Morgantown, W.Va  — The scene is set for one of the most anticipated matchups of the year in college soccer. The West Virginia Mountaineers and South Carolina Gamecocks are set to face off against one another on the pitch of Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium in Morgantown on Saturday.

The Mountaineers, unanimously ranked No. 1 in the nation by the United Soccer Coaches Poll following a 4-2 win over Georgia Southern, are out to prove themselves after a rocky road trip to Dayton, Ohio where the team was stunned by the unranked Dayton Flyers, 5-1. 

The West Virginia Mountaineers (10-3-2) are set to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders (11-2-2) in a battle on the pitch, on Thursday October 17th.

The Mountaineers are heading into this game off the heels of a 2-0 victory over the Baylor Bears. The goals were netted by Olivia Schertzer and Dilary Heredia-Beltran which was her third goal on the season. 

Morgantown W. Va– The new look West Virginia Mountaineers are set to open up the 2024-2025 season on Friday, October 18 at 7 p.m. EST in an exhibition game against in-state opponent Charleston Golden Eagles.

After finishing the 2023-2024 season with a 9-23 record, WVU turned the tables to a new face. New head coach, Darian DeVries, looks to take over the team and bring the same success he had with the Drake Bulldogs. DeVries in his young coaching career is 150-55 through six seasons. DeVries also led the Bulldogs to a Mississippi Valley Conference Championship and a ten seed in the 2024 March Madness Tournament. 

Aespa, under SM Entertainment, burst onto the K-pop scene in 2020 during the COVID 19 pandemic with their innovative concept of blending real-life members and virtual avatars. Their debut single “Black Mamba” set the stage for a new era of K-pop, while follow-up tracks like “Next Level”catapulted them into the global spotlight. In fact, “Next Level” became so addictive that it was temporarily banned in Korea during student exams, as schools and parents worried it would distract students from their studies due to its viral popularity. With futuristic aesthetics and genre-bending music, Aespa quickly became one of K-pop's most talked-about acts.

A key moment in their rise was their performance at Coachella 2022, where they showcased their hits to a diverse audience. As the only K-pop group on the lineup, Aespa stunned with their stage presence, cementing their global influence. Their performance of songs like “Savage” and “Black Mamba” highlighted their powerful vocals and bold choreography, wowing both longtime fans and festival-goers unfamiliar with K-pop.

In July of 1518, a mass hysteria event known as the “Dancing Plague” took over the French city of Strasbourg. A woman named Frau Troffea simply stood in the town’s center and danced. For nearly a week straight, fighting off hunger, pain, exhaustion, and more, she danced. She was far from the only one; by the time she eventually stopped, hundreds had joined her. No reason, no rhyme, not even a tune. Just dancing for the sake of dancing.

I wouldn’t go as far as to say this is another mass hysteria event, but I would say we have another dancing plague upon us. This one, at least, has some music behind it, but similar to the original plague, this seemed to have sprung up out of nowhere.

Suki Waterhouse’s new album “Memoir of a Sparklemuffin” was released September13th 2024. The album includes 18 songs, which each tell a story of an aspect of her life, specifically with the theme of finding true happiness. The title of the album comes from the poisonous Sparklemuffin spider, native to Australia, this is a reference to how Suki feels about herself and how both her and the spider get misunderstood for who they really are. Suki Waterhouse also just became a mom, with partner Robert Pattison, which was another influence to her album. The vibe of the album is indie/alternative with hints of pop and rock here and there, and is considerably more upbeat than her past albums.

The album starts with her song Gateway Drug, which starts mellow, with soft vocals but gradually gets more upbeat. It is a love song, saying get addicted to me and it's okay I will keep you safe. The next song on the album, Super sad, is one of my personal favorites, with a drumbeat that keeps your head bopping and lyrics that remind you to not let a bad night ruin everything else. The songs My Fun and OMG are the most popular on the album, with OMG being the first song she released off the album along with the song To Love. They were released all the way back in January 2024.

The West Virginia Mountaineers are set to take on the UCF Knights in a battle on the pitch, on Saturday October 5th. 

The Mountaineers are coming off of a 1-0 victory over Bucknell in Lewisburg PA, an early goal was scored by Sergio Ors Navarro just a minute into the match off of a pass from Marcus Caldera. The 1-0 victory makes it 6 shutouts by Marc Bonnaire who had big shoes to fill in replacing Jackson Lee who graduated a year ago. 

Morgantown W. Va. - The Mountaineers are set to face off in a contest against the visiting UCF Knights on Friday, Oct. 4 2024, as the Big XII campaign rolls on.  

The Mountaineers came off a four day road trip to Arizona where Niki Izzo Brown's team played the Sun Devils of ASU in a 2-1 win on Thursday then tied the Arizona Wildcats 1-1 on Sunday, making West Virginia’s Big XII record 4-0-1 coming into Friday’s contest. 

For a city of its size, Morgantown has an absolutely cracked music scene. With both established venues like 123 Pleasant Street, Morgantown Art Bar, and more ephemeral house venues, Morgantown supports a variety of artists of all kinds of genres. Here are four of my personal favorite bands:

Wizards Is Crazy

Morgantown, W.Va. - The West Virginia Mountaineers men’s soccer team will face the
Kentucky Wildcats on Friday, September 27, at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium in
Morgantown, WV.

Last Saturday on September 21, West Virginia narrowly defeated the Old Dominion
Monarchs by a score of 1-0 on the road. It was the first win for the Mountaineers after
two straight draws against Loyola Marymount and UNC Greensboro. The Mountaineers
have yet to lose a game this season.