CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The West Liberty University men's soccer team lost a hard-fought battle, 2-0, against the No. 2 ranked and defending NCAA DII runner-up University of Charleston in its season opener this evening.

The Hilltoppers kept the national powerhouse off the board for the first 35 minutes with six saves from Noah Underwood and disruptive backline defense by the Black and Gold.

Charleston sniped in its first goal of the match in the 36th minute and scored again just before the half on a penalty shot to take a 2-0 lead into the break. The penalty kick came after a Hilltopper penalty in the box with 50 seconds remaining in the first half.

Strong defense by West Liberty did not allow a shot on goal in the second half by Charleston until the final minute of the match, when they snuck a goal in the low right corner.

The Black and Gold was on the defense for most of the match and could only foot two shots in the match, with one going on net by Vitor Otsuka.

West Liberty will look to break in the brand new scoreboard at West Family Athletic Complex on Wednesday when they open their home slate at 7:30 pm against Concord.

Follow the Hilltoppers all season long online at HilltopperSports.com, as well as on Twitter (@WLU_MSoccer, @WLathletics), Instagram (@wlu_msoccer, @wlu_athletics), and Facebook.