MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 16 West Virginia University men's soccer team opens its 65^th season on Thursday, Aug. 21, as it hosts Manhattan at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m.
 
Nick Farrell and Adam Zundell have the call of Thursday's contest on ESPN+. The game also can be heard on 91.7 FM (WWVU) in Morgantown, and live stats are available at WVUsports.com.
 
Fans are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance by visiting WVUGAME.com or calling 1-800-WVU GAME. Tickets for Thursday's game will be $1 in advance or at the gate. Tickets for WVU students are free with a valid student ID.
   
Before the gates open, Mountaineer Maniacs have a chance to socialize with games, food and music, and it is the first chance to pick up their Mountaineer Maniac shirt at halftime. Fans are also encouraged to wear white to the game.

The Mountaineers are coming off a 13-2-7 season and won the Sun Belt regular season championship with a 5-0-4 mark before claiming the double with the Sun Belt Tournament title, the first time in program history that WVU has won both in the same season.
 
Senior Marcus Caldeira returns to the Mountaineers and was named the 2025 Sun Belt Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. In his career, he has 28 goals and eight assists for a total of 64 points. Graduate defender Carlos Hernando and sophomore midfielder Isaac Scheer joined Caldeira on the Preseason All-Sun Belt Team.
 
West Virginia returns 13 players from last year's squad, including five players – Caldeira, Scheer, Hernando, defender Tristan Pusztahegyi, and goalkeeper Marc Bonnaire – who started at least 10 games. Caldeira and Bonnaire were both named All-Southeast Region second team by United Soccer Coaches in 2024.
 
Fifteen newcomers join the fold this season with eight freshman and seven transfers as the Mountaineers had to replace 17 members from last season's squad.
 
Manhattan is led by 1st-year head coach Tom Giovatto after serving one season as the LIU women's head coach and 16 years as the men's coach at St. Francis Brooklyn. The Jaspers were picked 7th in the 2025 Preseason Coaches poll after going 5-8-3 in 2024 and 3-3-2 in the MAAC.
 
Ziv Dahan, Henry Hamilton, and Nassim Akki were all named to the Preseason All-MAAC team. Dahan led the Jaspers last season with seven goals. Ludvig Målberg returns to man the goal for Manhattan after starting all 16 matches a season ago.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUMensSoccer on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.