Men's Soccer: WVU Falls to Seton Hall
October 18, 2003 04:10 PM | General
October 18, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia University men's soccer team (4-8-2) were dropped by No. 18 Seton Hall (6-3-4) Saturday, Oct. 18, 5-2.
Pirate freshman Sacha Kljestan would get his team on the board early in the first half as Ryan McGowan gave him the ball seven yards from the goal mouth to blast by goalkeeper Nick Noble.
The teams would battle out the rest of the first half to a 1-0 score in favor of the Pirates. Seton Hall ended the period outshooting WVU nine to three and forcing Noble to make four saves.
The Pirates would try to put away the young Mountaineer squad early in the second half as Jerrod LaVenture would net an unassisted goal in the 54th minute. WVU head coach Mike Seabolt would then swap goalkeepers, putting in freshman Adam Shutler.
Shortly after Shutler's arrival to the field McGowan would take a ball from senior Luke Vercollone in the 64th minute to give the Pirates a demanding 3-0 lead.
The Mountaineers would begin a quick rally in the 67th minute as Devon McTavish would pass the ball through the penalty box, catching freshman Jarrod Smith in full stride nine yards out. Smith collected the ball an buried his fourth goal of the season past Seton Hall goalkeeper Boris Pardo.
The tandem of McTavish and Smith would come calling again as McTavish lobbed the ball into the box from the left sideline. Pardo attempted to collect the ball in the air but mishandled it and it fell to the goal mouth where Smith would boot his second goal of the match.
As the momentum seemed to be gaining on the Mountaineer's side Seton Hall would seal the game for good. Vercollone took a pass and hammered the team's second goal past Shutler in the 74th minute. Then in the 87th minute freshman John Raus would seal the game for the Pirates as he caught the defense off guard to score his second goal of his collegiate career.
Vercollone would pick up four points in the match with his goal and two assists.
The Mountaineers return to action on Tuesday, Oct. 21, when they host BIG EAST rival Pitt at 7 p.m.
Scoring Summary: SHU- S. Kljestan (13:41) R. McGowan; SHU-J. Laventure (54:43); SHU-R. McGowan (63:37) L. Vercollone; WVU- J. Smith (66:16) D. McTavish; WVU- J. Smith (67:45); SHU- L. Vercollone (73:00) M. Salotti; SHU- J Raus (86:33) L Vercollone
Shots: WVU-17; SHU- 11
Corners: WVU- 2; SHU- 4
Fouls: WVU-16; SHU- 13
Goalkeeping: WVU- Nick Noble, 2 GA 4 saves 61:00 minutes; WVU- Adam Shutler, 3 GA 1 save 29:00 minutes; SHU- Boris Pardo, 2 GA 3 saves 90:00 minutes
