Tall Task
October 19, 2007 03:30 PM | General
October 19, 2007
LIVE VIDEO STREAMING
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| Jason Bristol |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University men’s soccer team plays host to No. 1-ranked Connecticut tonight at 8 p.m. at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium in Morgantown.
UConn (12-1-1) will be they highest ranked team to ever visit Morgantown. Coach Ray Reid’s squad currently sits atop the Blue Division of the BIG EAST, holding a 6-1-1 record in league play.
The Huskies went 1-0-1 last week, shutting out Providence 3-0 on Oct. 10, at home before battling No. 3 Notre Dame to a 3-3 tie on Oct. 13, in South Bend. Junior forward O’Brian White scored all three goals in the win over Providence. The Scarborough, Ontario, native leads the Huskies with 15 goals and 34 points on the season. White is the focal point of the team, having scored 10 more goals than anyone else on the squad.
“I think it is important to understand how good this team is. They are very good. They have good players that can attack from any position,” West Virginia Coach Marlon LeBlanc said. “They are well-coached and well-organized and they won’t beat themselves. That is something we’re learning to do.”
West Virginia (8-5, 4-3) is currently sitting in third place in the Blue Division and looking to rebound from a disappointing 1-0 loss at home Tuesday night to Navy.
“We were lethargic and I told the guys that but they don’t believe it until after they see it. We were always in control of the game and we didn’t have to be that good to be in control of that game,” LeBlanc said. “Then we fell asleep for one second and it cost us. I think these guys learned a valuable lesson but unfortunately it took losing to figure that out.”
WVU defeated the Huskies last season, 3-0, on Sept. 30, in Storrs, Conn. UConn leads the all-time series against WVU by an 11-2-2 margin, dating back to 1984.
LeBlanc is expecting a tough game from a UConn team that has racked up 20 bookings in 13 games so far this season. WVU has been physical in its own right, compiling 17 bookings so far this season.
“Both teams are very physical. It will be a hard physical game. Any time two top teams get together the game doesn’t always end up being pretty. It will be hard-nosed and physical,” LeBlanc said.
“From our standpoint the emotions and the energy and all that type of stuff will play into it. Because of that you may see some tackles coming in that are probably going to be mistimed because of that adrenaline rush that sometimes takes over. We have to not let that adrenaline rush affect us. We need to play with intensity but not be tense at the same time.”
A major concern for LeBlanc is the lack of goal scoring that has plagued his team this season. All five of West Virginia’s losses this season have come by identical 1-0 scores. In an effort to get the offense cranked up, LeBlanc will switch his lineup back to the way it looked early in the season.
“The move of Gift Mawore to forward and pushing him on didn’t really pay off and I think it kind of unbalanced us a little bit in the process,” LeBlanc said. “Gift is going to go back to that holding midfield spot. Tony Lindroos is going to come back in up front. We’re going to give him another shot.”
LeBlanc also plans to make a change defensively, bringing Jason Bristol into the center back position.
“Jason Bristol at 6-3 or 6-4 is a big, athletic kid and he can certainly match up with an O’Brian White physically,” LeBlanc said. “He’s going to get an opportunity to do it. You hope that adrenaline pushes in on him and he is able to rise the occasion.”
The fact that Bristol has played so sparingly this season isn’t a concern for LeBlanc as he inserts him into such a pressure-packed game.
“With a kid like Jason, he played for us a little bit last year and did well when given the opportunity. It’s just so hard to break into our defense with three of the four guys being seniors,” LeBlanc said. “It doesn’t matter that he hasn’t played a lot. What matters is that I’ve got faith in him and his team has got faith in him.”
LeBlanc is expecting a huge crowd Friday night. The Mountaineers have averaged close to 1,000 fans per game this season, a sure sign that the community is starting to embrace this soccer program.
“If you would have looked a year ago or two or three years ago, who would have ever thought we would be talking about playing the No. 1 ranked team at home and it meaning something to the community,” LeBlanc said. “From my standpoint it is so important that our crowd is out and vibrant and loud rain or shine because we’re going to need every ounce of energy that the crowd can provide us Friday night.”
More than Xs and Os and strategy, LeBlanc thinks the key for his team tonight will be to believe that they can come together as one to defeat the No. 1 team in the land.
“Regardless of everything that UConn has done and how good they are, I know in my heart and these guys know in their hearts that we’re good enough to compete with them and beat them tonight,” LeBlanc said.
Friday’s match has been deemed Dollar Day with tickets and select concessions available for only $1. Fans are also encouraged to wear gold and “Gold Rush” Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
The match will be nationally broadcast live by Fox Soccer Channel.
