Last season’s trip to the College Cup Semifinals put a target on WVU Men’s Soccer early this season, and Purdue Fort Wayne, led by senior Seth Mahlmeister, will be the first to take a shot at the Mountaineers.
Both teams open their season schedule on Thursday at Morgantown’s Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium. The match is set to begin at 7 p.m. and will be available to watch on ESPN+.
Coming off a 17-3-4 record last season compared to Purdue Fort Wayne’s 7-6-4 season, WVU is not expected to struggle in the week one matchup. If there is anyone with the talent to change that, though, it would be Seth Mahlmeister.
Mahlmeister, a 2023 All-Horizon League First Team selection, was a scoring machine last season. As a junior, Mahlmeister scored 10 goals in just 17 games. His 0.59 goals per game was 29th best in Division I soccer, and his 55.4% shot accuracy ranked 20th.
The forward enters the 2023 season off of an even better summer campaign with Sarasota Paradise in USL League Two. In just 13 games, Mahlmeister scored another 10 goals to go with eight assists. Sarasota finished 8-1-3 to win the South Florida Division.
West Virginia will not allow Mahlmeister’s talent to go unmatched on Thursday, though. Joining Mahlmeister on the United Soccer Coaches’ Players to Watch list this season is WVU junior Marcus Caldeira.
Caldeira tallied 12 goals and three assists in 24 matches last season. The 6-foot-2, 184-pound forward enters his third season at West Virginia this year despite going in the first round of the MLS SuperDraft to Minnesota United FC.
With hefty player turnover from 2023 to 2024, Caldeira is expected to take the reigns of the Mountaineers this year. Caldeira earned First Team All-American and Second Team All-American honors from College Soccer News and United Soccer Coaches respectively last season.
Caldeira is far from alone in Morgantown, though. Graduate student Sergio Ors Navarro returns after scoring WVU’s third most points last season with eight goals and two assists.
Joining Caldeira on the Preseason All-Sun Belt Team are graduate student midfielder Ryan Baer, graduate student defender Max Broughton, and senior defender Frederik Jorgensen. Jorgensen was named to the All-Sun Belt Second Team as well as the United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region Second Team last season, and Baer served as WVU’s 2023 team captain.
With untested yet high-potential depth, the Mountaineers are set to start their season in an explosive way on Thursday. As head coach Dan Stratford stressed in his Monday press conference, WVU cannot rely on any momentum from last season’s success to put a strong step forward in 2024. That momentum can build, however, from a statement week one victory against one of college soccer’s best talents and Purdue Fort Wayne.
