Charleston, W. Va. – The Wheeling University Men's Soccer team (8-11-1, 7-8-1) played in their first Mountain East Conference (MEC) Semifinal match since 2018 on Thursday night. They hit the road to face Charleston and, after a strong fight early on, the Cardinals playoff run came to an end as they fell to the Golden Eagles 3-0. Wheeling went shot for shot with Charleston throughout the first half, but just couldn't find the net as they end what was a strong 2022 campaign.

Of the 11 shots taken in the first half, five were by the Cardinals as the teams went back and forth through the first 45 minutes. The Golden Eagles for off the first shot of the night in the first minute of the game, but it went wide of the net. The next shot would come 15 minutes later as the Cardinals took each of the next three shots. Sam Clark took the first Cardinals shot in the 15th minute and Diego Buenano followed with two shots, both in the 16th minute, but neither found net. After another shot off net by Charleston, Richard Afolayanka would have the first scoring chance of the day. In the 24th minute, he sent one towards the bottom right corner of the net, but it was saved by the Golden Eagles. 

Diego Buenano nearly added the first Cardinals score of the game in the 27th minute. He was able to get the Charleston goalkeeper out of position, but his shot was knocked away by a Golden Eagle defender to keep the score 0-0. However, that would be the final shot of the half for Wheeling and the Golden Eagles offense began to take over. They scored the first goal of the night in the 39th minute and followed with another goal in the 41st minute to take a 2-0 lead. The score would remain 2-0 for the final four minutes of the half and the teams would break for the locker room with that same score. The shots were pretty even throughout the half, with Wheeling getting outshot 6-5 and they were looking to keep that up in the second half.

However, the Cardinals offense did not get off a single shot over the final 45 minutes of the game. Through the first 25 minutes of the second half, the Cardinals defense was able to hold their ground and keep it a 2-0 game. Center backs TJ Cherry and Armando Loynaz applied pressure on the Golden Eagles, forcing shots off net for Charleston's first three shots to miss the net. However, in the 71st minute, Charleston added their final goal of the night to give them a 3-0 lead with 20 minutes remaining. Austin Aaron would make one save all night and that save came in the 86th minute. He was able to knock away the Golden Eagle shot, but it was too little too late as the Cardinals fell 3-0 ending their tournament run.

Diego Buenano finished his strong freshman campaign leading the Cardinals with three shots, one on net. Sam Clark and Richard Afolayanka added the final two shots of the day to round out the Wheeling offense. Austin Aaron got his second career postseason start and ended up making one save on four shots faced on the night. For the Cardinals, it was a strong year as they not only achieved their goal of being a top four team in the conference, but made it to the final four of the MEC tournament. After two rebuilding years, the team will bring back many of it's top pieces next season and look to make it back to the tournament and compete for an MEC Championship.

The Wheeling University Men's Soccer team now heads into the off-season as they prepare for 2023. Many of this year's stars will be back for 2023 as they look to continue to grow the program and make it a top tier team in the MEC.