

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