Men's Soccer: WVU-Michigan Play to Exhibition Draw
August 21, 2010 04:43 PM | General
August 21, 2010
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The West Virginia University men’s soccer team tied Michigan, 0-0, on a rainy Saturday afternoon in Ann Arbor, Mich., at the U-M Soccer Stadium.
The Mountaineers finished the game outshooting Michigan, 15-12, including 11-6 in the first half. West Virginia also won the corner kick battle, 6-2.
“I thought especially in the first half, we were a pretty good team,” coach Marlon LeBlanc said. “We knocked the ball around well and created a number of chances. We had two or three really good chances to score goals and didn’t get anything out of it. The result in preseason is really immaterial and I thought we played pretty well for large portions of the game.”
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| Uwem Etuk |
It did not take long for the Mountaineers to control the pace of play with sophomore Uwem Etuk recording the first chance at the 3:43 mark with a one-on-one opportunity against Michigan goalkeeper Chris Blais, and Etuk pushed the ball just right of the net.
Michigan’s best chance of the first half came in the 11th minute when Michigan’s Alex Wood took a shot that senior goalkeeper Zach Johnson saved, followed by a rebound blast from Matt Schmitt that Johnson sprawled for and made the save.
“He bobbled the ball a little bit and it popped out and he did a great job making up for it with the save on the rebound and controlled his box well,” LeBlanc said.
In the 25th minute, sophomore Shadow Sebele shot a laser from 25-yards out, but Blais made a diving save to his right to keep the score even.
The only goal of the day was from freshman Brooks Nucilli in the 82nd minute off a set piece, however, the play was called offsides.
The final chance of the game for the Mountaineers came when sophomore Travis Pittman took a free kick in the 87th minute that sophomore Eric Schoenle was able to head, but the keeper made the diving save.
The second and final exhibition will be on Aug. 25, at 7 p.m., against Robert Morris at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium. Admission will be free.
WVU officially opens the 2010 campaign with the Save Face WVU Classic presented by Jerseys Subs on Sept. 3 at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium with No. 9 Monmouth at 7:30 p.m. The team then returns to action on Sept. 5 against No. 17 UNC Wilmington at 3:30 p.m., also at home.
