WVU Posts Shutout Win
September 19, 2010 07:12 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia men’s soccer team used a goal from sophomore Peabo Doue in the 18th minute to defeat previously undefeated James Madison, 1-0, on Sunday afternoon. The game was the final match of the BIG EAST Partner Weekend and 1,123 fans came out to Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium to support the Mountaineers.
“It was improvement from last week and we’re trying to do that every week,” coach Marlon LeBlanc said. “We played a team today that had a gameplan to be very direct and very physical to try to limit us from being able to play and they did a good job of doing that, but we did a really good job of matching it.”
Junior Raymon Gaddis created the game-winner as he brought the ball up the field when he served a perfect ball to Doue. With the Dukes keeper Ken Manahan coming out to play the ball, Doue was able to beat his defender and Manahan to the ball, settled it, then striking it in the empty net.
“It’s good to get the first goal. We started off on the right foot and could’ve put in a few more chances,” Doue said. “JMU had a good, strong team, they kept fighting and I know they didn’t want to lose because they hadn’t lost before.”
The goal was Doue’s fourth of the year and third in the last two games, while the assist was Gaddis’ first career point.
The WVU (4-2-0) defense and senior keeper Zach Johnson were able to preserve the shutout by only allowing three shots on-goal. James Madison (5-1-0) came into the game as the second-ranked scoring offense in the country and had the number one points getter and goal scorer in the country, C.J. Sapong. The defense limited Sapong to only two shots.
“We wanted to keep them in front of us and didn’t want to let No. 18 (Sapong) beat us and we shut him down pretty well,” Johnson said. “Everybody did what they were supposed to and Eric (Schoenle) and Uzi (Tayou) were big in the back. We came out, played well and did what we were supposed to do.”
Johnson recorded his first shutout of the season and the 32nd of his career. Johnson is only five clean sheets behind Nick Noble for most shutouts in a career. Johnson made some outstanding saves including a great diving save in the 23rd minute on a Patrick Innes attempt. The Dukes also hit the crossbar twice and right post once.
The best Mountaineer scoring chance after the goal came in the 58th minute when Doue again beat his defender and was one-on-one with Manahan. Doue hit the ball of the crossbar, the ball bounced directly down and back into the air where sophomore Uwem Etuk attempted to head the ball in, but was unable.
Doue led all players with four shots, while West Virginia had six different players recorded a shot. Sophomores Travis Pittman and Shadow Sebele each had three.
The Mountaineers were also able to keep their composure in a highly physical game that saw 16 fouls on WVU and 15 on James Madison. The Dukes also picked up five yellow cards, compared to the two given to West Virginia.
“We’ve won three games in a row now and that’s great, that’s certainly how you want to go into BIG EAST play,” LeBlanc commented. “Defending home field was important and we didn’t do a good job of that last year, but we played pretty well here tonight and we can hopefully get some guys back and healthy.”
The Mountaineers now open up BIG EAST Conference play with a home match against DePaul on Friday, Sept. 24, at 7:30 p.m.
“It was improvement from last week and we’re trying to do that every week,” coach Marlon LeBlanc said. “We played a team today that had a gameplan to be very direct and very physical to try to limit us from being able to play and they did a good job of doing that, but we did a really good job of matching it.”
Junior Raymon Gaddis created the game-winner as he brought the ball up the field when he served a perfect ball to Doue. With the Dukes keeper Ken Manahan coming out to play the ball, Doue was able to beat his defender and Manahan to the ball, settled it, then striking it in the empty net.
“It’s good to get the first goal. We started off on the right foot and could’ve put in a few more chances,” Doue said. “JMU had a good, strong team, they kept fighting and I know they didn’t want to lose because they hadn’t lost before.”
The goal was Doue’s fourth of the year and third in the last two games, while the assist was Gaddis’ first career point.
The WVU (4-2-0) defense and senior keeper Zach Johnson were able to preserve the shutout by only allowing three shots on-goal. James Madison (5-1-0) came into the game as the second-ranked scoring offense in the country and had the number one points getter and goal scorer in the country, C.J. Sapong. The defense limited Sapong to only two shots.
“We wanted to keep them in front of us and didn’t want to let No. 18 (Sapong) beat us and we shut him down pretty well,” Johnson said. “Everybody did what they were supposed to and Eric (Schoenle) and Uzi (Tayou) were big in the back. We came out, played well and did what we were supposed to do.”
Johnson recorded his first shutout of the season and the 32nd of his career. Johnson is only five clean sheets behind Nick Noble for most shutouts in a career. Johnson made some outstanding saves including a great diving save in the 23rd minute on a Patrick Innes attempt. The Dukes also hit the crossbar twice and right post once.
The best Mountaineer scoring chance after the goal came in the 58th minute when Doue again beat his defender and was one-on-one with Manahan. Doue hit the ball of the crossbar, the ball bounced directly down and back into the air where sophomore Uwem Etuk attempted to head the ball in, but was unable.
Doue led all players with four shots, while West Virginia had six different players recorded a shot. Sophomores Travis Pittman and Shadow Sebele each had three.
The Mountaineers were also able to keep their composure in a highly physical game that saw 16 fouls on WVU and 15 on James Madison. The Dukes also picked up five yellow cards, compared to the two given to West Virginia.
“We’ve won three games in a row now and that’s great, that’s certainly how you want to go into BIG EAST play,” LeBlanc commented. “Defending home field was important and we didn’t do a good job of that last year, but we played pretty well here tonight and we can hopefully get some guys back and healthy.”
The Mountaineers now open up BIG EAST Conference play with a home match against DePaul on Friday, Sept. 24, at 7:30 p.m.
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