WHEELING – The West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcat men’s soccer team delivered a complete performance Wednesday night, cruising past Wheeling University, 3–0, at Bishop Schmitt Field.
The Bobcats found the breakthrough in the 22nd minute when Sante Klosterman opened the scoring. After a quick sequence down the left flank, Casey Bunker threaded a perfect pass across the box that Klosterman tucked inside the far post for a 1–0 Wesleyan lead
Wheeling responded with pressure, forcing goalkeeper Matteo Marciani to make several key saves. In the 13th minute, he denied Aiden Morales’s low shot to the center, then dove to stop a curling effort from Elie Simon in the 33rd.
Coming out of the break, Wesleyan quickly asserted control. In the 51st minute, Bunker drew a foul in the penalty area and calmly converted the ensuing penalty kick to double the Bobcats’ advantage, 2–0.
Wheeling intensified its attack, recording a series of corners between the 61st and 73rd minutes, but the Bobcats’ back line—anchored by Hayden Dodd, Roneba Cordice, and Noel Ellis—held firm. Marciani again came up big with a pair of confident claims.
In the 87th minute, Wesleyan put the match out of reach with a moment of brilliance from Marciani when he launched a pinpoint pass forward to Abdul Bediako, who controlled the ball in stride and slotted it past the Wheeling keeper and a 3–0 lead
The match’s final minutes featured a flurry of fouls and cards on both sides, including a late red card issued to Wheeling’s Luis Bravo at the final whistle.
Wesleyan heads to Concord University for a rematch with the Mountain Lions Saturday, Oct. 18 at 4 p.m. Concord beat the Bobcats in Buckhannon 1-0 on a late goal in September.
