Men's Soccer: No. 5 WVU Hosts Marquette Saturday
October 06, 2006 02:03 PM | General
October 6, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The No. 5 West Virginia University men’s soccer looks to bounce back from its longest layoff of the season when it hosts Marquette on Saturday, Oct. 6, in Morgantown, W.Va. Kickoff at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium is set for 7 p.m.
The Mountaineers (9-1-2, 5-0-1) have not played since their 3-0 victory last Saturday against UConn after heavy rain and lightning cancelled Wednesday’s match with Pitt.
WVU’s Jarrod Smith will look to continue his stellar senior campaign as he has scored 10 goals in 10 matches played. The Havelock North, New Zealand, native has now tied Chin Orih (1998-01) for seventh in the WVU record books for career goals with 28.
West Virginia has faced one of its most challenging stretches in program history as four of its last six matches were against ranked opponents. The team performed remarkably in those games, posting a 2-1-1 record.
The Mountaineers are the only remaining team in the BIG EAST with one loss as every other team has dropped at least three decisions on the year. WVU now needs just one more win to secure its third consecutive 10-win season for the first time in program history. One more conference win will tie 2005’s team for the second most BIG EAST wins in conference history with five. The school record for regular season BIG EAST wins is eight in 1999.
Marquette (1-10-1, 0-7-0) enters Saturday’s match searching for its first conference win of 2006. The Golden Eagles have posted a meager 1-15-1 record since joining the BIG EAST in 2005.
WVU closed out its regular season campaign last season with a 3-1 win over Marquette. That match was the first in the series between the two schools.
