WVU Opens Conference Play with Draw

Saturday, October 7

Morgantown, W.Va.

7:00 p.m.

West Virginia University

6-3-3, 0-0-1MAC

Northern Illinois

3-7-1, 0-0-1MAC

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

October 07, 2017 10:39 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score Highlights Coach LeBlanc Postgame

By: Charlie Healy

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (October 6, 2017) – The West Virginia University men's soccer team opened Mid-American Conference play with a 1-1 double-overtime draw against Northern Illinois on Saturday night at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.

The Mountaineers (6-3-3, 0-0-1 MAC) recorded 18 shots, with three coming on goal, while the Huskies (3-7-1, 0-0-1 MAC) had six shots, two on goal. WVU's goal by junior Rushawn Larmond came in the 38th minute. That answered NIU's goal, which was credited as an own-goal 11 minutes earlier.

"It wasn't hard to limit them to six shots," WVU coach Marlon LeBlanc said. "Congratulations to them, but they didn't exactly attack very much. They put their numbers behind the ball, put 11 players behind the ball, and they came here for a point and got a point. That's what conference football is about. Give them credit for getting the point, but we scored two goals today, one for them and one for us. It was actually pretty bad defending on the own goal as well.

"This is conference football, where your opponent is prepared to sit back and counter. We were not clinical enough in front of the goal. Jad Arslan has a great chance to win it and misses the target. Then (Logan) Lucas had a number of great chances to score tonight. We just have to do a better job, and it's not for a lack of finishing or training. We do it every single day in training. We're just really not trying to score, we're trying to shoot, and there's a big difference between the two."

Larmond's goal, his first of the season, came at 37:21. It began with sophomore Sebastian Garcia-Herreros and senior Louis Thomas. Garcia-Herreros crossed the ball in to Larmond, who converted from six yards out to tie the match at 1-1.

The Huskies took a 1-0 lead at 26:36. The play began with an NIU corner kick, and the ball bounced off a WVU defender and in to give the visitor's the advantage.

Senior Jad Arslan led the team with six shots, one on goal, while Larmond had two shots, both on goal. Freshman Steven Tekesky, making his first career start, made one save.

The Huskies had the game's first chance in the fourth minute, but Tekesky made the easy save on a soft header from inside the box. A minute later, Arslan had his first chance from the edge of the box, but it was saved.

Sophomore Logan Lucas' shot in the 10th minute was blocked and the Mountaineers followed with a corner, but they could not put anything together.

West Virginia had another shot blocked in the 22nd minute before Northern Illinois took a 1-0 lead at 26:36 on the own goal.

The Mountaineers answered 10 minutes later though, thanks to Larmond in the 38th minute.

In the second half, Arslan and Lucas both had shots in the opening minutes, but Arslan's shot was wide and Lucas' went high.

The WVU defense then prevented the Huskies from any good chances on several corner kicks in the 51st and 56th minutes to keep it a 1-1 contest.

Neither team was able to put together a great chance in the remainder of the half. The Mountaineers had possession late, but could not get a good ball into the box.

Sophomore Ryan Kellogg had a shot go high in the 63rd minute, and Arslan had a header that went wide in the 76th. Back-to-back corner kicks in the 80th minute for WVU did not lead to a scoring opportunity, and the Mountaineers and Huskies went to overtime tied at 1-1.

After a hard hit by NIU's Giovanni Pacheco, he was shown a red card at 95:20. WVU played the remainder of the match with the man advantage.

Garcia-Herreros had a shot blocked in the 96th minute, and sophomore Andrew Rullow had a header blocked in the 97th. Larmond put a shot on net in the final 30 seconds of the first overtime, but it was saved.

In the second overtime, freshman Kevin Morris' shot in the 102nd minute was wide, and Arslan also had a shot wide in the 105th, but that was WVU's last good opportunity of the game.

West Virginia welcomes No. 5 Michigan State to Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium on Wednesday, Oct. 11, at 7 p.m. ET. The midweek showdown is Dollar Night, where tickets and select concession items will be available for $1. Tickets are available at WVUGAME.com, 1-800-WVU GAME or on game day at the DDSS ticket office. It also is Club Sports Night, where club sports teams with the highest attendance at the match will receive a prize and points for their club. The first 100 Mountaineer Maniacs will also receive a free scarf.

Single game tickets for all of WVU's regular-season home matches are now on sale at WVUGAME.com or by calling 1-800-WVU GAME. The complete 2017 WVU men's soccer schedule, with match times, can be found here. All dates and times are subject to change, and fans are encouraged to stay tuned to WVUSports.com for updates.

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