Wheeling, W. Va. - After opening the 2024 season on the road, the Wheeling University Men's Soccer team (0-1-1, 0-1) returned home on Sunday for their Mountain East Conference (MEC) opener. They would play host to the defending MEC Champion University of Charleston and ended up dropping the opener to the Golden Eagles 5-0. The Cardinal's offense was efficient with the opportunities they were given on the day, putting all three shots they took on goal, but they were unable to get on the scoresheet in the loss. 

In the early portion of the game, it was all Charleston as the Golden Eagles recorded three goals in the first seven minutes. Caio Moraes, Tristen Rose, and Stafford Dowling would all get on the board during that time as the Golden Eagles went up 3-0. However, the Cardinal defenders would sure things up the rest of the way, holding them off the board for the remaining 38 minutes in the half. Alvaro Ivanov, Alex Yesufu, and Alonso Martinez worked together to force the ball to the outside and make Charleston take bad shots. The Cardinals would get their first offensive opportunity when freshman Jordan Taylor caught a breakaway on the near side. He maneuvered his way around the Golden Eagle defense and sent a shot towards the bottom right corner of the net that was saved by Charleston's Nicolai Gunderson. 

Charleston responded with a shot on the ensuing possession, by goalkeeper Daniel Delo deflected it away. Delo would play big in the half's final minutes, facing an onslaught of shots before the teams broke for the locker room. Charleston's Hugo Prats Deusdad took the first shot near the middle of the net and it deflected off Delo back to the offensive zone. Charleston's Michail Tselios would get the rebound and tried to sneak one into the corner of the net, but Delo came through again lunging to make the stop and keep the sore sitting at 3-0. Wheeling would head into the locker room trailing by that 3-0 score as they would look for more opportunities. Taylor had the lone Cardinal shot of the first half, putting it on net, but Wheeling was playing back on defense the rest of the way. 

As they came out for the second half, the Cardinals immediately showed some of that aggressiveness when Christian Ruud headed into the offensive zone. He would fire the ball to the upper right corner of the net and a save by Gunderson would keep it a 3-0 game. However, in the 49th minute, Charleston was back on the board making three passes past the Cardinal defense before Joao Belmudes found the net to make it 4-0. They tacked on their fifth goal in the 62nd minute, the second from Belmudes and the score sat at 5-0. Charleston began substituting in their reserves and Delo would shut them down the rest of the way. He made three saves over the final 29 minutes of play to keep Charleston's total at five. Wheeling's final shot would come following the fifth Charleston goal when Antonio Herra-Blackwood sent a shot towards net that Gunderson saved. As time expired, the score would remain 5-0 as the Cardinals dropped to 0-1-1 on the season. 

Daniel Delo made his second start of the season in net for the Cardinals, making six saves on 11 shots faced for a .545 save percentage. Over the first two games, Delo has saved 11 of the 17 shots he has faced and has gotten help from a strong defensive front. On the offensive side, three different Cardinals took shots on the day with all three putting the ball on net. Jordan Taylor, Antonio Herra-Blackwood, and Christian Ruud all took their first shots of the season with all putting that first shot on net. Through their first two games, the Cardinals have taken efficient shots, putting 66.7% of their shots on net and they are hoping to continue that consistency throughout the year. 

The Wheeling University Men's Soccer team returns to action on Wednesday, September 11th, when they host West Virginia Wesleyan with kick-off scheduled for 7 PM.