BECKLEY, West Virginia -- WVU Tech men's soccer keep their flawless record in 2019 and are now the River States Conference (RSC) Champions after defeating rival University of Rio Grande in penalty kicks Saturday afternoon.
Tech, who is No. 9 in the country will head to the NAIA National Championship with an automatic bid and an overall record of 17-0-2. The No. 10 RedStorm end their conference season with a possibility of getting a bid into the tournament and a record of 15-3-1.
Rio struck first, posting a goal in the 24
th minute from Omar Walcott.
The Gold and Blue answered back with just eight minutes to play in regulation. Sophomore
Antonio Fernández Castaño recorded the equalizer off an assist from senior
Jesus Naves which eventually forced the teams to overtime.
During the two ten minute overtimes, the Golden Bears posted two shots that both went high while holding the RedStorm to zero attempts on net.
The shootout started off with Nicolas Cam Orellana (Rio), senior
Sergio Sanchez (Tech), Callum Malanaphy (Rio), senior
Alvaro Tina (Tech), Borquez (Rio), senior
Jesus Naves (Tech) and Rodrigo Basso (Rio) all making their attempts. Tech's freshman
Ruben Martin Macias just missed his off the crossbar before Golden Bear keeper
Jorge Martinez stopped Omar Walcott's (Rio) penalty kick.
Senior
Rolando Sanchez then found the back of the net and Martinez made another save, making Connor Paine (Rio) miss. Senior
Santiago Cruz was the final striker of the game, posting the winning penalty kick as he got it past the RedStorm's keeper, Richard Dearle.
Martinez was forced to make one stop in goal during game play while Dearle had to make seven saves in 110 minutes of play.
The conference celebrated season awards after the match-up which included many accolades for WVU Tech. See below for this season's awards.
2019 ALL-RIVER STATES CONFERENCE MEN'S SOCCER TEAMS & AWARDS
RSC Offensive Player of the Year: Nicolas Cam Orellano, F, Rio Gande
RSC Defensive Player of the Year: Allan Costa, D, WVU Tech
RSC Player of the Year: Rolando Sanchez, M, WVU Tech
RSC Newcomer of the Year: Sebastian Borquez, Fr., M, Rio Grande
RSC Coach of the Year: Oliver Hewitt-Fisher, WVU Tech
ALL-RSC FIRST TEAM
| Nicolas |
Cam Orrellano |
So. |
FÂ |
RIO GRANDE |
| Jesus |
Naves |
Sr |
F |
WVU TECH |
| Mitchell |
Roell |
Jr. |
F |
POINT PARK |
| Manuel |
Garcia |
Sr |
F |
WVU TECH |
| Rolando |
Sanchez |
Sr |
M |
WVU TECH |
| Sebastian |
Borquez |
Fr. |
M |
RIO GRANDE |
| Sergio |
Sanchez |
Sr |
M |
WVU TECH |
| Gustavo |
Ferrari |
Fr. |
M |
IU EAST |
| Allan |
Costa |
Sr |
D |
WVU TECH |
| Rodrigo |
Basso |
Fr. |
D |
RIO GRANDE |
| Alvaro |
Tina |
Sr |
D |
WVU TECH |
| James |
Williamson |
Sr. |
D |
RIO GRANDE |
| Richard |
Dearle |
Sr. |
GK |
RIO GRANDE |
| Jorge |
Martinez |
Sr |
GK |
WVU TECH |
ALL-RSC MEN'S SOCCER SECOND TEAM
| Sam |
Pederson |
Jr. |
FWD |
RIO GRANDE |
| Montell |
James |
Jr. |
FWD |
IU EAST |
| Geert |
Bijl |
Jr. |
FWD |
POINT PARK |
| Luis |
Alejandro Jaimes |
Fr |
FWD |
WVU TECH |
| Callum |
Malanaphy |
Jr. |
M |
RIO GRANDE |
| Daan |
Stormink |
Jr. |
CM |
POINT PARK |
| Leo |
Anthony |
Jr. |
M |
CINCINNATI CHRISTIAN |
| Noah |
Welch |
Sr. |
M |
ASBURY |
| Alex |
Izaga |
So. |
CB |
IU EAST |
| Jonathan |
Roos |
Jr. |
CB |
POINT PARK |
| Matt |
Fletes |
Sr. |
OB |
IU EAST |
| Pablo |
Muniz |
Jr |
CB |
WVU TECH |
| Jesse |
Haak |
Fr. |
GK |
POINT PARK |
| Jared |
Howard |
Jr. |
GK |
MIDWAY |
RSC MEN'S SOCCER CHAMPIONS OF CHARACTER TEAM
| Asbury University |
Noah Welch |
| Brescia University |
Grant Jackson |
| Carlow University |
Elias Schoedel |
| Cincinnati Christian University |
Fabian Hernandez |
| Indiana University East |
Nate Dove |
| Midway University |
Max Noel |
| Ohio Christian University |
Aaron Pertuset |
| Point Park University |
Mitch Roell |
| University of Rio Grande |
James Williamson |
| WVU Tech |
Logan Thomasson |
Monday, October 18 the Gold and blue will find out their seed in the NAIA National Championship.
