Golden Bears to host RedStorm for RSC men's soccer championship Saturday
Nov. 10—Some things just work out.
In the case of men's soccer in the River States Conference, WVU Tech and Rio Grande playing for a championship seems like it's supposed to happen.
The rivals will meet for the title Saturday for the fourth time in eight seasons since the league was renamed from the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 2016.
The Golden Bears will host Rio Grande at 3 p.m.
Rio Grande, currently ranked No. 6 in the country, holds a 3-1 edge in those four championships. That includes last season's 4-2 victory.
Tech's win came in 2019, 5-4 on penalty kicks.
Both teams come in on a roll.
The RedStorm has gone unbeaten for 12 straight games, its last loss 1-0 to Indiana Wesleyan on Sept. 16.
Tech (13-4-2), meanwhile, is on a 13-game undefeated streak. It has not lost since a 2-0 home loss to Mount Vernon Nazarene on Sept. 13.
The win streak for the teams is seven for Tech and five for Rio Grande (14-1-2).
In the middle of those unbeaten streaks is a 0-0 scoreless draw against each other Oct. 12 in Beckley. It's been that close between the two all season — they finished the regular season as co-conference champions and had to go to the third tiebreaker (goals allowed in conference games) to determine the No. 1 seed for the tournament, which went to Tech.
The Golden Bears had their six-game shutout streak broken by Oakland City in the semifinals on Wednesday, but they continued their scoring barrage in an 8-3 win. Tech defeated Indiana-Purdue-Columbus 12-0 in the quarterfinals.
Rio advanced with an 11-0 quarterfinal win over Indiana East and 4-1 victory over Point Park in the semifinals.
Benjamin Cam Orellana had 13 goals and 20 assists for the RedStorm. Joe McInness has 14 goals and four assists, and Altan Sayar has 12 and two.
Vasco Berardo has 10 goals and five assists for the Golden Bears, while Alejandro Moreno has six goals and 10 assists. Marc Hernandez is right behind him at six goals and nine assists.
Saturday's winner will earn an automatic berth to the NAIA Tournament.
Email: gfauber@register-herald.com; follow on Twitter @gfauber5
