WVU men’s soccer bounces back to beat St. Bonaventure for 1st win of season in home opener
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MORGANTOWN -- West Virginia men's soccer finally wore down St. Bonaventure to pick up its first win of the season in its home opener Monday night.
The No. 23 Mountaineers scored just one goal in the 62nd minute to win 1-0 over the Bonnies, picking up a much-needed bounce-back win. WVU lost the first game of the season against unranked Charlotte, 3-0, on the road. The Mountaineers are now 1-1 on the season, and St. Bonaventure fell to 1-1.
Although the game was tied at half, the Mountaineers were dominating possession. WVU had 17 shots on goal and nine corners but couldn't get anything to find the back of the net for its first goal of the season. Finally, graduate defenseman Aurelien Cormier crossed it into confusion in the box, and it allowed sophomore forward Julen Recalde to bury it into the top of the net.
It was Recalde's first goal as a Mountaineer.
"So excited," Recalde said. "First game here at home, with all the people supporting. It was incredible, amazing. Very happy for the goal."
Recalde transferred from West Virginia Tech this offseason, where he had 16 goals. He was named offensive player of the year as a true freshman from San Sebastián, Spain. Head coach Dan Stratford said there are still things Recalde needs to improve at, even after scoring the first goal of the season.
"I think he's going to get better and better and be even more productive," Stratford said. "But I'm sure that will give him a ton of confidence that he scored the first goal of the season for us. We hope that kicks on."
The Mountaineers haven't been at full strength to start the season, playing into the slow start. Before the season started, Stratford said the team had about 12 players dealing with injuries out of a 28-man squad. Sun Belt Player of the Year, senior forward Pablo Pozos, was full go, and so were all-Sun Belt selections junior midfielders Nacho Martinez and Isaac Scheer. All three were banged up to start the season.
Pozos and Scheer both had two shots apiece. Recalde led the team in shots (5) and had the goal.
Stratford said that next game on Friday, Aug. 28, against UNC Greensboro, the team will probably have the same squad, but by the Akron game on Sept. 3, they'll have one or two more players healthy.
"I think a lot was made about the injury crisis that we have," Stratford said. "That had nothing to do with why we lost the game against Charlotte. I've made it very clear to the players that won't be an excuse."
The Bonnies goalkeeper Winston Jory kept WVU from running away with the game. He's 6-foot-5, and caught all the early corners from the Mountaineers, keeping it all square at the half. He had three saves.
Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Toby Mawer had just two saves on the other end. The clean sheet provides a big boost of confidence after Mawer allowed three goals in the first game against Charlotte.
"I love clean sheets," Stratford said. "There's been a real appetite for the mentality to take a ton of pride in clean sheets. Obviously, very disappointed with the nature of Charlotte, and then very pleased with tonight."
There's still a lot of work to do as a team, regardless of getting healthy. Stratford said there was too much desperation in the first half, the team was taking shots from too far out, and they needed to create better quality chances. The little details need to be cleaned up.
But after a 3-0 loss to unranked Charlotte, it was just nice to get in the win column.
"You’re always kind of wondering if it’s going to be one of those nights where you just can’t find a way," Stratford said. "I do think there was a little bit of a hangover tonight from the nature of the Charlotte game, which made tonight even more important that we got the result and got the win."