Men's Soccer: WVU Blanks Virginia
August 29, 2009 10:15 PM | General
August 29, 2009
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Behind goals from sophomore Alex Silva and senior Gift Maworere, the West Virginia University men’s soccer team defeated Virginia, 2-0, in an exhibition in Charlottesville, Va., at Klöckner Stadium in front of 2,564 fans. Both of WVU’s goals came in the first half of play on Saturday night.
Similar to the Michigan exhibition, Silva opened the scoring for WVU. Only 18 minutes into the match, WVU was awarded a free kick after a player was taken down approximately 40 yards out from Virginia’s net. On a free kick, senior Ryan Gillespie sent a cross into the box, where Virginia was whistled for a hand ball. Silva took the penalty kick and laced the shot to his lower left, beating Virginia goalkeeper Diego Restrepo for the goal.
Less than 15 minutes later, Maworere tacked on an insurance score. Sophomore Raymon Gaddis started the play with a throw-in in Virginia territory. After receiving the ball back from a teammate, Gaddis sailed a beautiful cross to Maworere in the box. Maworere, matched one on one with a Virginia defender, won the ball and sent the header to the far left post at the 30:12 mark to give the Mountaineers the 2-0 lead. Gaddis was credited with an assist on the play.
In an extremely physical match, referees whistled for a combined 28 fouls (15 against Virginia, 13 against WVU) and handed out five yellow cards (three to Virginia and two to WVU).
The Mountaineers started five freshmen – Eric Schoenle, Travis Pittman, Abel “Shadow” Sebele, Uwem Etuk and Moeryhan “Peabo” Doue – and two sophomores – Gaddis and Silva – in the exhibition. Freshmen Tuan Doan and Nathan Adams also saw time on the pitch.
Schoenle and Pittman played in their first match this season after missing the Michigan contest. Schoenle played the entire 90 minutes, winning all headers and distributing well, while Pittman played 81 minutes.
Redshirt junior goalkeeper Zach Johnson played all 90 minutes between the posts and made three saves to record the shutout.
The Mountaineers officially open their season with the annual WVU/NIKE Classic, presented by Jerseys Subs, on Sept. 4. WVU will play host to UC-Santa Barbara, which is ranked 16th in the NSCAA and Soccer America preseason polls. Kickoff at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium is scheduled for 8 p.m.
