RedStorm blanks WVU-Tech, claims RSC championship

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - While it wasn't a typical start to the season for the University of Rio Grande men's soccer program, the RedStorm are going to finish their 2024 campaign in familiar territory - the NAIA national tournament.
     Joe McInnes scored a pair of goals and head coach Scott Morrissey's club dominated from start to finish in a 3-0 win over West Virginia University Tech, Wednesday afternoon, in the River States Conference championship game at Evan E. Davis Field.
     Rio Grande, the tourney's top seed, improved to 11-4-1 with a 10th straight victory, capturing the program's eighth (KIAC/RSC) tournament championship in the last 11 seasons and a national-best 24th consecutive national tournament appearance in the process.
     The RedStorm will learn their first round destination to the 2024 NAIA Men's Soccer Championship on Saturday, when pairings will be announced by the national office in Kansas City.
     The third-seeded Golden Bears, who dropped a 1-0 decision to Rio in the regular season meeting between the two teams, finished their season at 10-8-2 with the loss.
     Rio Grande outshot Tech, 22-3, including an 11-2 edge in shots on frame. The RedStorm also had nine of the 12 corner kick opportunities in the contest.
     In addition to the three goals scored, Rio had four other near-miss scoring chances with two shots hitting off the crossbar and two others bouncing off the post.
     McInnes, a senior from Airdrie, Scotland scored the first of his two markers off a crossing pass from sophomore Rafael Kawata (Sao Paulo, Brazil) with 12:34 left in the opening half.
     The lead grew to 2-0 in the match's 60th minute when freshman Estevao Goncalves (Sao Paulo, Brazil) scored off a touch from sophomore Lucas O'Donnell (Leeds, England), while McInnes' second goal - a header off of feed in the 18-yard box by junior Marti Puigsegur Calvo (Barcelona, Spain) - closed out the scoring with 14:21 remaining in the game.
     Senior Matheus de Campos (Brasilia, Brazil) had two saves in goal for Rio Grande.
     Luka Felix, who was selected at the RSC Defensive Player of the Year in balloting of the league's head coaches, had eight saves in the loss for WVU-Tech.