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WSOC22 Soares-Cupertino
Photo: Todd Griffith
3
Winner West Virginia St. WVSU (17-2-2, 13-1-2)
2
Bloomsburg BUWS (14-5-2, 11-3-2)
Winner
West Virginia St. WVSU
(17-2-2, 13-1-2)
3
Final
2
Bloomsburg BUWS
(14-5-2, 11-3-2)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 OT 2 F
West Virginia St. WVSU 1 1 1 0 3
Bloomsburg BUWS 2 0 0 0 2

Game Recap: Women's Soccer | | James Garcia, Sports Information Director

West Virginia State advances to second round of NCAA DII Championship with overtime victory over Bloomsburg

WEST CHESTER, Pa. – The West Virginia State University women's soccer team (17-2-2, 13-1-2 MEC)  knocked off Bloomsburg (14-5-2, 11-3-2 PSAC) in the first round of the NCAA Division II Championship with a 3-2 overtime win at Rockwell Field on Thursday afternoon. The Yellow Jackets came back from a two-goal deficit to upend the higher-seeded Huskies by forcing overtime and finding a game-winner to avoid penalty kicks.

This was State's first appearance in the NCAA DII Championship and the first victory in the tournament over the program's three-year history. The Yellow Jackets will now advance to the second round of the DII Championship and face No. 1-seeded West Chester (19-0-1, 15-0-1 PSAC) on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 1 p.m. for a chance to move on to the Atlantic Region finals.

Forward Fran Soares-Cupertino snapped a seven-game goal drought by scoring twice to lead WVSU to victory. She now has 18 goals in her final season at West Virginia State. Defender Ingrid Barbosa de Castro scored the other goal to tie the match in the second half. Both forward Esther Dhiramo and defender Billie Jean Davies provided an assist each.

The first half did not start well for the Yellow Jackets. In only the tenth minute, Bloomsburg's Nicole Varano scored on an inswinging corner kick from Amanda Stoll that may have gone in whether or not Varano touched it. 

Not long after, State was faced with a demoralizing two-goal deficit when the Huskies' Lauren McIntyre scored a goal not too far from midfield. In the 24th minute, McIntyre noticed goalkeeper Laura Galindo off her line and took a long shot that looped over a back-tracking Galindo and landed in the back of the net.

Down by two goals, WVSU finally broke through in the 40th minute when Dhiramo earned a penalty kick after being sandwiched by two BU defenders just outside the six-yard box. Soares-Cupertino stepped up for the penalty kick and calmly slotted the ball two steps to the right of the opposing keeper. 

The late first half goal gave the Yellow Jackets a much more manageable one-goal deficit, 2-1, to overcome in the second half.

Surprisingly, two State defenders combined for the equalizing goal in the 66th minute of the match. Davies lined up for the only corner kick won by WVSU in the entire contest. She sent a beautiful cross into the penalty area for Barbosa de Castro to head into the net for only her second goal of the entire season.

The Huskies nearly sent the Yellow Jackets home with a minute-and-a-half left in regulation. Their 15th corner kick of the game was redirected for what might have been the game-winning goal. However, the goal was disallowed due to goalkeeper interference and two 10-minute overtime periods ensued.

With 30 seconds remaining in the first overtime period, Dhiramo lobbed a ball across the six-yard box to Soares-Cupertino. Soares-Cupertino chased after the slightly long pass and, with her back to goal, used a hitch kick to beat the unsuspecting goalie. 

In the second overtime period, the Yellow Jackets successfully defended everything that BU threw at them and secured their place in the next round of the DII Women's Soccer Championship. They have an even tougher task ahead going up against an undefeated West Chester squad that was ranked No. 2 in the nation at the conclusion of the regular season.

WVSU was also undefeated up until the final week of the regular season and has been ranked as high as No. 17 in the country. With Soares-Cupertino scoring again, anything is possible with this West Virginia State women's soccer team that has superseded all expectations this year already. 

 
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