After finally solving Wheeling Jesuit in the Mountain East Conference tournament semifinals, the University of Charleston men's soccer team enters today's 1 p.m. championship game at Schoenbaum Stadium against Notre Dame (Ohio) College from a different perspective.
In trouncing the Cardinals 6-0 on Wednesday, the No. 6 Golden Eagles (16-2) scored their first win over Jesuit in three tries this season. However, UC is unblemished this season against the Falcons (13-5), winning 2-0 at Schoenbaum on Sept. 27 and winning 3-2 in South Euclid, Ohio.
Even though the Golden Eagles own the advantage over the Falcons this year, UC coach Chris Grassie said Notre Dame has all of his team's respect and focus for today's match.
"Notre Dame's a good team, well coached," he said. "They're going to come in with a game plan. They gave us some trouble last time we played them.
"We have a plan for them but, basically, if we can play our game, possess the ball and be dynamic, we'll be fine."
The Golden Eagles will have to contend with the MEC's top goal scorer, Leonardo Paiva. His lone goal in the MEC semis, his 19th of the season, gave NDC the 1-0 win over No. 18 Urbana. UC held him scoreless in their first match in Charleston, but he was able to find the back of the net once when the two teams met again in South Euclid.
Charleston's scoring mostly comes from the trio of Will Roberts (18 goals), Augusto Maciel (11 goals) and Felipe Antonio (nine goals).
UC comes into today's game following one of its best performances of the season. The win over Jesuit marked the Golden Eagles' 12th shutout of the year and it tied for their second-best single-game game goal total in 2015. Charleston beat Shepherd 6-0 and Chowan 7-1.
"I hope that's a catalyst for us going forward," Grassie said. "We really haven't hit full stride many times this season, compared to last season, where we seemed to be hitting full stride all the time. It was great to get there on Wednesday and, hopefully, it's a sign of things to come."
The UC men aren't the only Golden Eagles team going after a conference title today. The Charleston women's team (11-3-5) visits West Virginia Wesleyan (16-0-3) at 1 p.m. for the MEC championship. The Golden Eagles dropped a pair of 1-0 decisions to the Bobcats in the regular season, and beat Notre Dame 1-0 in the MEC semifinals to set up the third meeting. It will be the UC women's team's first MEC final since joining the conference.