Men’s Soccer Begins MAC Championship
November 13, 2014 11:13 AM | General
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| Marlon LeBlanc has taken the Mountaineers to the MAC Championship each of the last three seasons. |
The Mountaineers earned the No. 2 seed and a second-place finish in the conference after a 2-1 win at Western Michigan in the regular season finale last Saturday.
“Our guys have performed very well down the stretch at a critical juncture of the season to win the last five and put ourselves in a situation where on the last day we had a shot at winning the regular season championship,” coach Marlon LeBlanc said. “Essentially we hit the reset button and start at 0-0 right now and it’s survive and advance.”
West Virginia finished the regular season 11-6-1, including a 3-1-1 mark in MAC play. The Mountaineers have won their last five matches, featuring road wins against Penn State, Penn and Western Michigan.
The Mountaineers and Falcons last met on Oct. 25 in Morgantown, with WVU earning a 2-1 comeback victory. Freshman Jad Arslan and sophomore Jack Elliott each scored for West Virginia, who outshot Bowling Green 14-5.
Arslan was most recently named the MAC Player of the Week for his game-winning goal at Western Michigan last weekend. Arslan is third on the team with five goals, the most of any freshman in the conference.
Senior Andy Bevin continues to lead West Virginia in goals (12), assists (8) and points (32), and finished the regular season with the conference lead in points. Junior Jamie Merriam is second on the squad with eight goals and five assists for a total of 21 points.
Senior goalkeeper Lee Johnston has a 1.21 goals-against average with 29 saves and four shutouts in 11 games.
Bowling Green has a four-game winning streak after falling to West Virginia, and finished the regular season 13-5-1 overall and 2-2-1 in MAC play.
Sophomore Pat Flynn leads the Falcons with 13 goals and 29 points, ranking fifth or better nationally in each category. Sophomores Max Auden and Joe Sullivan have five goals apiece, with Sullivan ranking second on the team with 15 points. Sophomore Jacob Roth has added a team-leading eight assists.
Sophomore goalkeeper Nick Landsberger has seen action in 13 games, posting three shutouts with 36 saves and a 1.04 goals-against average.
The winner of the match will advance to the MAC Championship finals on Sunday, Nov. 16, between the winner of No. 1 seed Akron and No. 4 seed Western Michigan. Kickoff for the finals will be at 1 p.m.
