A dogfight wasn’t in the cards for fourth-ranked West Virginia. Not with Coastal Carolina, last place in the Sun Belt Conference, providing the opposition. Not with WVU men’s soccer coming off its biggest win of the season.
But that’s exactly what the Mountaineers found with the stubborn Chanticleers, who took a shock lead early and refused to go away. Marcus Caldeira and Ethan Dekel Daks scored to turn the match around, and West Virginia did just enough to keep its winning streak rolling, as the Mountaineers escaped from Coastal with a 2-1 win on Friday in Conway, S.C.
West Virginia (8-1-2, 4-0 Sun Belt) now stands alone as the Sun Belt’s only undefeated team. Elsewhere, in-state rival Marshall put the Mountaineers in sole possession of first place by hammering Kentucky 4-1. The Mountaineers will end the month by facing the Thundering Herd and the Wildcats in consecutive matches.
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West Virginia didn’t have its greatest night, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. The Mountaineers ended up forcing Coastal goalkeeper Alec Laible to make six stops and ended up with 19 shots overall.
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The Chanticleers (1-7, 0-4) surprised everyone with their only shot of the game, which came in the ninth minute. Jon Almudi found Loed Klassen for a touch past Mark Bonnaire, a rare shot to beat the WVU keeper. Prior to that goal, Bonnaire had allowed just one goal in Sun Belt play, that to James Madison. The goal ended Bonnaire’s shutout streak in league play at 203 minutes.
Mountaineers Show Their Mettle
While falling behind certainly wasn’t the plan for Dan Stratford’s men, West Virginia did show that it can handle an early deficit. The main point of the regular season is to learn the lessons the Mountaineers will need in the NCAA tournament. Against Coastal Carolina, West Virginia unquestionably made its life harder by falling behind. But in overcoming the deficit, the Mountaineers now have a tangible outcome they can point to should a better opponent put them on the back foot.
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In this match, Felix Ewald proved the catalyst by forcing the issue shortly after Coastal’s goal. Five minutes later, he looked to have the equalizer, but had it ruled out on an offside call. In the 23rd minute, however, he earned a real scoring chance by drawing a penalty. Marcus Caldeira put it away for his sixth marker of the season, allowing West Virginia to regain its footing.
Dekel Daks then opened the second half by finding the winning goal. He took a feed from Nacho Martinez outside the box and fired, hard enough to get past Laible’s touch and into the net. From there, Coastal wasn’t going to breach West Virginia again. The Chanticleers didn’t get a single shot on goal in the final 45 minutes.
Mountaineers Face Last Non-League Game
West Virginia now faces its final non-conference game on Tuesday against American. The Eagles are a classic home-pitch hero side. American has made the nation’s capital a fortress, going 4-0-1 at home this season. The one tie came against No. 2 Vermont, which speaks to how strong the Eagles are at home. On the road, they’re not the same team. American is just 1-6 away from its ground, only beating Loyola of Maryland.
However, don’t take this to mean American is a pushover. All six of the Eagles’ road defeats came by exactly one goal, including a loss at No. 11 Virginia. If you remember last year, that Virginia team was the one that ended West Virginia’s 2024 campaign in the NCAA tournament. West Virginia should win, but it is by no means an easy contest.
