ATHENS — West Virginia Wesleyan College men’s soccer traveled to Concord University for a first round matchup in the Mountain East Conference Tournament Sunday and lost in the closing seconds of double overtime, 3-2.
The first goal of the match came in the 11th minute when Andre Nicholson blasted a scrambled ball near post from 25 yards out past an unexpecting Bobcat keeper Logan Nelson.
Wesleyan evened things up in the 42nd minute when Hayden Dodd took a shot from beyond the penalty box and an attempted clear from Concord’s Andre Sardinha found the toe of his boot and looped into the back of the net for an own goal.
In the second half, Concord regained the lead in the 75th minute on a solo tap-in goal by Tomas Kelly after a corner kick was deflected by Nelson and rolled around dangerously inside the 6-yard box.
Just a minute later the Bobcats scored on a set from the corner when Sinasi Emre Deniz delivered a beauty to Brogan Horniman who hammered it past Concord keeper Keegan Grant.
The match went into double overtime and penalty kicks looked destined until, with 50 seconds remaining, another scramble for a loose ball that the Bobcats couldn’t clear wound up in the back of the net from the foot of Concord’s Andre Nicholson.
Wesleyan ends its 2023 campaign 8-8-3 overall and 5-6-3 in the Mountain East Conference.
“I feel very privileged, again, to have worked with such a great group on and off the pitch this year,” said head coach Josh Spencer. “The season ended earlier than we hoped, but I’m excited to see what’s next for our seniors, and this program going forwards.”
