CEDARVILL (Ohio) — The West Virginia Wesleyan College men’s soccer team traveled to Ohio for the 2023 season opener Thursday evening and fell to Cedarville University, 1-0,
The yellow card came out early on the Bobcats. Midfielder Sam Newel served as the referee’s warning in the 14th minute against very aggressive play in the game’s first half. Much of the action remained in midfield for a solid 20 minutes until both sides settled down and the Yellowjackets snatched a Pedro Parmezani (midfielder) pass deep inside the Bobcat defense and challenged Goalkeeper Bryant Sheffield with the help of the setting sun’s glare.
Cedarville continued to take advantage of the Bobcats’ errant passes and put Wesleyan’s defense on the back foot to accumulate seven shots in the first half, including one on goal by Cedarville’s Jake Johnson (save by Sheffield).
A scoreless 45 minutes opened up to a more competitive match in the second half that started with a new goalkeeper in net for Wesleyan with Logan Nelson. The Bobcats showed much better control and Cedarville opened up space for the Bobcats offense to maneuver inside the 18. But in the 69th minute, the Yellowjackets took advantage of a backline that provided enough space for Michael Catanzarite to belt a cross diagonally from the right wing through the 18 to Alex Long who one-touched the ball at the far post into an open net.
Wesleyan returns to action on Sept. 3, when the Bobcats travel to Frostburg State University for a Mountain East matchup at 7 p.m.
