Wheeling, W. Va. – Amidst Saturday's Homecoming & Family Weekend and Athletic Hall of Fame Festivities, their was a rivalry brewing in the Ohio Valley. The Wheeling University Men's Soccer team (0-5-2, 0-4-1) hosted West Liberty in the first meeting of "The Battle for Wheeling" for the 2024-2025 season Saturday night at Bishop Schmitt Field. The Cardinals would get on the board early, but it wasn't enough as the Hilltoppers scored five unanswered goals as Wheeling fell 5-1. 

Early on, it was the Hilltoppers who controlled possession of the ball over the first 17 minutes of play. They got the first three shots of the game off, but the Cardinal defense forced three shots off net to keep it scoreless. In the 22nd minute, the door was open for the Cardinals as a foul in the box by West Liberty's Colton Callen set up a Penalty Kick opportunity for the Cardinals. It would be Josh Timbrell to take the kick, and he sent the ball into the back of the net as the Cardinals took a 1-0 lead. They would set up for a corner kick and nearly doubled their lead as Alex Yesufu took a shot, but it ended up going high and it remained a 1-0 Cardinal advantage. West Liberty would even the score just seven minutes later on an Alex Wyatt goal and that is where things stayed heading into halftime.  

However, in the second half, West Liberty would take the lead back and run with it the rest of the way. It started with a goal by Oskar Voges in the 47th minute and just nine minutes later that lead would go to two as Zachary Jordan found the net. Two goals later, what was a tie game at halftime turned into a 5-1 Hilltopper advantage in the 73rd minute. The Cardinals would put together a couple of offensive opportunities late, with Kudakwashe Chitani, Alvaro Ivanov, and Andrew Gerbaldo each took shots in the final 10 minutes of the game, but each of those three shots would end up falling off target. In the end, the Cardinals would fall 5-1 as the Saturday of Homecoming & Family weekend came to a close. 

Leading the way for the Cardinals was Josh Timbrell, who finished with the lone goal on the day for the Cardinals. It came on the team's first Penalty Kick of the season as Timbrell was able to get the Cardinals on the board early. Kudakwashe Chitani was the only Cardinal to finish with multiple shots on the day, putting two shots off net. The Cardinals totaled eight shots on the day by six different players, with one of those landing on net. Daniel Delo got the start in net, and made one save on two shots faced before leaving due to injury. Carlos Molina would play the final 42 minutes and ended up saving four of te seven shots he faced to round out the night. 

The Wheeling University Men's Soccer team returns to action on Wednesday, October 3rd, when they hit the road to face Frostburg State at 7:30 PM.