Wheeling, W. Va. - It has been a long stretch of road games for the Wheeling University Men's Soccer team (1-2, 1-1) as they played their first three games of the season away from Bishop Schmitt Field. On Wednesday night the Cardinals return home to open the home slate against West Virginia Wesleyan, with kick-off scheduled for 7:30 PM. Coming off their first conference win over the weekend, the Cardinals are looking to build off that momentum as they come home to face one of the top teams in the conference last season.
On Sunday, the Cardinals picked up their first conference win of the season when they took down Alderson Broaddus 4-0. After being held off the scoreboard in the first two games of the year, the Cardinals offense came to life outshooting the Battlers 18-10 in the game. It was the most efficient game of the season for the offense so far as well, as they put nine of their 18 total shots on goal. It was the Cardinals first multi-goal game since last year's season finale against West Liberty as the offense showed what it is capable of.
Leading the way was junior Richard Afolayanka, who finished the afternoon with two goals, his first multi-goal game of the season. He got the Cardinals going, scoring off a corner kick in the 28th minute and followed that up with a goal to start the second half that ended up sealing the deal. The other two goals of the day were scored by Christian Ruud and Harry Martin, who each notched their first goals of the season. Martin led the offense, taking four shots on the day, as the Cardinals put together their best offensive game of the season so far.
On defense, the back line of TJ Chery, Malte Freedin, and Armando Loynaz did a nice job of keeping the Battlers out of the offensive zone. Of the 10 shots taken by the Battlers on the day, only one went on net as the others ended up falling wide. The one shot that did make its way on net was saved by Carlos Molina, who was making his first start of the season. Molina played the full 90 minutes in net and recorded his first career win and first career shutout in the conference opener.
With the team now set to return home, the Cardinals are looking to build off the momentum of their first conference win. After the first two games of the season, the Cardinals sit in fourth place with a record of 1-1. They are a half a game behind West Liberty and just one game behind Charleston and Davis & Elkins for the conference lead. The Cardinals were ranked #9 in this year's MEC preseason poll and are looking to hold on to one of the top four spots in the conference to make the MEC Tournament.
The Matchup
The Cardinals and Bobcats will be meeting for the 34th time in program history on Wednesday, with West Virginia Wesleyan leading the all-time series with a record of 19-8-6. The Cardinals have fared much better at home against the Bobcats than they have away with a record of 5-6-1 at Bishop Schmitt Field. In their previous meeting, the two teams finished in a 1-1 tie at Bishop Schmitt Field after two early goals tied the game.
Armando Loynaz led the way in that game, scoring the team's lone goal, and leading the team with four shots, three of which were on goal. Former Cardinal Daniel Skarpnes added four shots, two on goa, while Harry Martin put all three of his shots on goal. Former Cardinal Tyler Serman got the start in net, making five saves on six shots faced while playing 110 minutes.
The Details
Kick-off for Wednesday night's game is scheduled for 7:30 PM at Bishop Schmitt Field. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
