NEW ORLEANS — West Virginia, Marshall, Coastal Carolina and South Carolina secured spots in the Sun Belt Men’s Soccer Championship Semifinals with wins Sunday in the quarterfinal round.
 
Top-seeded West Virginia scored three goals in the final 10 minutes to win 4-0 over No. 8-seeded Georgia Southern and second-seeded Marshall scored two insurance goals to oust seventh-seeded Kentucky. Sixth-seeded South Carolina took the lead with a go-ahead 65th-minute strike over No. 3-seed UCF while No. 5 seeded Coastal Carolina outlasted No. 4 James Madison with a golden goal in the 109th minute of double overtime.
 
West Virginia will host Coastal Carolina while Marshall hosts South Carolina with both matches kicking off on Wednesday, November 11, at 6 p.m. CT/7 p.m. ET.
 
Match 1 — No. 1 West Virginia def. No. 8 Georgia Southern, 4-0 | Box Score
No. 1-seeded and No. 9-ranked West Virginia took an early advantage and tacked on three goals over the final 10 minutes in a 4-0 victory over No. 8-seeded Georgia Southern in the Sun Belt Men’s Soccer Championship quarterfinals.
 
The Mountaineers carried a 1-0 lead into the break on a 10th minute tally by senior forward Pablo Pozos. West Virginia junior midfielder Kanta Ishii played a ball to junior midfielder Isaac Scheer on the end line and Scheer rolled it to a waiting Pozos at the 12-yard mark. Pozos one-timed the pass into lower left corner of the frame to provide West Virginia with an early advantage.
 
In the second half, West Virginia saw a pair of shots rattle off the frame, before breaking through with an insurance goal in the 81st minute. Scheer again laid it off around the 12-yard mark—this time for sophomore midfielder Juan Alvarez, who found the lower left corner of the netting. That goal triggered a Mountaineer flurry, with Pozos tucking one under the crossbar off a feed from Ishii in the 82nd minute and sophomore forward Sammie Walker dribbling into the box and slotting one home at the near post in the 87th minute to produce the final margin.
 
Georgia Southern’s best opportunity came in the 61st minute, when fourth-year midfielder Mitch Picksley made a long solo run on the counter. A heavy touch inside the box was gobbled up by West Virginia redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Toby Mawer to preserve the clean sheet.
 
Match 2 — No. 5 Coastal Carolina def. No. 4 James Madison, 2-1 (2OT) | Box Score
No. 5-seeded Coastal Carolina used a 109th minute golden goal in double overtime to defeat No. 4-seeded James Madison, 2-1, in the Sun Belt Men’s Soccer Championship quarterfinals.
 
The Dukes broke the ice in the 44th minute, when first-year defender Dylan Randazzo chipped a cross from fourth-year midfielder Jeffrey Aguilar into the top netting at the far post. Aguilar had run under a long ball from third-year defender Pieter Hengeveld in the box to set up the James Madison scoring opportunity.
 
First-year defender Ikenna Nnawuchi was shown a second yellow card following a hard tackle in the 55th minute, forcing James Madison to play a man down for the final 35 minutes of regulation. That Chanticleer advantage became two men over the final 23 minutes or regulation, after third-year Dukes midfielder Håkon Rake was shown a straight red card on a challenge in the 67th minute.
 
After a handball in the box, Chanticleers sophomore forward Mateo Caride rocketed a penalty kick into the back netting on center frame for the Coastal Carolina equalizer in the 70th minute.
 
Despite playing two men down, James Madison held Coastal Carolina without a goal from the field for 42 minutes, before Daniel Idiakhoa slotted home a rebound off the post in the 109th minute of double overtime to punch the Chanticleers’ ticket to the semifinals.
 
Match 3 — No. 2 Marshall def. No. 7 Kentucky, 4-1 | Box Score
No. 2-seeded and 14th-ranked Marshall used goals in the 77th and 79th minute to secure a 4-1 victory over No. 7-seeded Kentucky in the Sun Belt Men’s Soccer Championship quarterfinals.
 
Marshall senior forward/midfielder Carl Romberg finished off a pass from Joao Carvalho with a header inside the goal box to put the Thundering Herd ahead 1-0 in the 11th minute. Marshall added on another first half tally with as Romberg dished to Carvalho who found Haruhi Taneda in stride at the 6-yard line, who one-timed the pass into the net to put the home advantage to 2-0. The Herd held on to their 2-0 lead into halftime without allowing Kentucky to take a shot on goal.
 
The Wildcats got their first attempt inside the penalty box to go as Kentucky junior forward Bains Smith carved through the Herd backline to find the open Thomas Berteotti who drilled his shot into the bottom right corner. Berteotti’s goal in the 65th minute pulled the Wildcats within one before the Herd extended the lead once again in the 77th off a misplayed ball by Kentucky.
 
Senior defender Joao Roberto of Marshall scored the dagger just two minutes later with a 10-yard floating strike to the from the right side of the goal. Kentucky was unable to find another window on goal for the remainder of the match as Marshall picked up its seventh consecutive win to run its unbeaten streak to eight-straight matches with a 7-0-1 record in the same span.
 
Match 4 — No. 6 South Carolina def. No. 3 UCF, 2-1 | Box Score
No. 6-seeded and 24th-ranked South Carolina scored the go-ahead goal in the 65th minute to knock off No. 3-seeded UCF, 2-1, in the Sun Belt Men’s Soccer Championship quarterfinals.
 
South Carolina struck first with a 29th-minute goal from sophomore forward Angel Lopez, who grabbed his own rebound after his initial shot was deflected by UCF’s keeper. Lopez drilled his sixth goal of the season into the center of the net to give the Gamecocks a 1-0 advantage.
 
The Knights equaled things up in the 41st minute with the UCF defense leading the way. UCF’s defense rolled to midfield and intercepted a South Carolina pass with the Knights quickly taking advantage of the Gamecock defense out of position. Jem Hewlett passed to Joey Mueller who found senior midfielder Kenn Muendo inside the penalty box for a 12-yard strike in stride to tie things 1-1, which remained the score heading into halftime.
 
Both teams traded extended possessions with UCF taking three shots with one on goal in a five-minute span before South Carolina attempted two shots inside the UCF penalty box, connecting on the second for the go-ahead goal. Lopez passed across his body to Daniel Lang, who fired the ball into bottom left of the goal off his left foot, putting South Carolina ahead 2-1.
 
South Carolina held steady from then on, weathering three more UCF shots in the final 25 minutes before time expired. The Gamecocks’ win sends them to the semifinal round for the first time since 2023.
 
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 (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 vs. No. 5 Coastal Carolina, 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT (Morgantown, W.Va.)
Match 6 – No. 2 Marshall vs. No. 6 South Carolina, 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT (Huntington, W.Va.)
 
Championship – Sunday, November 15
Match 7 – Winner of Match 5 vs. Winner of Match 6, 1 p.m. ET/Noon CT (Site TBD)