Men's Soccer Earns Two Victories on Tuesday Night
Tuesday's Scoreboard
West Virginia 2, Binghampton 0
SIUE 2, IUPUI 1
Stories Courtesy of MAC Sports Information
West Virginia 2, Binghampton 0
Box Score
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (October 2, 2018) – Two first-half goals less than five minutes apart propelled the West Virginia University men’s soccer team to a 2-0 victory against Binghamton on Tuesday night at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
The Mountaineers (7-4-0) improved to 5-1-0 at home thanks to goals in the 22nd and 27th minute and a defense that held the Bearcats (3-6-2) to four shots, one on goal. WVU produced its fifth clean sheet of the season and is unbeaten in 16 of its last 20 nonconference contests at home.
West Virginia’s goals came from junior defender Ryan Kellogg, his third in the last two games, and freshman midfielder Josh DiMatteo, his first of his career. WVU out-shot Binghamton, 18-4, and held a 13-1 advantage in shots on goal. The Mountaineers are a perfect 15-0 in the last three seasons when scoring two or more goals in a match, including 7-0 in 2018.
“We can be so much better from a soccer perspective still, so we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but we’re back to shutout soccer, which is what we want first and foremost,” WVU coach Marlon LeBlanc said. “I thought, tonight, their goalkeeper did a good job keeping them in the game, but we were close to seeing the floodgates open up tonight for the first time in a while. I was pleased.”
DiMatteo led the team with five shots, two on goal, while junior midfielder Andres Muriel Albino had four shots, all on goal, and earned his first assist as a Mountaineer. Junior defender Albert Andres-Llop and junior midfielder Ethan Shim assisted on WVU’s first goal, while Muriel Albino and junior midfielder Sebastian Garcia-Herreros assisted on the second.
In goal for West Virginia, sophomore Steven Tekesky stopped the one shot on goal he faced. His eight career shutouts currently rank No. 9 all-time in program history.
Kellogg’s goal, his team-high-tying fourth of the season, came at 21:47 and gave the Mountaineers a 1-0 lead. Near the end line, Andres-Llop made a nice play to save the ball and send it across to Shim, who slid and put the ball on net. The ball was blocked on the goal line by a Binghamton defender right to Kellogg, who converted from just outside the six.
Less than five minutes later, at 26:04, DiMatteo made it 2-0. The play began with Muriel Albino, who chipped the ball in to Garcia-Herreros. He beat a defender to the ball inside the corner of the 18 With the keeper charging, Garcia-Herreros crossed the ball in to DiMatteo, and the freshman headed it into the open net from inside the six for his first career goal.
WVU had nine shots in the first half, eight on goal, with another nine in the second half, five on net. Three of BU’s four shots came in the first half, including its lone shot on goal. The Mountaineers had 10 corner kicks to the Bearcats’ nine.
The match was delayed 45 minutes prior to kickoff due to lightning in the area.
West Virginia commences Mid-American Conference play at Western Michigan on Saturday, Oct. 6. Kickoff in Kalamazoo, Michigan, is set for 4 p.m. ET at the reigning MAC regular-season champions. The contest is the first of three in a row on the road before the Mountaineers return home on Saturday, Oct. 20, against league foe SIU Edwardsville.
SIUE 2, IUPUI 1
Box Score
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Lachlan McLean's goal with just two minutes to play Tuesday lifted SIUE men's soccer to a 2-1 road win at IUPUI.
SIUE improved to 7-1-2. The Cougars have won three in a row and are unbeaten in four straight games. IUPUI fell to 2-7-1.
For the second straight road game, lighting delayed the kickoff, which came an hour later than originally planned.
The two teams scored within two minutes of one another in the first half. Keegan McHugh opened the scoring in the 20th minute putting SIUE on top 1-0 with a shot from 10 yards away. IUPUI answered almost immediately.
Alan Aguilar headed home a pass from Corey Goede to even the score in the 21st minute.
"Guys are dealing well with different conditions," SIUE Head Coach Mario Sanchez said. "We started well and got the early goal. We got a little complacent and gave one back.
"We've got Lachlan going the last couple of games" Sanchez continued. "But everyone is getting involved. It's been good to see."
The Cougars outshot the Jaguars 15-8, including 9-4 in the second half.
"The second half was good," Sanchez said, "I think most important was the attitude they came out with."
SIUE has not lost on the road this season (2-0-2). Sanchez praised his team's approach away from home.
"We keep finding a way," he said. "We've been pretty efficient and we've got a good routine going. When you go on the road a lot of things can go against you. The guys are going out and doing what they need to do."
SIUE returns to Korte Stadium Saturday to open Mid-American Conference play against Northern Illinois. The Huskies are 7-3 and are ranked 20th in the most recent TopDrawerSoccer.com Top 25 poll.
"It's going to be a really good game," Sanchez said. "We're looking forward to starting the MAC season at home."
