NCAA Tournament: West Virginia's late winner sinks Vermont men's soccer

The University of Vermont men's soccer team saw another NCAA Tournament run come to a screeching halt on Saturday.

But not without a well-fought 90 minutes.

Max Broughton headed in Frederik Jorgensen's corner kick in the 82nd minute for the go-ahead goal as No. 5-seeded West Virginia outlasted the Catamounts 2-1 in a third-round NCAA Tournament game at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Playing in their 13th NCAA Tournament in program history, third in a row and fifth since 2015, Vermont (13-6-2) sought a second consecutive berth to the quarterfinals. But the Mountaineers (16-2-4) withstood Vermont's first-half equalizer and heavy pressure to advance on Broughton's header finish in the closing stages.

"What a match. We poured our hearts out for Vermont and it just didn’t go our way," UVM coach Rob Dow said. "I didn’t expect (coming to news conference) after the second half that we had, to talk about not moving on to the (quarterfinals)."

On the winner, Jorgensen delivered a dangerous in-swinging lefty corner, arriving on time for Broughton, a defender, to smash past Vermont goalie Owen Jack (one save), who got a hand on the ball on its way into the net.

With center back Jake Ashford pushing forward, the Catamounts nearly leveled the game in the final minute. Ashford's ground cross from the end line found Carter Johnson, whose one-timer in front of the net was denied by Jackson Lee's hand.

"What a save by the keeper. I think he got the top of his palm on it, that’s how close it was from going into the net," Dow said. "It wasn't a full hand. I thought that was going in."

Just like the Central Florida contest, Vermont conceded an early goal. In the fourth minute, Marcus Caldeira picked off an errant UVM pass near midfield and uncorked a well-placed ball behind the last defender for Yutaro Tsukada, who dribbled around Jack and lifted a shot inside the far post for his 11th goal of the season.

Vermont broke through 28 minutes later. Following a give-and-go with Daniel Pacella, the speedy Johnson weaved into space and pinged a shot off a West Virginia defender to beat Lee (seven saves).

Vermont looked eager to seize the go-ahead goal early in the second half. Yet Sydney Wahuta's cross was too high for Murray on one sequence. And on another, Murray couldn't get around a hard-charging Lee on Johnson's through-ball to offer a quality strike.

The Mountaineers, ranked as high as No. 2 in this year's United Soccer Coaches national poll, earned the decisive corner kick in the 82nd minute. And Jorgensen's service and Broughton's header beat a UVM defense which rarely yields goals on corner kicks.

"We haven’t given up a goal on a corner in a really long time," Dow said.

Vermont opened its NCAA Tournament with a 3-1 home win over Rider. The Catamounts then secured a 3-2, double-overtime victory at No. 12 Central Florida last weekend to earn a third-round appearance.

On its last two road trips since the Rider triumph and ahead of Saturday's game, Vermont traveled approximately 3,500 miles over nine days, according to the ESPN broadcast. Some players also battled through sickness this week, but that didn't diminish their performance nor create excuses, Dow said.

"That's the most difficult part of the game, it's not giving up the goal late in the game or losing, it's about what the heck does the coach say afterward," Dow said. "I told the guys that I love them and (I'm) proud of them. Wearing the green and gold is a special, special opportunity. That's what I'm telling them."

Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @aabrami5.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: NCAA Tournament: UVM soccer falls to West Virginia in Round of 16