Jumping feet first onto the bandwagon of WVU’s men’s soccer program

For the record, after WVU’s disappointing football season opener against Penn State, I did look at the Mountaineer press release for the UAlbany game this Saturday.
Yes, it’s UAlbany, not Albany. If you don’t know, they are the Great Danes. And they are coming off a 27-21 victory over LIU (Long Island University; must I explain everything? Lol) at famed Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium. They play in the Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference, where they were picked to finish third this season behind Villanova and Richmond.
And… yeah. That’s as far as I’m going with that.
BUT (and how often do you see me capitalize that word?) I am jazzed about another WVU team: the Mighty Dan Stratfords, aka the men’s soccer team.
How much respect and how well are those Mountaineers doing?
I quote the latest press release from the program:
“For the first time in program history, the West Virginia University men’s soccer team sits atop the United Soccer Coaches poll. The Mountaineers also are ranked No. 1 by Top Drawer Soccer.”
WVU began the season ranked No. 3 in the coaches poll, its highest preseason ranking in program history.
Of course, I’m a longtime jumper on the bandwagon of the women’s team, led by perhaps the school’s best all-time, all-sport coach Nikki Izzo-Brown.
Yet now I’m firmly anchored on the men’s bandwagon.
In case you missed last season’s run, the Mountaineers are coming off a record-breaking season in which they went 17-3-4 and advanced to the NCAA College Cup for the first time in program history. I’ll never forget not only the excellence of that team, but the emotion on the face of their coach, Stratford.
This season? West Virginia is 3-0-0, having outscored its opponents,12-2, and is coming off back-to-back 4-0 shutouts against Saint Francis and George Washington.
According to the release, “graduate students Sergio Ors Navarro and Simon Carlson have swept the first two Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week awards to lead the Mountaineer attack. Ors Navarro is second in the country with six goals while Carlson has three goals and is tied for the NCAA lead with four assists.
“Junior Marcus Caldeira, the Sun Belt Preseason Player of the Year, scored in WVU’s most recent game while junior Felix Ewald has chipped in with two goals as well.”
The Mountaineers are headed west for a Friday, Sept. 6, game against California Baptist.
So join me (I’ll scoot over) for what’s shaping up as another bandwagon run to remember.
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Mitch Vingle covered sports in West Virginia for 38 years. Follow Mitch on Twitter at @MitchVingle and be sure to check out the rest of Wheelhouse Creative’s website for your marketing and advertising needs. If interested, call us at 304-905-6005.