CHARLESTON, W.Va. – In the final game of a shortened spring 2021 season, No. 21 Notre Dame College and No. 1 University of Charleston went head-to-head for the Mountain East Conference Championship, on Sunday. Each team had scored one goal after 45 minutes, but UC was able to grab the lead in the second half and win by a score of 4-1.

Notre Dame's first opportunity came 10 minutes into the game when freshman Filip Sparevec passed to freshman Marcus Vinicius Pereira in the middle of the box, but Vinicius Pereira's shot was saved. Seven minutes later, Sparevec stole the ball near midfield and was on the run. He took the ball all the down the field and angled a shot that was saved by the diving goalkeeper, Marc Torrado.

Charleston scored the first goal of the day in the 19th minute. Eduardo Iranzo had the ball on the left side of the box and pulled the NDC defense toward him. He crossed to a sprinting Adam Burchell, who shot one into the back of the net.

Not long after Charleston scored, NDC tied the game in the 33rd minute. A corner kick was placed into the box by Vinicius Pereira and junior Alexandru Rumleanschi jumped and headed the ball over a defender standing in front of him. The header found the net on the fly.

At halftime, the Falcons were outshooting the Golden Eagles, 6-4.

About five minutes into the second half, a free kick by sophomore Malvin Gblah found an open teammate and nearly led to a goal for NDC, but was called offside.

On the other side of the field, one minute later, Charleston took a 2-1 lead. Burchell sent a cross into the box, which tapped the foot of a Golden Eagle and then rolled back to Christos Charalambous, who converted.

Gblah then set up for a free kick, just outside of the 18 in the 57th minute, but his shot sailed high.

NDC goalkeeper Pedro Alvez made a couple great saves in the second half. In the 60th minute, a touch pass led to a chance for Gabriel Rodriguez but Alvez punched the ball away as he fell. Rodriguez went after Alvez again in the 74th minute with a header, but the freshman stuck a hand out to knock it away.

In the 80th minute, the ball was deflected a few times as Charleston's defense scrambled to clear. Freshman Leonardo Mansure had a chance, but his shot was deflected off a defender.

UC would score a goal in the 82nd minute and the 84th minute to grab a 4-1 advantage. Rodriguez had the first and Charalambous had the second.

Freshman Lukas Hackaa led the Falcons with three shots in the game. NDC finished with eight shots and three shots on goal.