Box Score Montgomery, WV – For the semifinals of the River States Conference Tournament, the Oakland City men's soccer team traveled straight from Pittsburgh, PA to the campus of WVU Tech to compete for a spot in the finals. A tough task, with the Golden Bears of WVU Tech being the No. 1 seed in the tournament.
The No. 5 seed Mighty Oaks have done a great job so far in the tournament. After battling some adversity on the way to Point Park University, Oakland City was able to pull away a 2-1 victory versus the No. 4 seed Pioneers. The next step was facing the regular season champions from West Virginia (14-2-3).
In the first half, it didn't take long for the Mighty Oaks to show their presence. Five minutes into the game,
James O'Brien fired the first shot on goal. This was one of just three shots on goal in the first half for the Mighty Oaks, versus seven from the Golden Bears of WVU Tech. None of the shots on goal were successful, due to some great work by goalkeeper
Laurin Aumueller. The score at halftime was 0-0.
After 45 minutes of play without any goals, the second half was going to need some offense to avoid overtime. In the 62
nd minute, it was Endjick Albert of the Golden Bears who found the net first. This was the first shot on goal in the second half and it immediately resulted in the 1-0. The Mighty Oaks of coach
Adam Sell tried to fight back. Only eight minutes after the 1-0,
Martin Albornoz was almost able to tie the game up, but his attempt hit off the crossbar.
As soon as WVU Tech got the lead, they went all in on defense. Just one more offensive chance was created by the Golden Bears as they give the Oakland City offense a hard time to get through the defense.
Carlos Juarez was able to sneak through and make a shot on goal, but it was wide. After a corner kick,
Emiliano Meza was close to tying the game up with a header, but WVU Tech's goalie was able to stop this attempt in the 89
th minute.
The Mighty Oaks ran out of time and were not able to tie the game up and force overtime. With this 1-0 deficit, the River States Conference Tournament is over for the Mighty Oaks men's soccer team. WVU Tech will take on Rio Grande – who beat IU East in the semifinals – on Saturday, November 12. For the Mighty Oaks the season is not over yet, as there is a good chance, they will compete for the NCCAA championship later this month.
