Men's Soccer | 9/8/2019 9:49:00 PM

Box Score      CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The University of Charleston's nationally-ranked men's soccer team banged home a couple of quick goals here Sunday night and cruised to a 4-0 victory against West Liberty in a mutual Mountain East Conference opener at the Schoenbaum Soccer Complex.
     The No. 8-ranked Golden Eagles (1-1, 1-0) proved a formidable opponent for Sean Regan's Hilltopper head coaching debut but Regan's youthful squad battled the hosts to the wire in just their second season of varsity NCAA Division II competition.
     Charleston – coming off a 2018 season in which UC surrendered an all-time NCAA Division II-low four total goals – drew first blood in the seventh minute when Ettore Ballestracci redirected a short pass from Ploutarchus Alonefti into the top right corner of the WLU net.
     The Golden Eagles added a Christos Charalambous goal in the 17th minute and all but put the match out of reach just before intermission with a goal from Williams N'Dah in the 43rd minute. The hosts added a Gabriel Rodriguez goal in the 76th minute to conclude the scoring.
     Charleston's smothering defense kept West Liberty off the board throughout the night. The Hilltoppers' Zak Campbell was charted with WLU's only two shots of the night. West Liberty's bid to avoid the shutout was spoiled when UC keeper Andri Gretarsson made his only save of the night on a Campbell shot in the 86th minute.
     Redshirt freshman keeper Noah Underwood was charted with 7 saves on a busy night between the WLU pipes.
     Coach Regan and his Hilltopper squad will try to break into the winner's circle on Wednesday when they host Concord in another MEC test under the lights at the brand-new West Family Athletic Complex. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
  West Liberty                                       0  0 – 0
Charleston                                           3  1 – 4        UC: Ettore Ballestracci (Ploutarchus Alonefti), 6:49
       UC: Christos Charalambous (Eduardo Iranzo), 16:11
       UC: Williams N'Dah (Alex Townley), 42:16        UC: Gabriel Rodriguez (Gonzalo Chacon-Rueda), 75:02        Shots: West Liberty 2, Charleston 21
       Saves:  West Liberty 7 (Noah Underwood 7), Charleston 1 (Andri Gretarsson 1)
       Corners: West Liberty 0, Charleston 6