#3 Rio Grande tops #9 WVU Tech for RSC Championship in NAIA Top 10 matchup
#3 Rio Grande tops #9 WVU Tech for RSC Championship in NAIA Top 10 matchup
Box Score Bracket
RIO GRANDE, Ohio -- No. 3-ranked University of Rio Grande topped No. 9 WVU Tech, 2-1, in the River States Conference Men's Soccer Tournament championship game on Saturday night, a showdown of NAIA Top 10 ranked teams.
Rio Grande (18-1-1, 7-0-1 RSC) and WVU Tech Tech (16-2-2, 7-0-1 RSC) played to a double-overtime tie in the regular-season matchup and both were unbeaten in RSC play. Rio Grande ended up with the edge in the standings and playoff seeding due to the tiebreaker of goals allowed in conference play, and thus the RedStorm hosted the finals.
WVU Tech struck first, however, when Francisco Neto scored in the 26th minute of the championship game. Daniel Ramirez assisted for the 1-0 lead, and it stayed that way through halftime.
But Rio Grande, which had held an 8-3 advantage in shots the first half, put together a similar edge in the second half at 8-2. The RedStorm scored two second-half goals for the comeback win thanks to Heitor de Melo in the 52nd minute and Pau Delgado Rodriguez in the 62nd minute.
De Melo's goal came off a header and was assisted by Jeremy de Hoog. The equalizer came less than a minute after the RedStorm missed a golden chance to tie. Rio Grande was awarded a penalty kick, but WVU Tech goalkeeper Hunter Moles stopped Jorge Guinovart's attempt.
Ten minutes later, the RedStorm put in the eventual-game winner when Joao Paulo Antonio made a cross from the right side that found Rodriguez's head for the goal.
Moles came up with four saves for WVU Tech, and Benjamin Martinez made one for Rio Grande.
As RSC Tournament champs, Rio Grande earns the conference's automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship Opening Round Nov. 19. WVU Tech is a likely at-large bid also as a highly ranked team.
The national qualifiers and pairings will be announced on the NAIA National Championship Selection Show on Monday, Nov. 14 at 1 p.m. ET at NAIANetwork.com. Click here to Watch Live: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/naia/portal.htm?eventId=326191&streamType=video