Ben Deering

Matthew Kelly

A balanced and explosive offense from The College of Wooster men's soccer team paved the way for a 4-1 season-opening victory versus Bethany (W. Va.) College in a match played at Marietta, Ohio, on Saturday afternoon.

Four different players accounted for Wooster's goals and three others were credited with assists. Also noteworthy, the four goals were more than the Fighting Scots scored in a game last fall.

Philip Charnley helped get the season off on the right foot with a goal during the 12th minute, collecting a through ball from Lucas Hunt and delivering into the lower right of the net.

Bethany evened the scoreboard in the 19th minute, only to see Wooster go right back ahead exactly three minutes later. Alex Hopkins sent a long pass to the front line, where Matt Parmelee crossed it left to Aleksi Pelkonen, who finished the scoring chance into the lower left corner.

It remained 2-1 until the middle of the second half, then the Scots sealed the win with a pair of goals less than five minutes apart. First, Matthew Kelly recovered a loose ball in front of the net and sent it inside the lower right corner to give Wooster some breathing room, and shortly thereafter, Ben Deering added an unassisted goal. It marked the first collegiate goals for both of them.

Defensively, junior Daniel Quinn made his first career start at goalkeeper and was solid with three saves.

The Scots will play the host school, Marietta College (1-0), on Sunday at 2 p.m.