Men's Soccer: Penalty Kicks Lift Louisville
November 10, 2007 10:50 PM | General
November 10, 2007
LOUISVILLE, Ky.- The third-seeded West Virginia University men’s soccer team tied second-seeded Louisville 2-2 tonight in the BIG EAST quarterfinals at Cardinal Stadium. Seniors Pat Carroll and Dan Stratford scored a goal a piece in the second half to knot the match at two. After two scoreless overtime periods, the match went into penalty kicks and Louisville advanced by a mark of 3-1.
After a defensive battle, Louisville scored the first goal of the match at the 22:48 mark. Senior Frank Jonke hit a deep inside cross to senior Marco Terminesi who drove the ball past WVU goalkeeper Zach Johnson.
The Cardinals struck again with just over eight minutes left in the first half when Terminesi shot a high ball into the top shelf of WVU’s net, which was batted away by Johnson. Braun followed his shot and headed the goal in to give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead.
WVU’s best chance of the half came when senior Andy Wright shot a high ball that was tipped by a Louisville defender and skimmed the top of the cross bar. WVU held a 2-0 corner kick advantage at the end of the half, while the Cardinals held a 3-2 shot on goal advantage.
The Mountaineers came out firing in the second half and were rewarded when Stratford scored his fifth goal of the season off of a set piece at the 26 minute mark. WVU was fouled by Terminesi, which resulted in a yellow card and a free kick for the Mountaineers. Stratford struck a perfect arching shot past the Louisville goalkeeper to close the margin 2-1.
Carroll scored his first goal of his career in 80 matches as a Mountaineer with just 13 minutes left in regulation play. The defender blasted a line drive from 30 yards out, hitting the left back corner of the Cardinal goal, to knot the game. With both teams tied at two, the match was sent into overtime.
Both squads had promising chances in the first overtime period, but neither could find the back of the net, sending the match into double overtime.
Johnson made a diving save two minutes into the second overtime period to keep the Mountaineers in the match. After a final push by both teams, the period ended, sending the match into penalty kicks for the first time this season.
Wright hit the first penalty kick of the night past the Lousiville keeper as the Mountaineers shot first. Up next was UofL’s Terminesi who also netted his pk. Stratford shot second for WVU and sent a high ball over the net. Jonke was up next for Louisville and hit a low ball past Johnson to put the Cardinals up by a count of 2-1. Senior Andrew Halsell stepped up to the mark for the Mountaineers but hit the crossbar. Louisville's Phil Edington net his pk, lifting the Cardinals to a pk count of 3-1.
“I thought we did well to fight our way back into the game tonight,” comments Head Coach Marlon LeBlanc. “We were unlucky not to win the match in regulation, but at 13-5-2 on the season, I think we did enough to warrant an NCAA selection.”
The Mountaineers will find out their NCAA fate on Monday, Nov. 19, when seedings are announced on ESPNews at 5:30 p.m.
