The No. 5 ranked West Virginia men’s soccer team welcomed in-state rival No. 1 ranked Marshall to Dick Dlesk Stadium in front of a record crowd on Wednesday night.
The night ended with the field at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium being rushed as the Mountaineers handed the Thundering Herd a 5-2 beat down and their first loss of the season.
The game started off hot with Marshall’s Adam Aoumaich playing a ball to the back post for Matthew Bell to hammer in to give the Thundering Herd a 1-0 lead just five minutes into the game, silencing the home crowd.
Just five minutes later, the Mountaineers offense found their stride as Luke McCormick looked to his left and found a running Segio Ors Navarro who took a one time shot with his left foot to tie the game at 1-1.
In the next minute West Virginia was awarded a goal kick that saw goalkeeper Jackson Lee place his goal kick on the foot of Marcus Caldeira who took the breakaway and made it 2-1 West Virginia. Just 30 seconds later, Otto Ollikainen intercepted a Marshall pass before dishing it off again to Caldeira who snuck the ball past Marshall goalie Gabriel Perrotta to give the Mountaineers a 3-1 lead.
In the 17th minute, Marshall was awarded a corner kick that saw Alexander Stjernegaard find Duggan Morris to make the score 3-2 and bring the Thundering Herd within one.
Both teams had more chances following the 12 minutes of scoring. In the 38th minute, West Virginia’s Ors Navarro took a shot that went straight to Gabriel Perrotta and in the 42nd minute, the Mountaineers Ryan Crook found himself unmarked in the box before taking a shot that bounced off the left post to give Marshall a goal kick, ruining the chance.
Marshall had one final chance before halftime as Joao Roberto chipped a ball that ended with West Virginia’s Frederik Jorgensen clearing the ball off the goal line to send the Mountaineers to the locker room with a 3-2 lead.
The chances to extend the lead did not stall in the second half for West Virginia, as in the 53rd minute aldeira played a ball to a wide open Yutaro Tsukada in the middle of the box before Tsukada’s shot went over the top of the goal.
The breakthrough for West Virginia finally came in the 64th minute after Yutaro Tsukada found Caldeira on the right side of the box who then shifted the ball to his left foot before placing a shot over Perrotta’s head toward the back post that hit the back of the net. The goal gave Marcus Caldeira a hat trick on the night, the first by a Mountaineer since 2014, and the Mountaineers a 4-2 lead.
Just ten minutes later West Virginia’s Constantinos Christou took a shot from the top of the box that took a small deflection which led to the ball going over the head of Perrotta and give West Virginia a 5-2 lead, with five goals being the most they have scored all season.
After 90 minutes, the full time whistle blew and gave West Virginia their third win over a No. 1 ranked team in 16 years, their first since 2011. The five goals by WVU tie the total number of goals the Thundering Herd had conceded all season. The win keeps WVU unbeaten at 10-0-4, while it hands Marshall their first loss of the season and they sit at 12-1-0.
The Mountaineers are in action again on Sunday as they travel to Coastal Carolina for another Sun Belt Conference matchup.
