Last Wednesday evening @flowerbaby and I made plans to go to another local college soccer game. This time it was more Division II action and it was two of the best teams in the entire nation.
#6 Davis & Elkins was visiting to play #9 University of Charleston.
Earlier in the year, D&E won at home 2-1. I was hoping things would go differently here in Charleston and much later in the year. Thankfully, they did.
About a week or so ago, D&E was undefeated and ranked #1 in all of Division II. This isn't nearly as popular as Division I play, but being ranked that high still means something to these players and the fans.
Back in 2019 UC won the National Championship. Plus they are in the same Mountain East Conference as D&E. On top of that, both teams are from the rural state of West Virginia. It's safe to say there is somewhat of a rivalry between these two teams.
This match was set to start late at 7 pm and my goodness was it cold on this evening. It was about 40°F and everyone was bundled up just to stay warm. I think this may have kept the crowd from being as big as it could have been. The coaches were wearing winter coats on the field during warm-ups. Some of the players were even wearing gloves. This didn't stop anybody from getting out on the field and playing their hardest.
Throughout the entire match, we witnessed fans from D&E talking shit to the UC players on the field. They were even making fun of the home team's cheerleaders. I'm pretty sure they were just upset about their women's team losing 3-4 to UC earlier that evening. Eventually, some UC students started going back at the girls with insults and the girls quickly lost their cool. It was a perfect example of "If you can't take it, don't dish it out".
The first half was very close, but to me, it seemed that UC was clearly the better team despite not being ranked as high nationally. This was proven by them knocking in the first goal of the match during the 36th minute. This actually turned out to be the only goal scored through 90 minutes of play.
The second half was a different story. UC still played well but was much more defensive this time around. D&E was fighting with everything they had to even the score. They had numerous well-placed shots, but UC's goalie was unbeatable with 9 saves in total.
By the end of regulation, it was 0-1 and UC was victorious. The team went crazy and started celebrating their upset over their in-state rival. It was difficult to wade through the thick crowd of students who were congratulating their team for showing that they are just as good, if not better than D&E.
We may have frozen our asses off at this game, but I still had a great time. I'm excited to see if UC is able to make it deep into the NCAA tournament again. If they bring home another national championship, then surely the country will realize they are one of the best Division II soccer programs in the USA.
For the best experience view this post on Liketu
