 "Photo: Chelsi Baker/The Daily Athenaeum")
The West Virginia men's soccer team is much different heading into the 2010 season than it was in 2009.
When it came time for the Mountaineers' first game against UC-Santa Barbara, they sent five freshmen out with their first 11. And as a freshman, playing in front of a record crowd isn't an easy task.
Fast forward to 2010 and WVU is gearing up to play in front of another potential record-setting crowd. But the difference this year is the experience that those freshmen picked up last year.
Now, playing in big games is like nothing for this young, but experienced group of players.
"For some people, it might be nerve-racking playing in front of that many people," said sophomore forward Peabo Doue. "I just get excited. I see a lot of my family and friends up there screaming my name, and it just gets me even more pumped to play."
Games don't get much bigger than the one tonight, as the Mountaineers welcome No. 9 Monmouth to Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium at 7 p.m. in what is expected to be the fourth time in school history a crowd a surpassed the stadium's 1,600 fan capacity.
The Hawks won a school-record 18 games last season and did so by scoring a lot of goals.
In 2009, Monmouth tripled the goal total of the Mountaineers, scoring 36 times during the season.
Leading the way for the Hawks was midfielder/forward Ryan Kinne. The preseason all-American scored 10 times, including six game-winners and assisted on seven goals.
"I'm not worried about the defense stopping them. They've been the backbone of this team since I've been here," LeBlanc said. "I've got the best goalkeeper in America, in my opinion, and some of the best defenders.
"It's just a matter of going out and taking care of business."
If the Mountaineer defense can slow down Monmouth offensively, West Virginia should just need to worry about putting the ball in the back of the net against the stellar Hawks defense, which is led by senior goalkeeper and Hermann Trophy candidate Bryan Meredith.
Meredith allowed just nine goals last year and earned shutouts in 14 of Monmouth's 18 wins.
"He's definitely a great keeper," Doue said. "We'll need to take a lot of shots, and I know that our forwards and midfielders can be creative enough to get some shots past them."
For the first time in a few years, the Mountaineers are entering the first game without any serious injuries.
"The last two years have been very tough for us because of all the injuries we've had," LeBlanc said. "Not just ankle twists, we're talking about surgical injuries that decimated this team."
It is only the second meeting between the two teams. The Mountaineers first played Monmouth in 2002 in Morgantown when West Virginia escaped with a 1-0 win in overtime on a Monmouth own goal.