WVU strikes late, defeats South Carolina 1-0; Mountaineers at the top of the table in the Sun Belt

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The wait for the top-ranked Mountaineers to put the ball in the net against South Carolina on Saturday afternoon was almost as long as the video review that followed the goal.

Freshman Isaac Scheer scored a header in the 89th minute after perfect setup passes from Frederik Jorgensen and Sergio Ors Navarro to give the Mountaineers a 1-0 victory over the Gamecocks. An 11-minute video review finally confirmed the goal.

“Freddie just did it perfectly. It was easy for me to get involved. I knew it from the second he played it,” Scheer said.

“I guaranteed Isaac when we were recruiting that he would have competition for his spot,” WVU head coach Dan Stratford said. “I guaranteed him that he would get what he deserved in terms of playing time and opportunities. He absolutely deserved everything he did for us.”

The Mountaineers defeated South Carolina 20-4 and had an 8-1 advantage in corner kicks while dominating the game in the second half.

“I think there can be frustration, but the way we played today, I think we stayed patient,” Scheer said. “We stayed true to ourselves, kept taking advantage of opportunities and in the end we did it, even with two minutes left.”

The Mountaineers, named the newly crowned best team in the country in the coaches' poll, bounced back from a 5-1 loss at Dayton on Tuesday.

“I have to give the guys a lot of credit. “If you came to practice on Thursday and Friday, you would never have known how they took the moment on Tuesday and how they responded in practice this week,” Stratford said.

Marc Bonnaire made two saves in the WVU net to secure the shutout. West Virginia (9-1-3) sits alone in first place in the Sun Belt Conference with a league record of 4-0-1. They are two points ahead of Marshall at the top of the table.

“Our goal this year is to win the conference. Look at the quality of the top three last year. We felt like if we could improve our position and set our sights on winning a conference championship, the RPI piece would take care of itself,” Stratford said.

“I honestly want to see what Nikki (Izzo-Brown) was able to do with the women. They have a reputation for winning championships, conferences and the regular season. I want to have that rich tradition for the program.”