Mountaineers and Retrievers Play to Scoreless Draw

Wednesday, September 14

Morgantown, W.Va.

7:00 p.m.

West Virginia University

3-1-1

UMBC

1-1-3

Team	1	2	OT 3	OT 4	Final F
UMBC	0	0	0	0	0
West Virginia	0	0	0	0	0

Main-MSOCFinal-091416.jpg

September 14, 2016 10:40 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

UMBC Retrievers

1-1-3

Final/2OT

23 West Virginia Mountaineers

3-1-1

Final Stats | Photo Gallery

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 23 West Virginia University men's soccer team played to a scoreless draw with UMBC on Wednesday night at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.

The Mountaineers (3-1-1) extended their unbeaten streak to four matches and controlled play for much of the match, but they could not find the back of the net. WVU recorded 13 shots, four on goal, and held the Retrievers (1-1-3) to just one shot.

"It's frustrating, when you have as much of the game as we did," WVU coach Marlon LeBlanc said. "We had so much of the game, take your hats off to UMBC, they were resilient. They kept working and kept working. Even when we thought we had them pinned back, and we did have them pinned back for long stages of this game, they just kept fighting and fighting. Give them a lot of credit for doing so. I thought we had one when (senior defender Jack) Elliott turned and hit one in in there in the box, and the defender cleared it off the line. We weren't sharp enough in the final third tonight. We had a lot of the play but we weren't really generating the clear-cut chances that we had. When we did, we rushed things a little bit."

The Mountaineers and junior goalkeeper Jose Santos extended their scoreless streak to four matches. Santos has not allowed a goal in more than 435 minutes, since the first half of WVU's season-opening game against No. 9 Seattle.

Wednesday, Santos faced one shot and made one save, on a slow roller from the center of the box. UMBC goalkeeper Billy Heavner collected four saves.

"At the end of the day, we've gone four straight games without a loss and four straight games without giving up a goal, and that's a good recipe to move forward with," LeBlanc said. "(Santos) didn't have much to do today, and that was good. We were very good defensively. Our best defense was that we had so much of the ball."

Four players, Elliott, junior midfielders Jad Arslan and Joey Piatczyc and freshman defender Logan Lucas, registered two shots for WVU. Arslan and Lucas were joined by sophomore forward Rushawn Larmond and freshman defender Sebastian Garcia-Herreros with one shot on goal.

West Virginia had two shots on goal in the first half. The first opportunity came in the 37th minute, when sophomore midfielder Tucker Stephenson flicked the ball back to Larmond at the top of the box, but Larmond's shot was saved.

Three minutes later, Lucas sent a shot in that was saved.

In the second half, WVU had nine shots, with two coming on goal, and held UMBC to zero. The first shot was Garcia-Herreros in the 50th minute that was saved.

After junior defender Steven James' header went wide off a Piatczyc corner kick in the 67th minute, Arslan had an opportunity in the 70th minute, but his shot was saved.

In overtime, Arslan had a great opportunity five minutes in, breaking through several UMBC defenders, but his shot from inside the box went wide. The Mountaineers' second shot in overtime came off the foot of Elliott in the final minute of play, but his shot was wide.

WVU's week concludes with a home contest vs. George Mason, on Saturday, September 17, at 7 p.m. The contest is a Dollar Night and Youth Soccer Day. Tickets and select concession items – small soda, popcorn and Skittles – can be purchased for just $1 each. Kids 13 and under wearing their youth soccer jersey will receive free admission, and there will be a free pre-math clinic for kids 13 and under.

For fans unable to attend the match, a free live stream, courtesy of CityNet, and live stats can be found on WVUSports.com.

WVU Soccer Scarf ticket packages are now on sale and includes the official 2016 WVU Soccer fan scarf and 10 tickets to be used at any men's or women's home matches during the regular season. Packages are just $30 and are available while supplies last. To order, visit WVUGAME.com or call 1-800-WVU GAME. More information is available on WVUSports.com.

Additionally, single-game tickets for all nine regular-season home matches are now on sale at WVUGAME.com or by calling 1-800-WVU-GAME.

For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUMensSoccer on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.