CHARLESTON, West Virginia - WVU Tech men's soccer took the National title for the second consecutive year after a strong showing at the 2014 United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) National Championship Tournament. The Golden Bears earned the championship with a 2-0 shutout victory over the University of Maine at Fort Kent Saturday afternoon at the Friends of Coal Trace Fork Soccer Complex.
Tech finished the season with an overall record of 17-1-1 while the Bengals ended their 2014 run with an impressive 20-1-1 record. Last season, the Golden Bears defeated UMFK 2-1 for the title.
As the host school, WVU Tech had the support from a combination of family, friends and Golden Bear fans, giving Trace Fork an electrifying atmosphere for the men's final game of the season.
Tech took that energy and struck first in the Championship game after a grueling 34 minutes of battling with the Bengals. The Golden Bears put out seven shots in that time, but it was the eighth that put the team on the scoreboard.
Senior
Juan Suarez ended up with the ball when he found an open teammate, delivering the perfect pass to freshman
Alex Pastor who found the back of the net to take Tech to a 1-0 lead with ten minutes left in the half.
The Bengals managed two more shots while the Golden Bears didn't get any more off for the remainder of the first 45 minutes.
WVU Tech's defense picked up the pace working hard and working together for the remaining time left in this 90 minute match-up, not allowing the Bengals another opportunity at the goal to finish the game.
A couple of seconds before the clock stopped at 46:33, Pastor made his way towards the goal when he saw the opportunity to deliver the ball to junior
Carlos Sendin. Pastor and Sendin connected to score a security goal for the victory in the 47
th minute to give Tech the eventual 2-0 win.
Sophomore goalkeeper
Hunter Moles had a total of two saves during the Championship game. The sophomore ended the season with a 0.67 goals against average, ranking fifth in the USCAA.
As a team, the Golden Bears held advantage in shots (16-3), shots on goal (7-2) and corner kicks (8-4).