Senior Night win for Men’s soccer

West Liberty’s Men’s soccer team (3-4) recorded their third win of the season after a flurry of second-half goals gave them a 3-2 home victory over Alderson Broaddus University (2-5). The Hilltoppers celebrated the careers of their five departing seniors on “Senior Night” with a win in what was their penultimate game of the season.

Coming off the back of a disappointing 2-1 loss to West Virginia Wesleyan College (4-3), WLU needed to get back to winning ways if they wanted to keep their play-off hopes alive, meaning that the stakes were high in this game. You could sense the importance of the game in the first half as neither team committed many men forward in what was a very even and tense affair. Clear-cut chances were hard to come by in the first period with the Battlers coming closest to scoring after a handful of dangerous set-pieces were well dealt with by the Toppers’ goalkeeper Noah Underwood.

The home side eventually broke the deadlock after senior Tom Humphries finished from close range to score his second goal in his last two home games on the hilltop. The floodgates then opened as Josh Yeaman, who was awarded the MEC Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts, scored two impressive goals in quick succession after delightful midfield play from junior Tyler Swafford and a precise corner kick from freshman Vitor Otsuka. A late push from the Battlers saw them bring the score back to 3-2 with two minutes left on the clock however the West Liberty defense did enough to hold out for the important win.

With other results not going their way over the weekend the Hilltoppers are unfortunately out of the race for an MEC play-off spot, however Head Coach Sean Regan will be happy with the progress that his youthful side have made in this unusual season. There are still some program records to play for in their last game of the season against Frostburg State University this Friday, April 16. A win against the Bobcats would see WLU record their highest ever points, wins and league finish in the short history of the program, meaning they will still be hungry to get the three points.
For more information and updates on the game go to hilltoppersports.com or follow @westlibertymsoccer on instagram.

Difficult week for Women’s soccer

West Liberty’s Women’s soccer team (1-4-2) had a disappointing week after games against Fairmont State University (3-0-3) and Notre Dame College (Ohio) (4-2-1) and the University of Charleston all ended in losses. The Lady Toppers had hoped to pick up some points in these games to boost their chances of gaining a spot in the MEC play-offs, however their chances were dented after a combination of quality opposition and misfortune.

They started the week off with the first of two away games as they travelled to Fairmont to face the Falcons, who they had drawn 0-0 with earlier in the season. WLU started the game off in impressive fashion with senior captain Kaelyn Oskin giving them a 1-0 lead with a delightful finish in the 16th minute. Their lead did not last long as their opponents struck back two minutes later to tie the game up at 1-1.

With little significant action for the remainder of the first period, the scores remained tied until the 75th minute when the Falcons’ offensive pressure was too much for West Liberty to handle as they scored their first of three late goals, with the score ending 4-1 to the home side. The Lady Toppers will feel hard done by with this score line as the game was much closer than the three goal deficit suggests.

They faced another difficult game three days later when they travelled to Ohio to face off against the Falcons, who sat top of the MEC North Division prior to the game. Unfortunately it wasn’t just the nickname of their opponents that was similar in the two games as the result of the game followed suit with WLU losing their second game in a row.

The Falcons put themselves in the lead early in the first half before Oskin scored her second goal in as many games after a powerful header by freshman Anne Williams put her through on goal, tying the game at 1-1 in the 56th minute. It was another unfortunate quick reply as the home team went back ahead just three minutes later. The Toppers again failed to put together a response as the score finished 2-1 to the hosts.

Monday was “senior day” for the women’s team with Katie Kota and Cate Calissie both receiving much deserved recognition for their years of hard work on the HIlltop. Unfortunately the ladies were outdone at home by the nationally ranked Golden Eagles of UC in their third game in eight days. Two early goals in the first half from the visiting side were enough to secure the victory despite WLU getting back into the when a penalty taken by Calissie was slotted neatly into the bottom corner after sophomore Millie Colbran was taken down in the box. Despite looking threatening for much of the second half, the Hilltoppers were unable to find another goal before the final whistle leaving the score 2-1 in UC’s favor.

West Liberty will be hoping to get a win in their last game of the season this Friday away to local rivals Wheeling University. The Lady Toppers defeated the Cardinals 2-0 at home earlier this season and will be hoping to replicate that success this week and end the season on a high after a tough run of games.