Marcus Caldeira struck early to put West Virginia on the front foot, and the Mountaineers cruised after visiting LaSalle picked up a red card. WVU men’s soccer scored three times after the red card, earning a 4-0 win over the visiting Explorers on Monday in Morgantown at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
Caldeira, the top returning scorer from last year, scored for the second straight match. He’s now been responsible for six Mountaineer goals out of nine in the first two matches. He’s up to three goals and three assists for the year.
His first goal came in the ninth minute after LaSalle (0-1-1) handed WVU men’s soccer (2-0-0) a free kick, which Caldeira slotted between the wall for an unassisted goal. That marked West Virginia’s first goal of the season off a free kick, as every other Mountaineer goal has come in the run of play.
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The match took a major turn in the 37th minute, when LaSalle’s Ismael Deme picked up a straight red card. That reduced the Explorers to 10 men, turning an already difficult situation for LaSalle into an impossible one.
West Virginia allowed just two shots on goal for the entire game. The Mountaineers put 14 shots on goal, and the final score could have been much worse if not for LaSalle goalkeeper Tino Knies. Knies made 10 saves, eight coming after the Explorers were reduced to 10 men.
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Once the Explorers dropped to 10 men, the Mountaineers pressed the issue. Four minutes after the foul, West Virginia earned a corner kick, and Ethan Dekel Daks delivered a ball into the box that Thijs Veldhorst slotted home to double the margin. West Virginia then bossed the rest of the half, not allowing LaSalle a shot on goal in the first 45 minutes.
Defense Makes a Stand
While WVU men’s soccer had the advantage of playing a man up, Dan Stratford’s defense looked much better this time than it did in the opener against Manhattan. In the opener, the Mountaineers gave up a pair of goals on just three shots. This time, the Mountaineers allowed four shots on goal and saved them all. LaSalle appears to be a step up from Manhattan, making this an important step forward for WVU men’s soccer.
The Mountaineers also didn’t let their foot off the gas this time around. West Virginia didn’t score in the second half until Brice Swineheart’s 63rd minute marker, but it ended up with two second-half markers. Caldeira completed the scoring in the 85th minute, showing the Mountaineers had learned from letting up against Manhattan.
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The best evidence for WVU men’s soccer learning its lesson came from its shot totals. West Virginia took 12 shots in the second half and put eight of them on frame. If the Mountaineers are making the keeper work, that’s a big step in the right direction.
It couldn’t have come at a better time for WVU men’s soccer. The Mountaineers will visit No. 21 Akron on Friday at FirstEnergy Stadium in Akron, Ohio. The Zips are a regular tournament team, making this a real test for West Virginia.
