BECKLEY, W. Va. — West Virginia State came away with a signature win on the season, upsetting the No. 6 ranked team in the county by a 2-1 final. State came in to the match ranked  No. 10 in the Atlantic Regional United Soccer Coaches weekly poll with Concord ranked atop the regional poll.

POST-GAME RECORDS
WVSU: 3-0
Concord: 2-1

HOW IT HAPPENED
The defense held firm for the Jackets through the first 45 minutes of the match, giving up five corner kicks but not allowing a shot on any of them. The best opportunity for the Yellow Jackets came in the 40th minute when Esther Dhiramo got hacked down from behind by Concord's Olivia Bekeleski on a breakaway. Bekeleski was shown a yellow card for the infraction, and gave State a set-piece opportunity about 35 yards from goal just inside the right corner. The free kick was picked off out of the air by the Concord goalie and cleared away. Concord pressed and got all three of their shots in the final four minutes but the half ended with the scoreboard still showing zeroes.

Just as the second half was getting started, the entire complexion of the match changed when a misplay by the Concord defense led to Maria Amaral gaining possession, taking a straight on shot from 25 yards out and burying it past the net minder, sending the Yellow Jacket bench into a frenzy. 

The 1-0 lead only last for 18 minutes when WVSU was awarded a corner from the left corner. That corner was blocked giving the Jackets another corner kick. Soares-Cupertino took it and curled the ball into back corner of the net putting State up by two goals with just under 25 minutes to play in the match. 

Yasmin Evans fired a rocket from 55 yards out that was just six inches too high, maintaining the two goals lead with 18 minutes to go.

State was called for a foul inside the WVSU penalty area and Concord converted a penalty kick that was just out of reach of Laura Galindo with just under 15 minutes to go in the match to cut the State lead to one.

Concord started packing the offensive zone and had two corners in the last minute, but couldn't get a shot through the defense and the Jackets completed the upset.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Soares-Cupertino took three shots, one on goal and scored once. Amaral took one shot and put it in the back of the net. Four other Yellow Jackets took one shot each, with only Billie Jean Davies putting it on target. Laura Galindo stymied the Mountain Lions during regular play, only giving up the penalty kick.

The Mountain Lions took six shots on goal for the match, three from Brogden, two from Leah Foster, and one from Rachel Bell. Concord's leading scorer Jayme Millard took one shot off-target. 

UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets will return to Dickerson Stadium for a 6:00 pm kick-off against the Glenville State Pioneers on Sunday. The Pioneers have never beaten the Yellow Jackets in the history of the program. Live stats and live video will be available.