Pair of Second Half Charleston Goals Bring Men's Soccer Season to a Close in Semifinals

CHARLESTON, W. Va. – The Frostburg State Men's Soccer team saw their season come to an end with a 2-0 loss in the MEC Semifinals to top seed Charleston (WV) on Wednesday evening.
 
UC tested freshman Jan Foret early, as he made a save on a shot from outside the box just over six minutes in, then got up quickly to thwart the follow-up as well. After another Foret routine save off a bounce, junior Sebastian Vargas made a fantastic clearance off the line, putting his body in the way of a goal-bound header to keep the match scoreless. The Golden Eagles fired a pair of shots high over the bar midway through the half, then neither team was able to generate much until the final 10 minutes.
 
Having earned three consecutive corner kicks, Charleston came closest to scoring on a Juan Hermoso header that was tipped over by Foret, while one shot was blocked and another too high. Inside four to go, UC earned a free kick from just 20 yards away, but the low shot was straight at Foret. FSU quickly went on a counter-attack, with sophomore Hugo Portillo sprinting down the left wing and crossing into the box, where senior Zach Harpel sent the ball back across the box to junior Carlos Quintero Rivas, but he headed over from an offside position. The Golden Eagles were given another free kick from just outside the area, which was chipped over the wall into the right side of the goal, but Foret flew across to claw it away, keeping the score at 0-0 after the first 45.
 
Just a minute into the second half, Charleston was awarded a penalty kick after a tackle in the box, but Foret again made a flying save to tip it onto the post, then smothered the rebound. The celebrations didn't last long, however, as Jose Suarez Monaco hit a low driven shot from outside the 18 into the bottom corner, finally beating Foret for the opener 65 seconds later. After another effort went wide and Foret made an easy catch off a volley, the Golden Eagles doubled their advantage, quickly using a Frostburg turnover for another goal in the same spot as Monaco from Caio Moraes.
 
The Bobcats had their second effort of the contest off the foot of freshman Dom Good, but his volley went just wide of the mark. Foret made another pair of saves 10 minutes later, then FSU came their closest to scoring with 15 on the clock, as Portillo made another run down the left side and crossed to junior Gabe Jones, whose shot crashed back off the crossbar and out. Portillo then tried to beat keeper Konstantinos Parisis at his near post with a left-footed effort, but was too close as the last effort of the contest, with the hosts winning 2-0.
 
UC out-shot the Bobcats 20-4, with a 13-1 advantage in shots on goal.
 
With the loss, Frostburg's season comes to a close with a record of 10-8-1, while Charleston advances to Sunday's MEC Championship game at 17-1-1.