Men's Soccer: WVU Wins BIG EAST Opener Over UC
September 08, 2006 09:57 PM | General
September 8, 2006
BOX SCORE | PHOTO GALLERY
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia University men’s soccer team used a pair of goals in the second half to defeat Cincinnati 2-0 in its BIG EAST opener on Friday night at Dick Dlesk Stadium in Morgantown, W.Va.
The Mountaineers (4-0-1, 1-0-0) fended off a pair off dangerous opportunities by the Bearcats (2-2-1, 0-1-0) in the first half with diving saves by senior goalkeeper Nick Noble. WVU also had a promising chance late in the half as Andy Wright was alone with goalkeeper Mike Vessells, however, Vessells was able to get enough of the ball sliding out to stop Wright in his tracks and end the scoring threat.
Jarrod Smith put the Mountaineers on the board in the 53rd minute when he collected a rebound off of Vessells and buried it in the back of the net for his second goal of the season.
With less than seven minutes remaining in the match freshman Ryan Gillespie scored his first career goal when Smith saw the Landstown, Va., native streaking down the left side and laid a cross in to him, which he booted past Vessells to give WVU a 2-0 lead.
Noble ended the match with five saves on the evening, while Vessells tallied three in a losing effort.
West Virginia is now undefeated through its first five matches for only the third time in school history. In 1975, the Mountaineers started out 5-0 before losing, while the 1968 team cruised to an 8-0-1 regular season record before losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Saint Louis.
Friday’s match was the second consecutive that the Mountaineers have been out shot by their opponent and won.
WVU returns to action on Sunday, Sept. 10, when it hosts Louisville at DDSS. Kickoff is 3 p.m.
