WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – No. 1-ranked and defending national champion Charleston banged home a pair of second half goals here Sunday, handing the West Liberty men's soccer team a 3-0 loss in a mutual Mountain East Conference opener at the West Family Athletic Complex.
    Coach Sean Regan's host Hilltoppers (1-1, 0-1), fresh off an impressive 3-1 victory at preseason PSAC favorite Mercyhurst on Thursday, made things tough on the high-powered Golden Eagles (2-0, 1-0) for most of the afternoon.
    Charleston's only goal of the first half came in the 20^th minute when Ploutarcho Alonetti squeezed between two defenders and threaded a shot through traffic into the bottom left corner of the cage.
    West Liberty struggled to generate significant offensive pressure but held UC scoreless for the remainder of the half to trail just 1-0 at intermission.
    When play resumed, an unlucky bounce helped the visitors open up a 2-0 lead. A WLU defender deflected a Charleston pass inside the box only to see the ball settle at the feet of Joakim Ostvold, who quickly tucked it into the net from six yards out.
    There was no further scoring until just before the final horn when UC's Alejando Larrayoz tacked on an insurance goal with less than a minute to play.
    The West Liberty men hit the MEC road on Wednesday with a 4 p.m. match at Concord.
  Charleston                1  2 – 3
West Liberty            0  0 – 0      UC: Ploutarcho Alonefti (Lucas Christensen), 19:17      UC: Joakim Ostvold (James Raptis), 58:27
     UC: Alejando Larrayoz (Nolan Ross), 89:09      Shots: Charleston 15, West Liberty 2
     Saves: Charleston 1 (Gunderson 1), West Liberty 3 (Underwood 3)
     Corners: Charleston 3, West Liberty 2
A: 146