Men's Soccer: WVU Opens Regular Season
September 02, 2010 01:42 PM | General
September 2, 2010
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| Marlon LeBlanc |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University men’s soccer team opens the 2010 campaign at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium with the Save Face WVU Classic presented by Jerseys Subs this weekend against two nationally ranked opponents. The Mountaineers welcome No. 9 Monmouth, on Friday, Sept. 3, at 7:30 p.m. West Virginia will then host No. 17 UNC Wilmington on Sunday, Sept. 5, at 3:30 p.m.
“The hopes are that we can absolutely shatter the stadium record on Friday night,” coach Marlon LeBlanc says. “Whenever we have two top 20 teams come in, we need Mountaineer nation, we need the Mountaineer Maniacs and we need everyone who supports this team and school to come out.”
Monmouth enters the match after winning its fifth-straight Northeast Conference regular season championship. Coach Robert McCourt, who led MU to a program record 18 wins in 2009, returns all but one starter from last year’s historic squad.
Midfielder/forward Ryan Kinne was also named a CollegeSoccerNews.com first team Preseason All-American. Last season, Kinne became the first Hawk in program history to be named a semifinalist for the Hermann Trophy. Kinne, along with goalkeeper Bryan Meredith were named to the Hermann Trophy Watch List.
Meredith enjoyed one of the finest seasons for a goalkeeper in school history last year, earning first team NSCAA/adidas all-region accolades as a junior. He led the nation in goals-against average, while also ranking third in the nation in save percentage. Meredith logged a scoreless streak of 779:41, including eight straight clean sheets. He was also named to the all-Northeast Conference second team.
“Monmouth is a very good team. In the college coaching circle, everybody knows how good Monmouth is,” LeBlanc says. “Rob McCourt is a very good coach and they are loaded with talent. They return 10 starters from last year’s team and we have our hands full with one of the best teams in America.”
UNC Wilmington is returning 10 starters from last year’s squad that finished first in the Colonial Conference and made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament. The Seahawks will once again be under the direction of Aidan Heaney who returns for his 10th season and has an 83-77-16 record at UNCW.
Top players returning include Hermann Trophy candidate defender Indy Smith (NSCAA third team All-American), goalkeeper Brock Duckworth (NSCAA second team all-region) and midfielder Tyler Wheaton who led the team with five goals last season.
“They are also a very well-coached team. Aidan Heaney and I go way back and I know he is going to have his team prepared,” LeBlanc says. “They are another top 20 team and they are a squad that will be very organized and very compact.”
The Mountaineers are coming off a 3-0 exhibition win against Robert Morris on Aug. 25. Junior Uzi Tayou and sophomores Peabo Doue and Eric Schoenle each contributed a goal in the victory.
WVU returns 15 letterwinners, including goaltender Zach Johnson, a 2010 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award candidate and a 2009 all-BIG EAST second-team performer. Junior defender Raymon Gaddis also returns and is on the watch list for the prestigious Hermann Trophy, honoring the top soccer player in the nation.
Fans attending either match can pick up a free 2010 WVU men’s soccer schedule poster, featuring Shadow Sebele, Nick Claudio and Yale Tiley.
Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium gates and ticket sales will open at 4 p.m. for the first match of the tournament featuring Binghamton and UNC Wilmington. The WVU-Monmouth match will follow at 7:30 p.m. One ticket provides admission to both matches. Tickets can also be purchased in advance this week at the Mountaineer Ticket Office in the Coliseum between the hours of 9 a.m to 5 p.m.
Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for youth/senior citizens and $2 each for groups of 10 or more. WVU students are admitted free with a valid I.D.
A free shuttle bus service will be provided to WVU students attending Fan Fest who are also interested in attending the men's soccer home opener Friday night. Students will be shuttled from the front of the Mountainlair to the WVU Coliseum from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday.
Postgame shuttle service from the WVU Coliseum back to the Mountainlair will begin at the conclusion of the soccer match and run for one hour.
