MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — No. 9 West Virginia scored three goals in a span of less than six minutes to break open a one-goal match as the Mountaineers defeated Georgia Southern, 4-0 in the Sun Belt Conference quarterfinals.
Top-seeded WVU held a 1-0 lead for just over 70 minutes before breaking the match wide open with a late flurry. After Pablo Pozos scored in the 10th minute, Juan Alvarez (81′), Pozos (82′) and Sammie Walker (87′) all found the back of the net in the last ten minutes of the match.
“I am very, very proud of the guys in the way we approached the second half and ultimately got there with the multi-goal win again and another clean sheet and we’re really pleased to keep that momentum with the group,” said WVU head coach Dan Stratford.
“There’s a lot of confidence in the group that we can score, in the second half in particular. Statistically, there’s a lot of proof behind that as well. They kept going, found the second, and then it was probably quite fun to be out there from that moment on.”
Isaac Scheer and Kanta Ishii both tallied two assists. Scheer set up Pozos for his team-leading eight goal in the first half.
“I think I am somewhat of an unselfish player,” Scheer said. “I love passing, in general. Our teammates got in good spots, so it makes it easy to get the assists.”
“It is really nice to play with him,” Pozos said. “I think he has given me four assists this year. I am very pleased for him that he is finding me now. Hopefully that keeps going.”
In extending their win streak to six matches, West Virginia also posted their seventh consecutive shutout. Goalkeeper Toby Mawer was called upon to make just one save in the match.
“We have been on an incredible run with shutouts and clean sheets. The back four and Toby all deserve accolades in terms of conference honors. It is hard for them all to get recognized but they have been superb for a long period of time now.”
The Mountaineers held a 12-4 advantage in shots against the Eagles (6-7-4).
West Virginia will host the winner of the No. 4 James Madison-No. 5 Coastal Carolina contest Wednesday at 7 p.m. On the other side of the bracket, No. 2 Marshall defeated No. 7 Kentucky, 4-1 to advance to the semifinals.
“There’s an incredible reward at the end of it to be double [Sun Belt] champs for potentially just the second time in the program’s history,” Stratford said. “Certainly, if I was Isaac and trying to leave a legacy, two out of three ain’t bad. That should really spur them all on to try to lift another trophy on Sunday and get over the line on Wednesday.”