MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Less than a minute away from opening-round elimination, West Virginia scored off a set piece to send their Sun Belt Conference quarterfinal match against Old Dominion into overtime. The second-seeded Mountaineers found a way past the No. 7 Monarchs, 5-4 on penalty kicks to secure safe passage into Wednesday’s semifinal round.
“A little bit of relief. With respect to what they did and the challenges they caused us, I still felt like we were the better team and the team that probably deserved to go through,” said WVU head coach Dan Stratford.
West Virginia will host No. 3 seed Marshall Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the semifinal round. The Thundering Herd defeated Georgia State, 3-1 on Sunday evening.
Sophomore Isaac Scheer bookended the match with a goal in the 33rd minute and he delivered the game-winning goal in the sixth round of the shootout.
“The goal feels good, Scheer said. “It definitely too way too long. I would have never thought it would take 18 games. But my teammates kept belief in me and I kept belief in myself.”
“I am happy to have Isaac Scheer off the mark,” Stratford said. “Waiting until postseason and I am going to guess that he had at least five in mind this season. There’s a little bit of work to do in the semifinal, hopefully the final and then on to the NCAA Tournament.”
West Virginia (12-3-3) led 1-0 at halftime. However, the Monarchs (5-5-8) received a pair of second-half goals from Louis Rourke. The second goal came with seven minutes to play in regulation.
Since WVU is hosting a “neutral” site game in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, WVU players had to supply the postgame song selection: pic.twitter.com/8sIrnsloOo
— Joe Brocato (@joebrowvm) November 9, 2025
The Mountaineers earned a free kick opportunity with just over a minute to play. Juan Alvarez sent the kick into the box where Carlos Hernando headed it to Pablo Pozos for the equalizer. It was Pozos’ team-leading eleventh goal of the season.
“It was a really good sign that we went into extra time and the staff were talking about what the lineup is going to be and where we need to make changes,” Stratford said. “The group took it upon themselves to come together, talk to one another and motivate one another and to push everyone along. That is a really big sign of where the culture is at and where the mentality is right now.”
On a day where all four seasons were on display at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium, the match began in brilliant sunshine with howling winds. As the match progressed to overtime, heavy rain sent fans scurrying for cover. Neither team scored in the first overtime. In the second extra frame, WVU hit a pair of posts before the match progressed to a penalty shootout.
In the shootout, WVU gained the early advantage when Marc Bonnaire made a save to give the Mountaineers a 1-0 edge. However, Marcus Caldeira missed the net in round two. Oscar Emilio Trujillo Lizarraga, Pozos and Alvarez converted in succession for West Virginia and the shootout was tied at 4 through five rounds.
In sudden death, Scheer scored and Bonnaire made his eighth save of the match to give the Mountaineers a 5-4 shootout victory.
“I told the guys before the start of the penalty shootout that [Bonnaire] was going to save two. I wished I had said he was going to save four. We know he is good in those moments. He is long, rangy, and it allows him to show his athleticism.”
West Virginia will host Marshall, a 3-1 winner against Georgia State later Sunday. That match will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
“With the turnaround time to play again in just two more days, we’ll be back out here Wednesday thankfully,” Stratford said. “We’re going to have to be very selective with what we can work on, what we even have the capacity to work on given the load we have had today.”
On the other half of the bracket, top-seeded Kentucky and No. 8 seed Coastal Carolina played to a scoreless draw. UK advanced on penalty kicks, 6-5. UCF defeated Georgia Southern, 3-2.