MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Four unanswered goals lifted No. 17 West Virginia to a 4-2 victory over LIU Brooklyn in the first round of the 2018 NCAA men’s soccer tournament Thursday night.
The Mountaineers (14-6-0) trailed 2-0 nine minutes into the match, but answered with a goal in the 15th minute and the equalizer in the 35th. WVU took its first lead against the Blackbirds (13-6-1) in the 72nd and added a fourth goal in the 81st to advance to the NCAA’s second round for the seventh time in program history.
Logan Lucas put the Mountaineers on the board with a goal in the 15th minute, and Tsubasa Takada tied it up in the 35th with his first career goal. Jorge Quintanilla scored his first of the season in the 72nd minute to give West Virginia a 3-2 lead, and Joey Piatczyc made it 4-2 in the 81st.
“We were playing well when we went down 2-0,” West Virginia coach Marlon LeBlanc said. “I’m not happy about the goals that we gave up, especially when we were carrying the run of play at the moment. But I wasn’t worried, I felt like we were going to score. We had a lot of the ball early on, and we played extremely well. I just saw us, for the most part, stick to the game plan. We moved the ball very, very, well, side-to-side we had a lot of possession. And, understand, LIU Brooklyn is a high-possession team, and we had quite a bit of it tonight.”
The Mountaineers advanced to face No. 13-seeded Georgetown on Sunday in Washington, D.C.