CHARLESTON, West Virginia - As the fall colors are settling in across the Mountain State, the Salem Tigers headed down to the southern part of the state this evening to face off with the nationally ranked Charleston Golden Eagles. The Tigers naturally had a tall task ahead of them, but, despite a valiant effort, the Tigers fell 3-0 in the contest.

In the first half, both teams quickly settled into a defensive battle early on with neither team finding too many solid offensive chances. The Golden Eagles opened up the scoring with a goal about 8 minutes into the contest, but the Tigers regrouped and kept things close for the rest of the half. That defensive line held strong, and Salem went into the break with a tight 1-0 contest. 

After the break, Charleston added to their advantage with a penalty kick goal shortly after the game reopened. The Tigers needed to find an offensive spark to get back into the game, but could not quite find the back of the net. The Golden Eagles added one more goal midway through the second half to send Salem back home with a tough 3-0 loss. 

On the stats sheet, Arthur Tavares and Josue Villegas led the Tigers offensively with both adding a shot on goal. On the defensive side, Josh Hills returned to the lineup and stopped a staggering amount of shots from the Golden Eagles to tally 6 saves on the evening. 

Despite the loss, the week still is full of new opportunities for Salem's men's soccer team. Firsts, the head up to Wheeling for one more road contest on Wednesday, September 25th, and then they host new Mountain East Conference member Point Park at home on Sunday, September 29th at The Bridge Sports Complex.