Pablo Pozos scored a hat trick in the first half of Thursday’s season opener, as the West Virginia men’s soccer team eased to a 5-2 win over Manhattan in Morgantown at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
Pozos, a native of Madrid who spent his first two college seasons at Division II Wingate, quickly endeared himself to his new team and fans with a pair of goals in a span of two minutes. He initially struck just inside the 10th minute when Isaac Scheer and Marcus Caldeira set him up for his first goal in blue and gold. Just before the end of the 11th minute, Pozos struck again off a pass from Felix Ewald. He completed the hat trick with the Mountaineers’ fourth goal, with Caldeira getting the chance on goal started.
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Caldeira ended up having a hand in four of West Virginia’s five goals, as he scored once and tallied three assists. Ethan Dekel Daks’ goal in the 34th minute concluded the scoring and marked West Virginia’s first time hitting five goals since a 2023 win over Marshall.
The Mountaineers are now 6-0 all-time in sea son openers under coach Dan Stratford. While Manhattan is a fairly weak team overall, the Jaspers had managed to hang around with ranked teams Seton Hall and Penn last season and even managed to scratch out a draw with Fordham. While West Virginia came into this match ranked 16th overall, this was the kind of match where a mistake could allow the Jaspers to hang around.
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That made Caldeira’s goal so critical to West Virginia’s success. When Martin Rodriguez pulled a goal back in the 20th minute, West Virginia sat at a crossroads for the match. Finding the third goal from Caldeira restored the two-goal cushion and allowed the Mountaineers to dictate the tempo the rest of the match. Manhattan didn’t score again until the 79th minute, and by that point, it was far too late for the Jaspers to make any kind of run back into the match.
Reasons For Concern For Mountaineers
While West Virginia wasn’t seriously threatened after Caldeira scored and Pozos completed his hat trick, the Mountaineers still had major concerns about their performance. One came from the defense, even though it allowed just three shots on goal. Two of them found the net, which isn’t sustainable success for any team. If West Virginia is going to make a run in the Sun Belt, it must get better defense and goalkeeping than it did against the Jaspers.
The second-half drought is also a likely concern for Stratford. Although West Virginia buried Manhattan early, it did not score after the first hour. Against the likes of Manhattan, the Mountaineers can afford to slack off. But that’s also how teams fail to develop and don’t reach their potential. If West Virginia intends to be a tournament team this year, this is the time to get a drought like that out of its system.
The Mountaineers will host LaSalle on Monday at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium. The Explorers started their campaign started on Thursday with a 1-1 tie at home against Lehigh and will be playing their first road match.
