Wheeling, W. Va. - On a rainy night at Bishop Schmitt Field at Panhandle Cleaning & Restoration and WesBanco Stadium, the Wheeling University Men's Soccer team (1-4, 0-3) hosted West Liberty in their annual "The Battle for Wheeling" match-up. It was a battle both on the field, and with mother nature, as the game faced delays of nearly an hour and a half just after the opening kick-off. The Cardinals would get on the board with a late goal, but the effort would end up falling just short as Wheeling dropped a 2-1 match-up.
Early on, the Cardinals would put the pressure on the Hilltopper defense, needing just seven minutes to take their first shot of the night. Jon-Michael Gordon would send the ball to the bottom right corner of the net, but West Liberty's Shai'ya Fitzgerald would make the save and kept the Cardinals off the board. However, just two minutes later, the game would come to a halt due to lightning in the area. The team would head to the locker room, and nearly returned to the field a half hour later, but the rains and the lightning came down and the teams were forced to wait just over an hour and 20 minutes before returning to the field. After a 15-minute warm-up period, things were off and running again, and this time it was West Liberty who would take the shot. The Hilltopper's Kevin Teather would send the ball towards the top of the net, and Alberto Madail was there to make the save to keep the game scoreless.
It would be the first of three straight saves for Madail, who kept the Cardinals in the game throughout the night. The Cardinal's first shot out of the break would come in the 21st minute when Enzo Boulaoued sent a shot wide, and 14 minutes later Wheeling would have their first scoring chance. After the Hilltoppers sent a shot off net on the other end, Charlie Goldsmith would try to float the ball under the crossbar and into the back of the net. However, Fitzgerald leaped up and was just able to make the save to keep the game tied at 0-0. Before the half was up, Andoni Pipaon would set up for a free kick inside the 20-yard line and tried to bend the ball into the top corner of the net. Fitzgerald came through once again with the big save, and the teams broke for halftime with the score sitting deadlocked at 0-0.
As the teams came out for the second half, West Liberty would begin to push the ball up field, taking the first four shots of the new half. It was the fourth of those shots that found the net, as Ethan Nethery played a long ball to Tresz McLeod, who finished passed the Cardinal Goalkeeper to give the Hilltoppers a 1-0 lead. The Cardinals had some tricks up their sleeve, taking the next five shots and putting two of those on net. Elie Simon would be denied in the bottom left corner in the 61st minute and Gabriel Raji had a shot saved two minutes later as West Liberty held their 1-0 lead. West Liberty countered with a shot on goal two minutes later that was saved by Madail, but a second chance effort would find its way to the back of the net to add to the Hilltopper lead.
Brody Wall would be the goal scorer for the Hilltoppers, taking a pass from Jasper Newton to the back of the net to give West Liberty a 2-0 lead. The ball would bounce around the midfield for the next twenty minutes, with the teams combining three shots during that span. Elie Simon would put the only shot on goal for the Cardinals during the stretch until the Cardinals set up for a corner kick in the 85th minute. Joergen Bjerkreim would be the one to line up the corner, and he sent the ball to a flock of Cardinals in front of the net. It would be KJ Viglundsson who got his head on the ball, scoring his second goal of the year to make it a 2-1 game. It would end up being the final scoring chance for the Cardinals, as the fell 2-1 to round out the night.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was KJ Viglundsson, who scored the lone goal of the day, totaling two points. It was the freshman's second goal of the season, and first of the month of September, as he put his lone shot of the day on net. Joergen Bjerkreim would be the other Cardinal on the scoresheet, picking up the lone assists, while Andoni Pipaon, Javier Ramos, and Charie Goldsmith tied for the team lead with one shot each. Alberto Madail would get the start in net for Wheeling, making five saves on seven shots faced in the effort.
The Wheeling University Men's Soccer team returns to action on Wednesday, September 16th, when they travel to Davis & Elkins with kick-off at 7 PM.
