MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — No. 8 Western Michigan converted a free kick in overtime to edge No. 15 West Virginia in men’s soccer Friday night.
With shots even at 5-all, the Mountaineers (7-4-4, 0-1-2 MAC) played right with the Broncos (13-2-1, 3-0-0) before a foul was called on WVU just outside the box in the 96th minute.
Anthony Bowie’s free kick from the top of the box became a short pass to Brandon Bye, whose deflected shot found the lower left corner of the net for his 11th goal of the season.
“There’s no solace in how we battled,” West Virginia coach Marlon LeBlanc said. “We lost the game, and it was a game we didn’t deserve to lose.
“Our lack of ability to finish on the attacking third is what cost us the game. They get one chance on a deflection and it goes in. I thought we were the better team on the night, but you have to give them credit because they grinded and they found a way to get the result.”
The Broncos had the first chance off a free kick in the seventh minute. The chance came from just inside the corner of the 18, and freshman keeper Steven Tekesky made the save.
Steven James had a chance for the Mountaineers in the 13th minute only to see his header off a free kick from Ryan Kellogg sail high.
Western Michigan had a quick-developing opportunity in the 27th minute until the WVU defense recovered, with Kellogg making a tackle to halt the breakaway.
With just over seven minutes remaining in the half, West Virginia’s Pascal Derwaritsch sent a long shot in wide, and Ethan Shim followed with a shot in the final three minutes from the edge of the box, but WMU’s Drew Shepherd made the easy save.
Western Michigan had two chances in the final 10 minutes of regulation on a pair of crosses into the box. Tekesky made both stops.