On Tuesday night, the West Virginia men’s soccer team defeated the Lehigh Mountain Hawks by the score of 3-0.
The Mountaineers have picked up their second victory in a row for the first time this season, improving their record to 4-6-2.
It was an all-around effort for WVU, as the offense held possession for 66% of the match, which resulted in the Mountaineers outshooting the Mountain Hawks 18-3.
The star of the game for West Virginia was junior Yutaro Tsukada. Tsukada, the JUCO transfer, scored the first goal of the night in the 35th minute on a strike that found the upper right-handed corner of the net, beating Lehigh keeper Tommy Chyzowych.
West Virginia dominated Lehigh during the entirety of the first half, outshooting the Mountain Hawks 6-0. Despite the six shots, the strike from Tsukada would be the only one to find the back of the net, and the Mountaineers took a 1-0 lead into halftime.
West Virginia wasted no time in the early stages of the second half, as Marcus Caldeira scored just 42 seconds after the break, extending the Mountaineer lead to 2-0.
In the 69th minute, West Virginia got another insurance goal when Sergio Ors Navarro put a shot behind Chyzowych that resulted from a corner kick.
The Ors Navarro goal would just about wrap things up for the Mountaineers, as Lehigh was not able to get a shot on goal the entire match, so no comeback was mounted against the Mountaineers.
West Virginia won the match by the score of 3-0 and picked up a crucial non-conference victory before the team faces four Sun Belt Conference opponents to finish the regular season.
After scoring just three goals in six games, the Mountaineers have now put seven shots in the back of the net in their last two games.
“They (WVU) had to face the reality of how poor it had been, how poor we were in terms of our chance conversion rate, head coach Dan Startford said. “We’ve padded stats in two games, so they’re righting some wrongs.”
The Mountaineers will need to keep padding those stats, as they will welcome No. 2 Kentucky to Morgantown on Saturday night.
The Wildcats are 8-0-2 on the season, so Stratford’s gang will be looking to pick up that elusive win over a ranked opponent as the season turns the corner.
West Virginia and Kentucky will meet at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium in Morgantown at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
