Rio Grande (Ohio) wins RSC Men's Soccer Championship for third straight year
BECKLEY, W.Va. -- University of Rio Grande (Ohio) made it three River States Conference Men's Soccer Championship titles in a row with Saturday's 4-2 win at WVU Tech in the finals. The No. 2 seed RedStorm won the 2022 championship over the No. 1 Golden Bears with three goals in the second half to breakaway from a 1-1 tie at the break.
Rio Grande (14-3-2, 8-0-1 RSC), which is ranked No. 20 in the NAIA Men's Soccer Top 25, advances to the NAIA National Championship with the RSC's automatic bid. WVU Tech (14-3-3, 8-0-1 RSC) is receiving votes nationally and will need an at-large bid to make nationals.
The score was tied at the half as the teams each got five shots the first 45 minutes. The second half swung Rio Grande's way with a 14-2 advantage in shots and the first three goals of the period. WVU Tech did add a goal in the 88th minute, but it was too late.
Rio Grande had four different goal scorers on the day. Benjamin Cam Orellano made it a 2-1 game with his tally in the 60th minute. Charlie Chechlacz provided the big assist. The game stayed that way until the 84th minute when Chechlacz pushed the lead to 3-1. Altan Sayar put the game out of reach three minutes later.
Rio Grande has won the RSC Championship each of the last three years 2020, 2021 and 2022. The RedStorm has won the conference tournament title seven of the last nine years with WVU Tech getting the other two during that span.