Men's Soccer: WVU Shootout This Weekend
August 24, 2006 10:48 AM | General
August 24, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia University men’s soccer team will host the second annual WVU Shootout presented by Jerseys Subs beginning on Friday, Aug. 24, at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium in Morgantown, W.Va. The tournament will feature Fairfield, Buffalo and Pitt.
The Mountaineers face the Stags in their first match of the tournament on Friday at 7:30 p.m., while the Panthers and Bulls open the tournament earlier in the evening at 5 p.m. Sunday’s matches begin at 1 p.m. with Pitt and Fairfield playing, followed by WVU and Buffalo at 3:30 p.m.
West Virginia coach Marlon LeBlanc will be making his head coaching debut after serving as Penn State’s top assistant from 2001-05. The Mountaineers posted a 2-0 record in exhibition play with a 1-0 win over Virginia Tech at home on Aug. 17, and a 2-0 victory over Marshall in Huntington, W.Va., on Aug. 19.
Last season WVU claimed the tournament title by claiming a pair of wins to open the season. Returning midfielder Dan Stratford led the team in scoring on the weekend as he netted a goal in the 2-0 win against Campbell and then assisted on Jarrod Smith’s goal against Temple in a 2-0 win.
Former Mountaineers Geoff Cameron and Zak Boggs scored the other two goals for WVU. Senior defender Chris Wittig recorded an assist to round out all scoring.
This year’s field promises to be much more of a challenge for West Virginia. Fairfield ranked as high as 20th nationally in 2005, finishing the season with a 13-4-3 record and winning the regular season Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) title. Buffalo finished 14-3-2 a year ago, losing to then No. 3-ranked Akron on penalty kicks in the Mid-Atlantic Conference (MAC) championship. The Bulls allowed only 12 goals in 20 matches last season.
WVU has never met the Stags on the soccer pitch and holds a 2-0 advantage all-time against Buffalo.
