Men’s Soccer: Pair of BIG EAST Road Games
September 25, 2008 03:04 PM | General
By Ira Green for MSNsportsNET.com
September 25, 2008
GAME NOTES | Video Stream of WVU-DePaul Men's Soccer
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| Junior Jason Bristol |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – In its first BIG EAST road match of the year, the West Virginia University men’s soccer team will travel northwest to Chicago, to face DePaul on Friday, Sept. 26. Kickoff at Wish Field is scheduled for 5 p.m. EST. On Sunday, Sept. 28, the Mountaineers will fly south to Tampa, Fla., to take on league-foe No. 19/11 USF at 1 p.m.
DePaul owns a 2-3-2 overall mark, 1-1-0 in league games. The Blue Demons are coming off a 1-0 loss at Georgetown. DePaul narrowly outshot the host, 15-14, in the loss.
The Blue Demons return 10 of 11 starters, including Alex Mangan who led the team in goals (7) and points (15) a season ago, BIG EAST Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year, Brian Visser, and 2007 BIG EAST All-Tournament Team member John Kornfield. Steffen Vroom, who had two goals and three assists in 2007, has both of DePaul’s goals this year.
DePaul is under the direction of Head Coach Craig Blazer, who enters his eighth year at the helm of the program. Coming into 2008, Blazer owned a 43-78-11 mark.
West Virginia holds a 1-3-3 overall mark with a 0-0-2 record in BIG EAST play. The Mountaineers are 2-2-1 in their last five road openers.
Led by a strong back of line juniors Ryan Gillespie, Jason Bristol, Gift Maworere and freshman Raymon Gaddis, and sophomore goalkeeper Zach Johnson, the Mountaineers have held opponents scoreless for a time span of 375:50, dating back to the Sept. 7 match against Wisconsin-Green Bay.
Prior to the Mountaineers’ match with USF (4-1-1, 2-0-0) on Sunday, the Bulls will play host to Pittsburgh on Friday, Sept. 26. The Bulls are riding a three-game winning streak.
In their last time out, the Bulls knocked off conference-foe Seton Hall, 2-0, on Sept. 21. Jason Devenish scored the first goal of the match at the 2:19 mark on a blast from 12 yards out. Yohance Marshall tallied his first goal of the season at the 48:04 mark on a header off a free kick.
The Bulls, who are led offensively by Jordan Seabrook (two goals, three assists), have seven players on their roster who have scored at least one goal this season. Bernardo Anor also has two goals this season and leads the team with 16 shots.
In the preseason poll, USF was picked to finish at the top of the BIG EAST Red Division with 99 points and seven first-place votes.
George Kiefer is entering his seventh season as the head coach at USF, carrying a 64-38-13 mark in his first six seasons. Last season, the Bulls finished with a 14-6-2 overall mark, 6-4-1 in league play and advanced to the third round of the 2007 NCAA Championship.
WVU, who is 3-0-0 all-time against DePaul, is 1-1-1 in its last three meetings with USF.
