NEW ORLEANS – West Virginia and South Carolina advanced to the 2026 Sun Belt Men’s Soccer Championship final as the No. 1-seeded Mountaineers look to host the No. 6-seeded Gamecocks on Sunday, Nov. 15.
 
Both teams escaped in extra time with No. 1 West Virginia finally finding the net after 34 total shots and nine on goal to down No. 5 Coastal Carolina, 1-0, and No. 6 South Carolina using a 3-0 second half to send the match to extra time before downing No. 2 Marshall, 4-3.
 
Match 5 – No. 1 West Virginia def. No. 5 Coastal Carolina, 1-0 (OT) | Box Score
No. 1-seeded and No. 7-ranked West Virginia needed 34 shots—and overtime—but eventually broke through for a 96th minute golden goal to punch its ticket to the Sun Belt Men’s Soccer Championship final, which it will host on Sunday, Nov. 15.
 
Coastal Carolina withstood a bevy of West Virginia first-half scoring chances, including 13 shots and six saves from redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Nash Skoglund, to carry a 0-0 score into the break.
 
West Virginia continued to inhabit the attacking third in the second half, with Mountaineers sophomore forward Julen Recalde sending a screamer off the post on the volley from just outside the box in the 55th minute. Shortly thereafter, Chanticleers junior midfielder Alberto de Miguel was shown a second yellow card for dissent in the 57th minute, forcing Coastal Carolina to play a man down for the final 33 minutes of regulation.
 
The Mountaineers continued to apply pressure, with junior midfielder Kanta Ishii sending a second-chance header just over the crossbar in the 60th minute and sophomore forward Joshua Dudock knocking a back heel into the side netting in the 81st minute. 
 
West Virginia saw the ball go into the back of the net in the 85th minute, when sophomore midfielder Juan Alvares hit both posts and senior forward Pablo Pozos tapped the goal-line roller over the line. The goal was waved off when Pozos was ruled offsides. That allowed the Chanticleers to force overtime, where the Mountaineers proved victorious.
 
Graduate student defender Aurélien Cormier curled the ball to the six-yard box, where Civan de Jesus Ferreira got a clean head on it. His header caromed off the inside of the left post and into the goal to cue the West Virginia celebration on its home pitch.
 
Match 6 – No. 6 South Carolina def. No. 2 Marshall, 4-3 (OT) | Box Score
No. 6-seeded South Carolina stormed back from a 3-0 halftime deficit to stun No. 2-seeded and tenth-ranked Marshall, 4-3, in extra time in the Sun Belt Men’s Soccer semifinals. Omar Robbana scored his second goal of the night in the 92nd minute to net the game’s golden goal, securing the Gamecocks’ first berth in the Sun Belt Men’s Soccer Championship final.
 
Marshall scored in the 9th minute off a half-field pass from Joao Alves to Ramado Pierre-Louis inside the box, who laid down a shot between Gamecock defenders, placing the Thundering Herd ahead 1-0. The Herd pushed its advantage to two goals in the 40th minute as Joao Roberto one-timed a crosser from Gabriel Stevanato.
 
Just four minutes later, Stan Klaver found the net again off a ¾-field pass from Joao Alves, making it 3-0 in favor of the homestanding Herd heading into halftime. Marshall out-shot South Carolina 4-2 in the first half with the Thundering Herd holding South Carolina without a shot on goal.
 
South Carolina did get its first shot on target when Mika Habel put a header into the hands of Alan Horrocks in the 56th minute. Horrocks rallied to fend off back-to-back attacks at the net in the 60th minute to hold the margin in favor of Marshall. Robbana broke through for South Carolina in the 64th minute with a shot from the left corner of the keeper’s box off two crosses from Loic Sany Kong and Daniel Lang.
 
The Gamecocks pulled within one goal just two minutes later as Lang went the distance himself from 10 yards out. Angel Lopez tied the match 3-all in the 78th minute as Habel picked up an assist off the throw-in. Gamecock goalkeeper Noah Scheidweiler collected the biggest save of the night in the 88th minute to hold the margin even as the two squads headed to extra time.
 
Just over a minute into the extra frame, Robbana finished off Habel’s crosser from the right corner with a kick on the left side of the box. After review, the goal stood and set South Carolina to the Sun Belt final for the first time in school history and first overall conference final since 2014.
 
2026 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Soccer Championship Schedule
 
Quarterfinals – Sunday, November 8
Match 1 – No. 1 West Virginia def. No. 8 Georgia Southern, 4-0 (Morgantown, W.Va.)
Match 2 – No. 5 Coastal Carolina def. No. 4 James Madison, 2-1 (OT) (Morgantown, W.Va.)
Match 3 – No. 2 Marshall def. No. 7 Kentucky, 4-1 (Huntington, W.Va.)
Match 4 – No. 6 South Carolina def. No. 3 UCF, 2-1 (Huntington, W.Va.)
 
Semifinals – Wednesday, November 11
Match 5 – No. 1 West Virginia def. No. 5 Coastal Carolina, 1-0 (OT) (Morgantown, W.Va.)
Match 6 – No. 6 South Carolina def. No. 2 Marshall, 4-3 (OT) (Huntington, W.Va.)
 
Championship – Sunday, November 15
Match 7 – No. 1 West Virginia vs. No. 6 South Carolina, 1 p.m. ET/Noon CT (Morgantown, W.Va.)