Men's Soccer Welcomes No. 22 Ohio State
October 14, 2008 04:55 PM | General
By Ira Green for MSNsportsNET.com
October 14, 2008
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University men’s soccer team welcomes No. 22 Ohio State to Morgantown on Wednesday, Oct. 15. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium. The game will be televised on WVPBS with Dave Jecklin (play-by-play) and Adam Zundell (color) calling the action.
The match against the Buckeyes has been designated “Dollar Night” with all tickets and select concessions available for purchase for one dollar apiece. The first 100 students with a valid student ID will receive a ‘oneWVU’ t-shirt. At halftime, special guest, men’s basketball Head Coach Bob Huggins, will address the crowd. The WVU drum line will perform following Huggins.
WVU (3-5-4, 2-2-3 BIG EAST) went 0-1-1 last week. The Mountaineers tied Pitt 1-1 in double overtime on Oct. 8. Senior Alex Yost gave WVU a 1-0 advantage at the 37:10 mark after receiving a feed from sophomore Paul Paradise. Both Paradise and sophomore Dan Hagey earned assists on the play. Pitt tied the game at the 84:27 mark on a penalty kick. In its second league match of the week, WVU dropped a 1-0 decision at Providence on Oct. 11.
Sophomore goalkeeper Zach Johnson has continued to impress between the posts. The Lumberton, N.J., native owns six clean sheets while boasting a 0.54 goals against average, a mark good enough for 12th nationally. His 0.883 save percentage also places him amongst the top in the nation, this time good enough for ninth nationally. Johnson has amassed 1,164 minutes between the posts and made 53 saves this season.
On offense, the team has spread the wealth. Five different Mountaineers have scored a goal, led by Paradise who has two scores this season, and five for his career.
Ohio State (7-3-2, 1-2-0 Big Ten) is coming off of a 3-2 loss at Penn State. The Buckeyes scored the first two goals of the game, but could not stop a three-goal rally by the Nittany Lions. Konrad Warzycha and Andrew Magill each tallied a goal in the loss.
Offensively, Danny Irizarry leads the team in goals (4) while Magill has the most assists (5) and points (11) on the team. The Buckeyes are outshooting opponents 183-137 in 12 games this season.
In goal, Drew Czekanski has played a majority of the team’s minutes, owning a 7-2-1 record between the posts. Czekanski has three shutouts and a 0.90 GAA.
The Buckeyes are led by Head Coach John Bluem, now in his 12th year with the squad. Bluem owns a 125-84-30 record with Ohio State. The team finished with a 17-4-5 overall mark, going 4-1-1 in league play last season. The Buckeyes reached the 2007 NCAA Championship game, but fell to No. 1 Wake Forest, 2-1.
WVU is 9-6-3 all-time against the Buckeyes.
