Men's Soccer | 2/28/2021 6:17:00 PM

Box Score       CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Liberty University men's soccer team battled defending national champion Charleston to the wire here Sunday only to come out on the short end of a 2-0 tally at the Welch Athletic Complex.
      While the Golden Eagles (2-0) were the second-highest scoring team in the nation during their 2019 NCAA D2 national championship run and came into Sunday's game off an 8-0 blowout of Frostburg State, Coach Sean Regan's debuting Hilltoppers forced the hosts into a defensive struggle.
      It was West Liberty that came up with the game's first scoring chance, breaking out on a 2-on-1 midway through the opening half only to see Danilo Tavares' shot twist just left of the cage.
      As so often happens, Charleston broke through on the ensuing possession when Sam Bethell set up Alejandro Larrayoz for a shot that found the upper left corner of the WLU net for a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute.
      The score remained 1-0 well into the second half as neither team seemed able to mount a sustained attack.
      That changed in the 69th minute when Christos Charalambous got a ball through to Sebastian Pavez for an important insurance goal and the Hilltoppers were unable to respond.
      West Liberty held the high-powered UC attack to just 6 shots on the day with only 3 of them on frame. Marc Torrado got the shutout in net for Charleston with saves on 2 of the Hilltoppers' 3 shots. Noah Underwood had one save for the Black and Gold.
      Coach Regan and his youthful squad will make their home debut on Friday when they host Notre Dame (Ohio) in a 5 p.m. game at the West Family Athletic Complex.
  West Liberty                                            0  0 – 0
Charleston                                                1  1 – 2
First Half
        UC: Alejandro Larrayoz (Sam Bethell), 23:35         UC: Sebastian Pavez (Christos Charalambous), 68:37         Shots: West Liberty 3, Charleston 6
        Saves: West Liberty 1 (Noah Underwood 1), Charleston 2 (Marc Torrado 2)
        Corners: West Liberty 1, Charleston 7