The first football Saturday in Morgantown is a special occasion. Students have moved in, FallFest has entertained, and crisp, cool, mountain air starts to push away summer's humidity. The fall semester is here. Fall sports are here. "Fall" is here.
2023's first day of fall may not truly fall until September 23, but it's the first filling of Milan Puskar Stadium, the RV takeover of the stadium lots, the roar of a home team touchdown that all signal fall in Morgantown.
September 9, 2023, the year's first football Saturday in Morgantown, had a bit of extra help in ushering fall to town. To kick off a football doubleheader, the No. 16 men's soccer team hosted No. 3 Portland at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium. It proved to be, undoubtedly, the highlight of the day, and of the early fall sports season.
Saturday's forecast never looked like there would be many highlights. Not when lightning symbols took over most of the hourly slots in your favorite weather app. Not when the chance of rain was higher than you'd like through most of those same hours. Lightning would indeed play a memorable part of Saturday's doubleheader, but we will get to that in a bit.
For now, let's take a visual look at that unforgettable football match. The one that the lightning symbols lied about and avoided. The one that the rains ignored. The one that was easily a top two memory out of this photographer's history at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium. Number one, for context, will always be the Mountaineers taking down No. 1 Connecticut, led by the Philadelphia Union's Andre Blake -- a superstar keeper who the Mountaineers managed to net two past for a historic 2-0 win on that day in 2011.
Close Calls
The image seen above features the late heroics which shocked Portland and clinched victory for the home Mountaineers. That's the moment the ball finally crossed the line, for either side, with :03 remaining in the match. We'll get back to this moment, but let's rewind a bit and see a little bit of what led to the Mountaineers' 1-0 upset victory.
This one featured open space on the counter, long chances at both ends, shots off of woodwork and several sequences where a packed defense blocked, deflected and cleared dangerous looks at the net.
Two of the best chances that this camera caught came when the Pilots found the woodwork from inside the penalty area, and when Marcus Caldeira got in behind the Pilots defense -- both in the first half of the match.
Portland's Jacob Babalai saw his attempt find the left bar and came back across the face of the frame, just for the ball to end up in keeper Jackson Lee's hands.
Insert "game of inches" and all of those other adages here.
Caldeira's try could be similarly described with the same adage. The ball found his feet, he eyed a nutmeg attempt on Portland keeper Miguel-Angel Hernandez and rolled his shot. Hernandez did great by making himself larger in front of Caldeira and was able to, literally, squash the attempt.
In the second half, West Virginia forward Yutaro Tsukada had a long-range effort thwarted by a diving Hernandez, and it looked like the best opportunity for the Mountaineers to upset one of the NCAA's best.
The 70th minute came soon after. Then the 80th, the 90th as Portland sent the ball into the Mountaineers' third of the pitch.
The Winner
All the Mountaineer magic would require was the game's final 20 seconds -- three of which could be spared.
Lee drove a goal kick into Portland's penalty area and was helped by the Pilots dealing with it poorly, gifting possession to the Mountaineers. Luke McCormick was able to find the space to send a brilliant, late cross to the back post and to the head of Max Trethewey.
The photos will speak for the rest of the sequence:
Three seconds were all that remained after the inevitable winner -- not nearly enough for Portland to threaten with magic of their own. Had the ball lingered longer in the air, had the header been met with Hernandez's outstretched arm and not the cross bar, had Caldeira needed more than a single swing at the ball to find the netting ... Had any of those things happened, and we're talking about a draw instead of a win.
But, the Mountaineers won, dramatically, and they'd go on to celebrate it as such. As would the supporters. Caldeira's winner would earn him West Virginia Athlete of the Week, Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week, NCAA Team of the Week, and College Soccer News National Player of the Week honors -- as well as the Mountaineers a spot in the top 10.
Cue Country Roads
A favorite shot from the celebrations happened when Tsukada collapsed to the ground after the match, lying in a sea of green. His pair of close opportunities might have provided a more comfortable closing minute for the Mountaineers, but it was always meant to be won on the full-team, last moment effort. Still, it didn't keep Tsukada from collapsing in relief, and then sitting with the roaring stands behind him.
Of course, this wouldn't be the only crowd to join a West Virginia team in singing Country Roads on Saturday. But, the highlights at Milan Puskar Stadium's half of the doubleheader can be a bit more easily summed up.
There were three strikes to Hudson Clement, and there were lightning strikes that delayed the game action, ultimately canceling half time to move the game along.
Things started off normally enough as Mikel Hager led the Mountaineers onto the field for the first time at home as the 69th Mountaineer mascot.
What wasn't normal about the Mountaineers clash with Duquesne was the lightning delay which would force the teams, fans, media and employees to seek shelter for nearly two hours.
Clement Strikes
West Virginia native Clement, making his college football debut, caught one of his three touchdowns from Garrett Greene before the delay, with the next two coming in a quick flash after the lightning delay. He finished with five catches for 177 yards and three trips to the end zone, earning a scholarship along the way.
If Clement's debut wasn't your most memorable part of the win over Duquesne, it was surely the weather delay. It was the longest delay the Mountaineers have seen since lightning forced a nearly three hour stop in action as West Virginia defeated Marshall in, like the soccer win over No. 1 UConn, 2011.
The stadium cleared, warnings were displayed on the big screens, and Duquesne players watched from their tunnel in disbelief as they, at the time, remained close on the scoreboard.
Cue Country Roads, Again
The Mountaineers would win the game 56-17 to complete the day's football doubleheader with a sweep of the competition in Morgantown. Soccer and football each had their own drama to get there, but it was a chance to sing Country Roads in each of the stadiums with a win.
We'll close this photo essay out with strong hopes for the fall, a collection of additional photos from the win over Duquesne, and a resounding "Let's Go!" as fall continues to roll into town.
