Moving On
November 07, 2007 10:47 PM | General
November 7, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – No. 3 seed West Virginia scored a pair of first-half goals and used stellar defense to record its school record 13th shutout of the season in defeating No. 6 seed Villanova 2-0 in the first round of the BIG EAST tournament, Wednesday night, at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium in Morgantown, W.Va.
The Mountaineers struck first in the 14th minute when senior midfielder Dan Stratford struck a corner kick into the box and defender Jason Bristol headed the ball past Villanova goalkeeper Jason Friel. The goal was Bristol’s third of the year. All of three have come off of set pieces set up by Stratford, who added to his school record 27 career assists.
“Jason Bristol has come through really well. He’s certainly been a danger on these set pieces and I’m really happy for him and happier for the team,” Head Coach Marlon LeBlanc said. “He’s not giving anything up in the back either which is what I have noticed the most.”
WVU struck again in the 28th minute when Stratford received a pass from Pat Carroll 15 yards from the goal. Stratford booted a perfectly placed rocket into the top left portion of the goal to give the Mountaineers a 2-0 lead. The goal was his third of the season, and it marked his first three-point game of the year.
“I expect Dan to get goals and assists. I expect him to serve great balls in on set pieces and he did that tonight and it certainly paid huge dividends for us,” LeBlanc said.
West Virginia (13-5-1, 7-3-1) dominated play in the first half, out-shooting the Wildcats 8-3, while holding a 6-1 advantage on corner kicks. The Mountaineers relied on their stellar defense in the second half to record their sixth straight shutout. The West Virginia defense leads the nation in goals against average.
The Mountaineers finished with a 13-11 advantage in shots and a 6-2 edge in corner kicks.
West Virginia now travels to Louisville on Saturday night to face the Cardinals in the quarterfinal round. The Mountaineers last played Louisville in Morgantown last season, earning a 2-1 victory.
“It’s going to be a tough game. They are an upstart team,” LeBlanc said. “They will be a difficult nut to crack on the road but our team has cracked a lot of nuts on the road so far this year. I’ve got complete faith in the expectation that we are going to go out to Louisville and get a result.”
Kick off from Cardinal Park is set for 7 p.m.
