Mawer Shines in Shutout Victory at Georgia Southern - West Virginia University Athletics

Sunday, October 25

Statesboro, Ga.

2:00 PM

West Virginia University

8-2-4, 4-1-2

Georgia Southern

6-4-4, 2-3-2

Team	1	2	Final F
West Virginia	1	0	1
Ga. Southern	0	0	0

Toby Mawer kicks the ball for WVU Men's Soccer

October 25, 2026 05:18 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

By: Adam Grossman

STATESBORO, Ga. – The No. 25 West Virginia University men's soccer team picked up its first road win of the season, Sunday afternoon, with a 1-0 victory over Georgia Southern. The Mountaineers improve to 8-2-4 overall and 4-1-2 in the Sun Belt while the Eagles fall to 6-4-4 and 2-3-2 in conference play.

Redshirt sophomore Toby Mawer made a career-high seven saves, including a PK save, to secure his third consecutive shutout and seventh this season. He has made 17 saves in the last three contests.

Sophomore Sammie Walker scored the lone goal of the game, his fourth of the season, and third game-winner. Freshman Ryan Birtwistle tallied the first point of his career with an assist.

Georgia Southern outshot the Mountaineers, 14-5, and had a 7-3 advantage in shots on goal while corner kicks were even at three.

The game got off to a rough start for WVU as junior Tristan Pusztahegyi was given a red-card in the 9^th minute for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity in the box. While the card resulted in the Mountaineers being down a man for nearly the entire match, it turned out positive in the moment as Mawer stopped the ensuing penalty attempt to keep the game scoreless.

Despite being down a man, West Virginia kept attacking and in the 34^th minute, found the goal it was looking for. A long ball from graduate defender Aurelien Cormier made its way to Birtwistle on the right wing, who dribbled into the box before delivering a low cross to Walker. The Baltimore native slid in and slotted the ball right between the goalkeeper and the near post to put WVU in front.

In the second half, Mawer came up huge, making all his saves in open play in the final 45 minutes. In the 57^th minute, he made a diving save before making two more diving saves in the 80^th and 82^nd minutes.

Mawer was not done as he made three more saves in the final four minutes of the contest to secure the victory while also punching away a few dangerous crosses all while directing a short-handed defense.

The Mountaineers will be back at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium for their final regular-season home game against Coastal Carolina on Thursday, Oct. 29, with kickoff set for 7 p.m. It will be Senior Night for WVU as the lone player exhausting eligibility – Sebastian Burke – will be honored before the game.

For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUMensSoccer on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.