The No. 1 University of Charleston men's soccer team continued its hot start to the season by scoring three goals in the first half to pick up a comfortable 3-0 victory over Notre Dame College on Wednesday afternoon at Schoenbaum Stadium.
The game was the start of a crucial run of fixtures for the Golden Eagles in which the team will be playing five games over the course of the next 11 days - including showdowns against No. 22 West Virginia Wesleyan, Urbana and an away game against Notre Dame, as well as Saturday's non-conference matchup against Alderson Broaddus.
"This is a good rivalry and I think our guys remembered that they got the better of us last year," Charleston coach Dan Stratford said. "Today was about making sure that emotion and excitement didn't get the better of us. We talked about being poised, professional and focused on what we needed to do. We're in the stretch where you're playing two or three games every week, so I thought we managed the game well in the second half to keep the scoreline where it was and get the victory.
"It's still a process for us and we have some important games coming up still."
After controlling possession for large portions of the opening minutes, Charleston was able to break through for its first goal of the game by doing something it's done well in every game so far this season - executing on set pieces. Armando Tikvic's corner kick in the 15th minute was served in perfectly for Thomas Vancaeyezeele, who jumped up and sent a header into the back of the net to put the Golden Eagles in the driver's seat.
It was the eighth goal in seven games off corner kicks for UC.
"It's unheard of how well we've been executing on corners," Stratford said. "That's something that has really evolved this season because we've been getting fantastic delivery from Kieran Bywater and Armando, and we have a lot of players who really believe we're going to score every time we win a corner."
A few minutes after that opening goal, Charleston caught a bit of luck when Will Roberts' shot from inside the 18-yard box caught the hand of the defender and the official rewarded Roberts with a penalty kick. The senior stepped up and converted from the spot for his second goal of the year.
The Golden Eagles scored their third in the 44th minute when Ettore Ballestracci's shot from distance found its way past the NDC goalkeeper, hitting off the crossbar and in for the goal.
"We've got some quality players and this was another step in us building our identity as a team when you have so many new pieces you're working in," Stratford said. "We need these kind of games and it's an opportunity for this group to keep coming together."
And while they stayed strong in the attack the entire game, Charleston was able to use its defense to once again set the tone for a solid team performance.
It was the fifth clean sheet in seven games for the Golden Eagles, who are No. 8 in Division II in goals against average.
"I feel like that's an area where we have so much belief. Even our attacking players talk in practice about how difficult we are to break down," Stratford said. "We've got some good players back there. We've got more depth in defense than we've had in a while and that's allowed us to play with more of a back three this year. You have to have a great defense if you want to win championships, and we're playing well back there now."
UC stays at Schoenbaum for this weekend's 7 p.m. game against the Battlers.
Contact Michael Carvelli at 304-348-4810 or michael.carvelli@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @carvelli3.