Men's Soccer: WVU Opens BIG EAST Play This Week
September 17, 2009 12:30 PM | General
September 17, 2009
Louisville Match Notes | Cincinnati Match Notes
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University men’s soccer team will open BIG EAST play this week with a pair of road matches. The Mountaineers will travel to Louisville, Ky., today for their match against No. 16-ranked Louisville on Friday, Sept. 18, at 6:30 p.m. ET. The team then will depart a day later for its league match with Cincinnati on Sunday, Sept. 20, at 1 p.m. ET.
“It’s important to get off to a good start,” coach Marlon LeBlanc says. “If we can get two wins in two BIG EAST games on the road, it certainly puts us on the right side of the line that we want to be on. I think it’s too early for any of these games to be critical. We’ll take it game by game and to date, we’re in good shape. The BIG EAST is a long season and we play 11 league games.”
The Mountaineers (1-1-2) are coming off a pair of ties at the UNC Wilmington Tournament on Sept. 11 and Sept. 13. WVU tied the host UNC Wilmington on the first day of the tournament, 0-0, and then followed that up with a 1-1 draw against Appalachian State. Sophomore Alex Silva tallied the Mountaineers’ lone goal against Appalachian State. Senior Jason Bristol and freshman Eric Schoenle were named to the all-tournament team.
WVU also will be regaining the services of senior left back Ryan Gillespie, who missed the UNCW Tournament following an injury in the Buffalo match.
“It’s very beneficial,” LeBlanc says on the return of Gillespie. “You’re talking about a senior with three years of significant playing experience. Missing Connor Gorman, then Dan Hagey and Ryan Gillespie – I thought Kyle West did an admirable job playing 220 minutes at left back at the UNC Wilmington Tournament.
“We’ve been significantly hurt in terms of depth at the left back position. It’s an intricate position considering the formation that we’re playing. Having that experience in there is certainly going to be beneficial for us. He knows the system and how we want to do things.”
Louisville currently owns a 3-0-1 mark and played University of Illinois-Chicago to a 1-1 double-overtime draw its last time out. Colin Rolfe, the team’s leading scorer, tallied the lone goal for the Cardinals. Prior to that contest, Louisville opened its season with a win over Bowling Green (3-0), followed by victories over IUPUI (2-0) and SIU-Edwardsville (2-0).
The Cardinals, under the direction of Ken Lolla, who is in his fourth season, return 17 letterwinners, 10 of which were starters a season ago. In 2008, the team went 11-8-2 and lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Jacksonville, 4-3, at Cardinal Park.
Cincinnati, which has displayed a potent offense, enters BIG EAST play with a 4-1-0 overall mark. The Bearcats opened the season with consecutive five-goal performances, defeating Dayton (5-2), Canisius (5-0), and then posting victories over Wright State (2-0) and Western Illinois (3-0). Cincinnati then lost its first game of the season to then-No. 1 ranked Akron, 3-0 on Sept. 13. Cincinnati goalkeeper Matt Williams made 10 saves in the losing effort.
Nick Weightman and Branden Stelmak lead the Cincinnati offense as each has tallied three goals apiece this season. Additionally, seven different Bearcats have registered at least one goal in 2009.
The Bearcats return 10 starters from a season ago and are led by Hylton Dayes, who is in his ninth season with Cincinnati. He holds a 76-64-21 mark thus far.
WVU is 2-2-1 all-time against Louisville and is 3-0 against Cincinnati.
