West Liberty, W.Va. – The West Liberty University men's soccer team will play their final regular season match on Wednesday afternoon as they make the short drive down Route 88 to face Ohio County foe Wheeling. The Hilltoppers and Cardinals are set for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff at Bishop Schmitt Field.

GAME DETAILS

• Location: Wheeling, W.Va. (Bishop Schmitt Field)
• Kickoff: 7:30 P.M.

WEST LIBERTY STORYLINES

• West Liberty enters Wednesday's match with a record of 5-6-5 (4-6-3 MEC) on the season following a scoreless draw at West Virginia Wesleyan on Sunday afternoon.
• The Hilltoppers have already clinched a conference tournament berth and are currently sixth in the Mountain East Conference standings with 15 points. WLU is only three points behind West Virginia Wesleyan in fifth, a team in which the Black & Gold holds a tiebreaker over.
• Mark Donnelly leads West Liberty with four goals on the year while Vitor Otsuka has found the back of the net three times this season. Jan Goebel, Zachary Forehand, and Oskar Voges have each added a pair of goals.
• Otsuka is one of six players on the team with an assist and has notched a team-high of six, which is tied for second most in the MEC. Goebel, Rhys Lewis, Tim Stickland, Shimon Ichimiya, and Jasper Newton each have one.
• Otsuka (3 goals, 6 assists) leads the team with 12 points while Donnelly (4 goals) is second on the team with eight points.
• In goal, Noah Underwood has played 1,350 minutes thus far this season. He has made 64 saves for a .800 save percentage on 187 shots faced, while posting a 1.07 goals-against average. In the draw against WVWC he broke the school's single-season shutouts record, notching his fifth of the year.
• Through 16 matches, West Liberty holds the advantage in goals (19-17), corner kicks (95-80), and saves (67-55) while their opponents hold the edge in assists (12-11), shots (195-178), and shots-on-goal (90-76).
• Sean Regan is in his fifth season as the head coach at West Liberty with a record of 21-47-10 with the Hilltoppers. Overall, he is in his 15th season as a head coach in collegiate men's soccer after spending ten previous seasons at nearby Bethany, he holds a career record of 82-165-22 during his time with the Bison and Hilltoppers.

WHEELING STORYLINES

• Wheeling enters Wednesday's match with a record of 1-13-2 (0-11-2 MEC) on the season following their second consecutive loss, a 5-1 decision at Davis & Elkins.
• The Cardinals have been eliminated from conference tournament contention and are currently eighth place in the Mountain East Conference standings with two points.
• Richard Afolayanka and Jon-Michael Gordon have each scored a team-high three goals this season, while Johannes Haugerud and TJ Cherry have each found the back of the net twice.
• The trio of Afolayanka, Gordon, and Sam Clark are tied with a team-best two assists this season.
• Afolayanka and Gordon have each scored a team-high of eight points, both having scored three goals and assisted on two.
• Carlos Molina has started and played in ten contests for the Cardinals, playing 900 minutes in goal while making 46 saves with a .605 save percentage on 180 shots faced. He holds a 3.00 goals-against average and ranks second in the MEC with a 4.60 saves per game average.
• Through 16 matches Wheeling's opponents have held an advantage in goals (55-14), assists (38-9), shots (276-191), shots-on-goal (126-69), and corner kicks (77-61) while the Cardinals hold the edge in saves (71-54).
• Brandon Regan, the brother of WLU head coach Sean Regan, is in his second season as the head coach at Wheeling with a record of 9-24-3 during his time with the Cardinals.

SERIES HISTORY

• West Liberty leads the all-time series 5-4 and has won two straight in the series.
• The Hilltoppers notched a 2-0 shutout of the Cardinals in the first meeting this season on September 24 at the West Family Athletic Complex.