Men’s Soccer Drops Contest at James Madison
September 23, 2014 10:12 PM | General
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HARRISONBURG, Va. – The West Virginia men’s soccer team fell 4-3 in double overtime at James Madison on Tuesday evening at University Park.
“It’s a disappointing loss in overtime. Accountability has to be had for me,” coach Marlon LeBlanc said. “I didn’t have my team ready to play. I need to do a better job of coaching, we can’t lose games like this where we have two goal leads.”
Connor Coward scored the game-winning goal in the 105th minute after a failed clearance by WVU sophomore goalkeeper Brent Arnold. Coward blasted a shot to the near right post from 20 yards out, giving the Dukes the victory.
“It was a poor goal kick and then two more poor goal kicks,” LeBlanc said. “The second one put the guy in one-versus-one, but I need to take responsibility for not having my team ready.”
The loss drops WVU’s record to 4-4 after the Mountaineers led 2-0 only seven minutes into the match. Junior Ryan Cain finished with three goals to lead WVU.
After scoring the first two goals of the match, Cain completed the hat trick in the 57th minute to tie the match at 3-3. He received a through ball from freshman Joey Piatczyc, beat the defender and chipped a breakaway shot over the charging James Madison goalkeeper Kyle Morton.
The hat trick was the first by a Mountaineer since Franck Tayou completed the feat against Xavier in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Nov. 11, 2010.
After failing to score a goal in the first seven games of the season, Cain capitalized on two early chances to give the Mountaineers a 2-0 lead in the first seven minutes.
In the sixth minute freshman Louis Thomas came up the right flank and played a pass to Cain deep in the offensive zone. Cain beat Morton to the ball and tapped in a shot from a near-impossible angle along the goal line.
Only 1:20 later Cain notched his second goal after receiving a through ball from junior Jamie Merriam. Morton once again came out to challenge Cain, who slotted the ball under him for the goal. Sophomore Alex Ochoa also received an assist on the goal following his pass to Merriam.
James Madison’s Toby Appleton cut the Mountaineer lead to 2-1 in the ninth minute. Appleton dribbled around the WVU defense and took a right-footed shot to the far right netting past sophomore goalkeeper Brent Arnold.
Jamal Umar tied the game at 2-2 for JMU in the 15th minute following a through ball in the middle of the field by Josh Grant. Umar went through the WVU defense and had a point-blank shot past Arnold.
Grant then gave the Dukes a 3-2 lead in the 17th minute, putting in a header off a throw-in by Connor Coward.
In the closing minutes of the first half freshman Jad Arslan nearly tied the match, but Morton made a great save on Arslan, who received a centering feed from Ochoa.
Bevin had a free kick opportunity just outside the box in the 54th minute, but Morton was up to the challenge and made the save to the near post.
In the 58th minute Cain nearly notched his fourth of the match. Bevin sent a free kick in the box that was redirected by junior Francio Henry to Cain, who headed the ball just wide right of the open net.
Merriam took a free kick at the top of the box in the 76th minute that was blocked, and Bevin put the rebound over the goal.
James Madison had four-consecutive corner kicks beginning in the 86th minute and Arnold made a key save, punching a bending shot by Joe Vyner over the crossbar.
West Virginia will return to the friendly confines of Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium for a non-conference match against Niagara on Friday, Sept. 26, at 7 p.m. The match has been designated as WVU Faculty/Staff Night, and all faculty and staff will receive a coupon via email for free admission. Links to a video stream and live stats is available via WVUsports.com.
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