NEW ORLEANS – No. 1 Marshall, No. 5 West Virginia, and James Madison are set to represent the Sun Belt in the Round of 16 of the 2023 NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament this weekend.
With three teams remaining in the field, the Sun Belt is one of four conferences with multiple programs still in contention for the National title. The ACC leads the way with four teams, followed by the Sun Belt (3), the Pac-12 (2) and the America East Conference (2).
No. 5 West Virginia
No. 5 West Virginia advanced in the NCAA Tournament with a 1-0 second round victory over Louisville at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium on Sunday. The Mountaineers improve to 15-2-4 on the season, tying a program record for wins. Senior Yutaro Tsukada scored the game winner in the second half while senior Jackson Lee made four saves in goal to collect his ninth clean sheet of the season. For Tsukada the goal marked his 10
thof the season and his fifth in the last five games.
The Mountaineers will host Vermont on Saturday, November 25 with a kickoff set for 4 p.m. ET.
James Madison
James Madison (10-4-5) advances to the Round of 16 for the fifth time in program history after recording a clean sheet against No. 3 Georgetown, 1-0, on Sunday afternoon. Sophomore Kevin Larsson led the attack for the Dukes with three shots, while redshirt junior Davide Materazzi scored the deciding goal. Sophomore keeper Sebastian Conlon made a pair of saves to record his third shutout of the season. With the victory, James Madison has won its sixth match in seven tries and notched its 30
th 10-win season in program history.
The Dukes will now head to Los Angeles for a clash with LMU (CA) on Saturday, Nov. 25 at 10 p.m. ET.
A James Madison and West Virginia victory in the Round of 16 would guarantee that a Sun Belt program would head to the College Cup, as the Dukes and Mountaineers would meet in the Elite Eight.
No. 1 Marshall
No. 1 Marshall (18-2) opened the 2023 NCAA Tournament with a 3-0 shutout in the second round over California Baptist at Hoops Family Field on Sunday. The shutout marks a single-season program record of 12, besting the 11 set during the historic 2020-21 season. Pablo Simon, Matthew Bell, and Alexander Adjetey all found the back of the net to help propel the Herd to the Round of 16 for the fourth time in the last five seasons.
Marshall is set to welcome No. 22 Stanford for its third-round matchup on Sunday at Hoops Family Field. First kick is scheduled for 1 p.m.
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