Men's Soccer: Mountaineers Defeat Pirates
October 23, 2010 10:44 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Sophomore Eric Schoenle of the West Virginia University men’s soccer team scored the game-tying and game-winning goals in a 3-2 overtime win against visiting Seton Hall on Saturday evening.
“It was a great performance from Eric and I thought he was brilliant in the back to be quite honest with you,” coach Marlon LeBlanc said. “He won everything in the air that they served in and won so many tackles in the back, he had a brilliant performance all around.”
The game-winner was scored in the 93rd minute as Schoenle broke through traffic on senior Alex Silva’s corner kick, heading the ball past Seton Hall’s keeper, Kevin Bonder. It was his second game-winning goal of the season.
“We took some time this week to work on some set pieces and corner kicks in particular to free him (Schoenle) up some more,” LeBlanc said. “He got free quite often on those corner kicks today considering everybody knows who the ball is going to and he is still able to get on the end of it. It is certainly commendable to him to rise above and deal with the double-teams and triple-teams on set pieces.”
Schoenle tied the game at 2-2 in the 88th minute, also on a header. Schoenle received a cross from Silva and was able to head the ball past Bonder. Schoenle now has four goals this season.
“To finally get two solid headers on goal is huge for me and my confidence the rest of the year knowing that I can go get any ball on a corner kick or free kick and put it home,” Schoenle said.
The Mountaineers (8-5-2) out-shot Seton Hall, 20-8, and held a 12-4 corner kick advantage. Sophomore Peabo Doue led all players with six shots, while Schoenle finished with four.
Seton Hall (3-11-1) got on the board first with a goal from Dritan Sela in the 35th minute. Sela took a short pass from Brayan Martinez in the middle of the box, spun around and fired the ball through traffic past WVU goalkeeper Zach Johnson.
The Mountaineers evened the score at 1-1 in the 43rd minute. Sophomore Travis Pittman played a ball to sophomore Shadow Sebele. Sebele connected on a pass to junior Ruben Garrido who headed the ball into the ground that bounced and went over the head of the Seton Hall keeper Kevin Bonder and rolled into the net.
West Virginia controlled the majority of the possession in the second half with the best scoring opportunity coming in the 71st minute when Bonder made a point-blank stop on a header from junior Franck Tayou.
Seton Hall then went ahead 2-1 in the 83rd minute on a goal from George Velasquez. Bryan Longo fed a perfect ball to Velasquez who took one-touch and shot the ball into the lower right corner of the net.
Defensively, WVU’s Johnson made two saves in the win. Senior Dan Hagey also made a return to the lineup, playing 63 minutes at the left back position after missing the previous 12 games due to injury.
West Virginia will play its final home game on Wednesday, Oct. 27, against Marquette. The match will begin at 7 p.m. and has been designated as a “Dollar Night” with all tickets, hot dogs, popcorn and Coca-Cola products available for purchase for just one dollar.
“It was a great performance from Eric and I thought he was brilliant in the back to be quite honest with you,” coach Marlon LeBlanc said. “He won everything in the air that they served in and won so many tackles in the back, he had a brilliant performance all around.”
The game-winner was scored in the 93rd minute as Schoenle broke through traffic on senior Alex Silva’s corner kick, heading the ball past Seton Hall’s keeper, Kevin Bonder. It was his second game-winning goal of the season.
“We took some time this week to work on some set pieces and corner kicks in particular to free him (Schoenle) up some more,” LeBlanc said. “He got free quite often on those corner kicks today considering everybody knows who the ball is going to and he is still able to get on the end of it. It is certainly commendable to him to rise above and deal with the double-teams and triple-teams on set pieces.”
Schoenle tied the game at 2-2 in the 88th minute, also on a header. Schoenle received a cross from Silva and was able to head the ball past Bonder. Schoenle now has four goals this season.
“To finally get two solid headers on goal is huge for me and my confidence the rest of the year knowing that I can go get any ball on a corner kick or free kick and put it home,” Schoenle said.
The Mountaineers (8-5-2) out-shot Seton Hall, 20-8, and held a 12-4 corner kick advantage. Sophomore Peabo Doue led all players with six shots, while Schoenle finished with four.
Seton Hall (3-11-1) got on the board first with a goal from Dritan Sela in the 35th minute. Sela took a short pass from Brayan Martinez in the middle of the box, spun around and fired the ball through traffic past WVU goalkeeper Zach Johnson.
The Mountaineers evened the score at 1-1 in the 43rd minute. Sophomore Travis Pittman played a ball to sophomore Shadow Sebele. Sebele connected on a pass to junior Ruben Garrido who headed the ball into the ground that bounced and went over the head of the Seton Hall keeper Kevin Bonder and rolled into the net.
West Virginia controlled the majority of the possession in the second half with the best scoring opportunity coming in the 71st minute when Bonder made a point-blank stop on a header from junior Franck Tayou.
Seton Hall then went ahead 2-1 in the 83rd minute on a goal from George Velasquez. Bryan Longo fed a perfect ball to Velasquez who took one-touch and shot the ball into the lower right corner of the net.
Defensively, WVU’s Johnson made two saves in the win. Senior Dan Hagey also made a return to the lineup, playing 63 minutes at the left back position after missing the previous 12 games due to injury.
West Virginia will play its final home game on Wednesday, Oct. 27, against Marquette. The match will begin at 7 p.m. and has been designated as a “Dollar Night” with all tickets, hot dogs, popcorn and Coca-Cola products available for purchase for just one dollar.
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