Men's Soccer: WVU Blanks Robert Morris
November 19, 2005 04:54 PM | General
November 19, 2005
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia University men’s soccer team used a goal from sophomore Reed Cooper in the 73rd minute to knock off Robert Morris, 1-0, in the first round of the NCAA tournament at the Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
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| West Virginia's Reed Cooper is congratulated by his teammates after scoring his goal in West Virginia's NCAA tournament 1-0 victory over Robert Morris Saturday afternoon at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium in Morgantown, W.Va.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
"I thought it was one of our better performances," said West Virginia coach Mike Seabolt. "We gave up very few chances and created a few chances ourselves."
The win for Mountaineers (13-7-2) over the Colonials ties them with the 1999 and the 1966 WVU teams for the most wins in a season with 13. It represents the team’s 12th shutout of the season.
"A lot of the credit goes to the defense," said junior goal keeper Nick Noble, the school's single-season record holder in shutouts with 13 this year. "I know the effort they put in and I wish all of their names could go into the record book as well."
West Virginia’s win also marks only the second time in program history that a team has advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament. The last time was in 1981 when the Mountaineers fell 1-0 to Alabama A&M.
WVU dominated play throughout the match as it out-shot RMU 28-4 and recorded nine shots on goal compared to the Colonial’s four. The Mountaineers’ shots stands as a season high in 2005, while the shots allowed is a season low.
Despite out shooting Robert Morris in the first half by a count of 15-3, West Virginia could not break on to the scoreboard.
"We said at halftime that the best defense was to go forward and make them defend us and I think we did that well in the second half," Seabolt said. "Some of the shots in the first half were like two pass-backs so they weren't really shots that threatened our goal."
The Mountaineers responded by pounding shot after shot at the Colonial’s goal, forcing goalkeeper Matt Felice to make several diving stops. Junior forward Jarrod Smith caused the RMU defense fits throughout the match as he got off eight shots, four of those being on goal.
West Virginia finally broke the scoreless tie in the 73rd minute when Dan Stratford passed a ball to the corner of the field where defender Devon McTavish was able to flaot a cross to the center of the goal mouth. Six-foot-three-inch Cooper was able to use his size to his advantage and jump high enough in the air to head the ball past Felice.
"We were up for a long throw-in and it's usually Pat Carroll that we're looking to get a flick in or something," said Cooper. "Instead he threw it in short to Devon and he just hit a great cross and I was just fortunate enough to be in the right spot at the right time."
WVU goalkeeper Nick Noble and the rest of the Mountaineer defense hung tough in the last 18 minutes of play to earn the shutout and their fourth win of the season by one goal or less. Noble recorded two saves on the afternoon, while Felice tallied eight.
"We played with a good level of desire and team work ethic," said Seabolt.
West Virginia’s second round match against No. 9 seed Akron will kickoff on Tuesday, Nov. 22, at 7:30 p.m. in Akron, Ohio, at the Zips’ Lee Jackson Field.
