Women's Soccer: WVU Posts Eighth Shutout of Year
October 23, 2005 03:19 PM | General
October 23, 2005
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Senior Marisa Kanela scored two goals and fellow senior Mollie Merkel notched the first goal of her West Virginia career to give the 13th-ranked West Virginia University women's soccer team a 3-0 victory over Providence on Sunday afternoon at Glay Field.
Merkel put the Mountaineers (10-4-3, 7-2-1) on top 1-0 in the 38th minute when she scored on a header off a throw-in from sophomore Ashley Banks. Merkel, a Walkersville, Md., native, had just entered the match on the throw-in.
The Mountaineers held the Friars (4-11-2, 1-8-2) without a shot for the entire first half, owning a 12-0 shot advantage at the half. Of those 12, seven were on goal, forcing PC goalkeeper Laura Elfers to make six saves in the first period.
Banks again proved dangerous from the sideline when she connected with Rachael Minnich three minutes into the second half to set up a score by Kanela. Banks sent a throw in to Minnich in the center of the 18-yard box and the Mason, Ohio native flicked the ball to Kanela who nailed her team-high fifth goal of the season to put the Mountaineers up 2-0.
Kanela scored her second goal of the match with 26:30 remaining in the contest when she received a pass from junior Cathy Abel and beat Providence's Elfers to the far netting, giving the Mountaineers a 3-0 advantage.
The victory is junior goalkeeper Lana Bannerman's eighth of the season and the 24th of her career. She is now one shutout shy of the WVU career shutout record currently held by former WVU goalkeeper Stacey Adams (24.8).
The shutout is also the Mountaineers' eighth of the year.
West Virginia is next in action in the quarterfinal round of the BIG EAST tournament on Sunday, Oct. 30 when it travels to Villanova for a 1 p.m. match.
West Virginia, 3 Providence 0
Scoring: WVU- Merkel (Banks) 37:07; Kanela (Banks, Minnich) 48:32; Kanela (Abel) 63:30
Shots: WVU -27 ; PC - 2
Corner Kicks: WVU - 7; PC - 1
Fouls: WVU- 6; PC - 16
Goalkeeping: WVU - Lana Bannerman, 90 minutes, zero saves, zero GA; PC - Laura Elfers, 76:26 minutes, 8 saves, 3 GA; PC - Caitlin Pickul 14:34 minutes, 3 saves, 0GA
