CHARLESTON, W. Va. – The Frostburg State men's soccer team saw their season come to a close with a 1-0 loss on the road to No. 4 Charleston (WV) in the Mountain East Conference semifinals on Wednesday.
After defeating Salem (WV) at home in the quarterfinals, the Bobcats drew the top ranked team from the South Division in UC, who earned a bye into the semifinals via their regular season title.
The game would start with FSU fending off three early corners from Charleston without allowing a shot. Frostburg would have the first effort of the game 14 minutes in, when graduate Kevin Garcia-Torres was played in by sophomore Frank Stare but had to try and chip onrushing keeper Luka Felix, putting the shot over the bar. The Bobcat defense made things difficult for the Golden Eagle attack, clearing away another trio of corners from which their lone effort was blocked.
Continuing to try and hit on the counter, FSU earned a corner of their own, with sophomore Spencer Davis heading just wide, then Garcia-Torres tried a volley from distance that missed the mark. The Frostburg rearguard was finally broken after 30 minutes, where UC had one shot blocked with the rebound being worked back out wide, as a cross came into Tomas Petrungaro, whose deflected effort fell right into the path of Martin Echarren to fire home at 1-0. Now needing to find a response, the Bobcats had a fantastic chance to equalize three minutes later, as Stare ran in behind the defense to latch onto a long ball but could only shoot right at Felix. That would be the final effort of the first half, with the final 13 minutes going by without either team threatening again.
Looking to create something early in the second half FSU, would open things up with a corner kick but couldn't get a chance at goal. Over the next 12 minutes, Charleston went in search of an insurance goal, with one shot being blocked and two more being saved by graduate Josiah Emerson, the second being a fantastic reaction on a point-blank header. The Golden Eagles were able to largely keep possession and prevent the Bobcats from getting up-field, as they created another opportunity from a corner where Yigit Kilic's header was easily gathered by Emerson.
Continuing to press for a second, UC had a drive from just outside the 18 right into the arms of Emerson while two more efforts went high and wide. With just under three minutes to go, FSU sent everything forward in hopes of an equalizer, where Davis had a great lay-off to sophomore Christ Fopossi at the edge of the 18 but his shot went wide of the goal. Senior Gabe Jones would then look for a last-minute stunner, curling a shot from 25 yards out that Felix tipped over for a corner, where the Golden Eagles were able to clear away and hold on for the 1-0 victory.
Charleston held a 12-6 advantage in shots, putting five on target to Frostburg's two.
With the loss FSU finishes its season at 8-5-6 overall, as UC moves onto the MEC Championship Game with a record of 16-2-0. The five losses are the fewest for the Bobcats since 2015, which also was the last time that the program had allowed fewer than this campaign's 21 goals defensively.
