MSU Wins thriller in Overtime

By Dan Stillwell
Register-Herald Sports Writer

One good pep talk deserved another Thursday night.

After Bluefield College’s Steve Laraba rallied his troops from a 3-0 deficit in the second half, it became Mountain State University’s John Birkelbach’s time to elevate his team for the upcoming sudden-death overtime.

“I told the guys Bluefield should have finished us off in regulation, and they didn’t do it,” he said. “That was their miss, and it was our chance to win the game.”

The Cougars followed their coach’s instruction, as Ali Katrib scored off a direct kick to edge the Rams 4-3 at Paul Cline Stadium.

“To MSU’s credit, they were down a man, but they didn’t give up,” BC coach Steve Laraba said. “Full credit to John’s boys. They regrouped and they got a result.”

The first half was Christmas in September for the Cougars, as they took advantage of poor defending and goalkeeping to score three goals.

Moussa Sidibe scored in the second minute, then easily found the back of the net again in the 39th minute after a ball was shanked to the right by the Rams’ goalkeeper.

Charlot Nacius drilled a shot on a rebound just before the half to make it 3-0.

“We didn’t come to play in the first half,” Laraba said. “We gave them three absolute gifts.”

Laraba blistered his team verbally at halftime, and the Rams responded with goals by Michael Prevett, Jonathan Gunter and Timothy Michaels over a seven-minute period midway through the half.

The last goal came after MSU defender Fredson Jean was sent off for a bad tackle.

“Bluefield came out fired up — coach Laraba gave them a heck of a speech — and we let down,” Birkelbach said. “We were able to reorganize the boys and win on a set piece.”

Ali scored after Adam Thompson’s direct kick from 35 yards out was booted around in front of the goal.

MSU evened its record at 2-2 with the win while Bluefield fell to 0-4.