Gold Rush Thursday as WVU Tech hosts Rio Grande
Oct. 11—Both Rio Grande soccer teams will come to Beckley on a roll.
Things are going well for WVU Tech, as well.
The River States Conference rivals will meet Thursday at the YMCA Paul Cline Memorial Youth Sports Complex. The women's game will kick off at 4:30 p.m., followed by the men at 7 p.m.
The theme will be Gold Rush, with fans encouraged to wear gold.
The Rio Grande men (9-1-1, 6-0 RSC) moved up to No. 7 in the latest NAIA Top 25 released Wednesday. The RedStorm have won six straight and are winning in dominant fashion.
Rio has outscored its opponents 49-5 in 11 games. The five goals allowed are tied for second fewest in the nation and the 49 scored are sixth.
Sophomore Altan Sayar has a team-high 12 goals (fifth in the nation) for the RedStorm. Senior Benjamin Cam Orellana has nine goals and 12 assists (third in the country).
Rio has posted six shutouts, including its last four games.
Tech (6-4-1, 4-0), meanwhile, has won five games in a row after losing four straight as it tries to keep up with Rio Grande and Point Park (4-0) in the league standings. The Golden Bears have outscored their opponents 18-4 during that stretch.
Rio Grande will be the third top 10 team the Golden Bears have faced. They defeated then-No. 8 Georgia Gwinnett 2-1 on Sept. 3 and fell to No. 5 Lindsey Wilson 2-1 on Sept. 10.
Vasco Berardo has scored a team-high five goals for the Golden Bears.
On the women's side, Tech (3-8-1, 2-3) is in a rebuilding mode but is heading in the right direction. The Golden Bears won one game all of last season — 2-0 over Rio Grande.
Carson Barr and Korrine Potter both have scored three goals for Tech. Potter also has three assists.
Rio Grande (4-4-3, 4-0-2) was 0-4-3 through its first seven games but has since won four straight and leads the conference. Julia Döller has seven goals and two assists for the RedStorm.
