NEW ORLEANS - No. 1 Kentucky, No. 2 West Virginia, No. 3 Marshall and No. 5 UCF earn spots in the Sun Belt men's soccer tournament semifinal.

Three of the tournaments four quarterfinal matches extended into overtime with two ending in penalty kicks. 

Kentucky 0, vs. (8) Coastal Carolina 0 | Box Score
With near freezing temperatures in Lexington, tensions would run high between top ranked Kentucky and the eight seeded Coastal Carolina.
 
The match would reach penalty kicks before a winner would be declared after 110 minutes of scoreless action.
 
The Chants had the best look in the opening half when 22 minutes in Angle Lopez would field a rebound off Kentucky’s goalie and get a shot off into the net but would be called for a handball.
 
The Wildcats had a shot of their own double-doink off the post before Coastal was able to clear the ball, leaving the scoresheet empty through the first 45 minutes.
 
The Wildcat’s outshot the Chants 6-3 and had a 2-1 advantage on shots on goal in the first.

Both teams got off to a slow start offensively in the second half with two shots and a single shot on goal between the two teams in the opening 20 minutes. Despite Kentucky outshooting Coastal 6-3 in the second half, neither team was able to connect on goal leading to overtime.
 
Neither team would have a shot on goal in the first overtime, bringing the two teams into a second overtime period. The second period would mimic the first, leading to penalty kicks.

Kentucky would kick first; Agustin Lopez took aim to the right and was denied by Harrison Gough. Coastal’s Nate Kovalcik would kick next, sending the ball over the net to keep things even.
 
Both Kentucky and Coastal Carolina would score on their second shot and miss their third. Kentucky’s Isaiah Chisolm got it past Gough on the fourth attempt, giving them a 2-1 lead. Coastal’s Jon Almundi would immediately answer knotting things up again, 3-3.

After five rounds the score would remain tied going into sudden death, next goal wins.
 
Through the seventh round the teams remained tied, 5-5. On the sixth shot, Oliver Stavdal would put the ball in the bottom right corner putting Kentucky up 6-5. Coastal’s next man up was Jimson St. Louis who would be stopped by Sebastian Conlon, giving Kentucky the victory.
 
West Virginia 2, (7) Old Dominion 2  | Box Score
Second seeded West Virginia (12-3-3) jumped out to a 1-0 lead late in the first half as Isaac Scheer scored his first goal of the season in the 33rd minute. The Mountaineers held the advantage into the half ahead by one.
 
Seventh seeded Old Dominion (5-5-8) found the equalizer in the 66th minute as Lewis Rourke scored his tenth goal of the year with assists from Michael Eberle and Mathias Krohnstad. The match remained level for the next 15 minutes, however the Monarchs struck again in the 82nd minute with an acrobatic finish just inside the box from Rourke to give Old Dominion a 2-1 advantage.
 
Down to the final minute of regulation, the Monarchs held the advantage 2-1. The Mountaineers found the equalizer in the 89th minute off a set piece. Carlos Hernando and Juan Alvarez were credited with assists as the header from Pablo Pozos found the back of the net. Old Dominion led 1-0 in shots during the first overtime as the teams remained locked at two, however West Virginia held a 6-1 advantage with three shots on frame in the second ten minute period. After 20 minutes of overtime, the score remained locked to send the match into penalties.
 
In penalties, West Virginia converted the first with Marc Bonnaire securing the save for an early advantage. A miss from the Mountaineers leveled the penalty shootout, as both teams made their remaining three in regulation. The first goal scorer in Scheer was successful on his penalty as Bonnaire provided the heroics with a save to advance the Mountaineers 5-4 on penalty kicks.
 
West Virginia led 18-15 in shots during the match and 10-8 in shots on frame. The Monarchs’ keeper Michael Statham recorded eight saves in the match as Bonnaire tallied six. Both teams finished the match with three corner kicks each.
 
(4) Georgia Southern 2, (5) UCF 3 | Box Score
Snow fell on No. 4 seeded Georgia Southern and No. 5 seeded UCF in a match to determine who would face Kentucky in the tournament semifinals.
 
Georgia Southern’s Ricky Louis would open the scoring with a goal off his left foot into the bottom of the net in the 35^th minute of the match. His goal would be the only one in the opening half, giving the Eagles a 1-0 heading into the locker room.
 
The second half would see both teams heat up on offense with three goals being scored in three minutes.
 
Georgia Southern looked to have a solid lead after going up 2-0 on a made penalty kick. However, UCF would respond less than a minute later with Clarence Awoudor finding the back of the net for the Knights.
 
Down 1-2, UCF looked to strike again and would with their second goal in three minutes as Lilian Richol would send a deep ball over Eagles goalie Nate Martinez’s head to tie the game, 2-2.
 
Regulation would come to an end with the teams tied, marking the third game of the tournament to need extra time.

After a scoreless first overtime the two teams would head into a second. UCF looked to complete its comeback after going down 2-0 and would in the 103^rd minute with a goal by Drew Hansen.
 
UCF outshot Georgia Southern 14-7 with seven shots on goal, earning a meeting with top seeded Kentucky in the tournament semifinals.
 
(3) Marshall 3, (6) Georgia State 1 | Box Score
Third seeded Marshall (10-2-5) scored early as Takahiro Fujita placed his shot into the upper right corner to give the Herd the 1-0 advantage in the 17th minute. Carl Romberg and Gabriel Stevanato were each credited with assists for the opening goal.
 
Less than a minute later, sixth seeded Georgia State (4-8-6) evened the scoreline with an unassisted goal by Gavin Williams. Marshall retook the lead in the 41st minute off the right foot of Joao Roberto as Romberg and Stevanato earned their second assists of the match. At the half, Marshall held a 2-1 lead and an 11-3 advantage in shot count.
 
Despite Georgia State holding an 8-5 advantage in shots during the second half, Marshall added to its lead in the 79th minute as Louie Salkeld scored his second goal of the season with the third assist of the match for Romberg. The Thundering Herd finished the match ahead 16-11 in shots and held a 9-4 advantage in corner kicks for the match.

Marshall will meet West Virginia in a rematch of last seasons tournament championship.
 
2025 Sun Belt Men’s Soccer Championship Schedule

First Round – Sunday, November 9
Match 1 – (1) Kentucky def (8) Coastal Carolina, 0-0 (UK wins 6-5 in PKs)
Match 2 – (5) UCF def. (4) Georgia Southern, 3-2 (OT)
Match 3 – (2) West Virginia def. (7) Old Dominion, 2-2 (WVU wins 5-4 in PKs)
Match 4 – (3) Marshall def (6) Georgia State, 3-1

Second Round – Wednesday, November 12
Match 5 – (1) Kentucky1 vs. (5) UCF, 7 p.m. ET
Match 6 – West Virginia 3 vs. (3) Marshall, 7 p.m. ET

Championship – Sunday, November 16
Match 7 – Winner Match 5 vs. Winner Match 6, 1 p.m. ET