Wheeling, W. Va- When two teams are in close proximity to one another, the competition can get heated and that was most certainly the case when the Wheeling University Men's Soccer team (0-1-1), (0-0-1) faced off against its counterpart, the West Liberty Hilltoppers. Both teams played with pure passion and pride for their respective schools, and it resulted in a defensive match ending in a 1-1 tie. Daniel Delo was excellent in between the pipes for the Cardinals as he stopped seven of eight shots from the Hilltoppers.
The first half kicked off junior goalkeeper Daniel Delo faced his first shot of the evening 13 minutes into the contest as he made the easy bottom center save. Delo's services would be needed again as he had to stop another West Liberty shot eight minutes later to keep things scoreless. The Cardinals' Jordan Taylor recorded the first shot for his team, but it went out right with 24 minutes left in the half. As the first half approached, the Cardinals hemmed the Hilltoppers into their own zone and were building pressure. Davin Starkie was able to fire a shot on goal, but it was denied by the West Liberty goalkeeper, Shai'ya Henry. He would need to be ready soon after as Jon-Michael Gordon took two shots within the span of eight seconds, but both landed off-target to close the first half.
The second half began with three corner kicks for West Liberty with the first two being cleared out by the Cardinal defense. The third resulted in the ball being thrown on goal and Delo answering the call. The 56th minute came with another trio of corner kicks for the Toppers. The Cards defended the first two and Delo was forced to make a diving save on third one as the ball was heading to the bottom left of the net. The Hilltoppers kept the pressure on the Cardinals and would be rewarded. They received two more corner kicks and made the second one count as Oskar Voges buried his shot behind Delo for the first goal of the game in the 61st minute.
However, the Cardinals did not back down and formed their own pressure with a corner kick of their own. West Liberty was able to defend it, but they were unable to regain possession. Suddenly, in the 67th minute, Josh Timbrell shoveled the ball over to Luis Bravo who kicked it from midfield. The ball carried over the defense and entered the goal box. As the keeper went to catch it over his head, the momentum of the ball caused it to slip through his hands and roll across the line for a Cardinal goal.
The sudden goal was a surprise to everyone, but with the match tied at one a side, each team was eager to find the go-ahead-goal. The Toppers shook off the own goal and got back to work in the Cardinals' zone as they fired two of three shots on net within three minutes. Delo's saves were big, so the Cardinals were now looking to jump out in front with two shots of their own from Andoni Oynesa and Antonio Herra-Blackwood. Oynesa and Ruesca Martinez each had an opportunity in the 86th minute to take the lead, but the Hilltoppers's defense directed their shots wide of the net to end the match with a final score of 1-1.
Though the first "Battle of Wheeling" match ended in a stalemate, the Cardinals played a sound defensive game. Daniel Delo halted seven of eight shots in 90 minutes played. Andoni Oynesa took three shots with two finding the keeper to lead the team in both columns. Jon-Michael Gordon finished with two shots while Davin Starkie, Ruesca Martinez, Baptiste Hervaud, and Antonio Herra-Blackwood all recorded one shot each.
The Wheeling University Men's Soccer team will travel to the West Virginia state capital to take on the Charleston Golden Eagles on Wednesday, September 10th, 2025, at 7pm.
