Does WVU v. Monmouth in men’s soccer Friday night not get your heart racing?

Oh.

Well, what if I told you Monmouth is ranked No. 9? And has a skilled striker named Ryan Kinne? And WVU has perhaps the best goalie and/or right back in the country? And WVU gets another ranked opponent — No. 17 UNC Wilmington — two days later?

It’s another big opening weekend at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium … and Marlon LeBlanc would like it to he historically humongous.

“I keep thinking back to now five years ago and for our first game there were 300 people in the stands for the home-opener that year,” said LeBlanc, who is 41-23-16 in his first four seasons. “I think it’s kind of amazing how much it’s grown to where now we’re looking at trying to put 4,000 people in the stands so we can set the record and get the season off on the right foot.”

LeBlanc and other parts of the university and the athletic departmet are doing their work to generate a big audience — and consistently big, too. The guy had a meeting with the Mountaineer Maniacs and conducted a PowerPoint presentation. There are whispers of special T-shirts and coordinated chants as well as a goal to develop a pre-match tradition.

To help, WVU will borrow from English Premier League squad Liverpool, whose crowd sings “You’ll Never Walk Alone” before home games.

“I’ve been there for that and it’s more powerful in the stadium than it is on TV,” LeBlanc said.

“One thing we’re talking about doing this year is playing ‘(Take Me Home) Country Roads’ before the game before the team takes the field.”