MORGANTOWN — The No. 3 ranked West Virginia men’s soccer team cruised to a victory in the first match of the 2024 campaign, 4-2, over visiting Purdue Fort Wayne under the lights at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium on Thursday night.
Fifth-year senior forward Sergio Ors-Navarro scored three goals before halftime to guide the Mountaineers (1-0-0) to a 4-2 win in their opening match of the season.
“I thought our level of play was really high in the first half, and it’s always tough to maintain that throughout the entire game,” WVU coach Dan Stratford said. “Credit to them for their efforts in the second half, as our energy probably dropped off a bit, but as I just said to the guys after the match, we are 1-0 and scored four goals at home, and it’s no surprise that we have things we need to work on.”
It didn’t take long for WVU to find its opening goal of the year as Ors-Navarro netted his first goal in the eighth minute of the opening half. Transfer Simon Carlson played a curled ball into a dangerous area, and Our-Navarro nodded it home with a perfectly placed header.
“That first goal was a great service from Simon, and I was able to get good placement on the header,” Ors-Navarro said. “It’s always great to be back at Dick Dlesk playing in front of the fans and even better with a win.”
After the opening goal, the Mountaineers continued to control offensive possession in the early stages of the game, particularly in the midfield. They were rewarded for their efforts in the 17th minute when Ors-Navarro pounced on a ball that was mishit by the Mastodons keeper and fired it into the net to double the lead.
He added his third goal of the first half ten minutes after a fumble by the PFW keeper, who saw the ball at Navarro’s feet before ushering it across the line for a 3-0 advantage.
“He has matured a lot in terms of how clinical he has become,” Stratford said of Ors-Navarro. “He always showed flashes of the quality but there were some questions early on when he joined the program. I think he has so much confidence and strikes the ball so well that it allows him to be successful up front in the striking role or out on the wing for us.”
The Mountaineers continued to control possession into the second half and nearly scored a fourth goal in the opening stages. A goal eventually came, but it was called back for offsides after a video review.
The Mastodons were the next team on the scoresheet as Marco Valencia weaved the ball into the box and scored with a deflected effort that beat the WVU defense to cut the lead to 3-1.
But the Mountaineers responded and added a fourth goal as junior Felix Ewald tucked the ball home from close range in the 78th minute.
The Mastodons added a second goal one minute later, a laser goal by Marcos Soria that hit the underside of the crossbar and down into the goal.
From that point, the Mountaineers held on to the result for a season-opening victory 4-2. WVU will stay home for another match on Monday against Saint Francis at 7 p.m.
