Men's Soccer Opens Conference Play
Saturday’s Scoreboard
West Virginia 2, Western Michigan 1
SIUE 3, Northern Illinois 2
Akron 0, Bowling Green 0
Stories Courtesy of MAC Sports Information
West Virginia 2, Western Michigan 1
Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The West Virginia University men's soccer team came from behind to earn a 2-1 victory at Western Michigan on Saturday afternoon.
In their Mid-American Conference opener, the Mountaineers (8-4, 1-0 MAC) had to come back to beat the Broncos (6-5-1, 0-1 MAC), with the game-tying goal in the 31st minute and the game-winner in the 84th. WVU has won three in a row and six of its last seven and improved to 8-0 when scoring at least two goals in a game in 2018 and 16-0 in the last three years.
West Virginia's goals came from freshman midfielder Josh DiMatteo, in the 31st minute, and junior midfielder Andres Muriel Albino, in the 84th. It was DiMatteo's second goal of his career, both coming in the last two matches, while it was Muriel Albino's first score as a Mountaineer.
"What a performance from our guys, coming from behind to win on the road at a very good Western Michigan team that's going to win a lot of games," WVU coach Marlon LeBlanc said. "They're a high-quality program, I take my hat off to what (WMU coach Chad Wiseman is) doing here. But, what a performance from the Mountaineers today, I couldn't be any prouder of them."
Sophomore defender Kevin Morris and junior midfielder Sebastian Garcia-Herreros earned assists on the Mountaineers' first goal, while Muriel Albino's was unassisted. It was Garcia-Herreros' fourth assist in the last three contests and his team-leading sixth of the year. Morris' assist was his second of the campaign.
Western Michigan's goal came at 21:56 on a penalty kick. It was the first penalty kick attempt by a WVU opponent this season.
In goal for the Mountaineers, sophomore Steven Tekesky made nine saves, and Lukas Von Lienen had five saves for the Broncos.
Muriel Albino and senior midfielder Joey Piatczyc led the team with four shots apiece, and Muriel Albino had three shots on goal. WMU had 18 shots to WVU's 14, while the Broncos held a 10-7 advantage in shots on goal.
West Virginia's game-tying goal came at 30:55. By the Mountaineer bench, Morris passed the ball to Garcia-Herreros, who sent a cross in to DiMatteo. Near the corner of the six, DiMatteo beat his defender to the ball and headed it in across the goal to the far post.
In the final seven minutes of regulation, the Mountaineers took the lead at 83:50. A cross into the box from the near corner hit a Western Michigan defender and bounced directly to Muriel Albino just inside the 18. He dribbled forward and chipped a shot in from the near side that went in over the keeper's fingertips into the upper side netting of the goal.
The Broncos controlled play early in the match, but Tekesky had one save, and another shot was blocked in the opening 10 minutes. Five minutes later, the Mountaineers had two great chances of their own. However, Muriel Albino's first opportunity was saved, off a free kick, and the next hit the post.
Tekesky made two nice saves before WMU scored in the 22nd minute, and WVU countered with a shot saved and another blocked before DiMatteo found the equalizer in the 31st minute.
In the closing minutes of the first half, the Mountaineers blocked another shot and Tekesky had his last of five saves in the half to keep it a 1-1 match.
WVU was out-shot 10-8 in the first half, while Tekesky's five saves were countered by two by WMU's Von Lienen.
Sophomore forward Tsubasa Takada and Piatczyc had shots saved early in the second half, and Tekesky added a save of his own in the first 10 minutes.
Muriel Albino had a long chance that was saved in the 77th minute before he found the eventual game-winner in the 84th. Tekesky ensured the score stayed 2-1 with a great save from inside the six, and saw another hit the post, in the final minutes of action.
WMU had eight shots to WVU's six in the final 45 minutes, while both teams had four shots on goal.
West Virginia faces its first ranked opponent of the season on Tuesday, Oct. 9, at No. 11 Wright State. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. The Mountaineers will make their second trip to Dayton, Ohio, this season, after they posted a 2-0 victory at Dayton on Sept. 22.
SIUE 3, Northern Illinois 2
Box Score
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – SIUE freshman Kelby Phillips netted his first collegiate goal half way through the second overtime period Saturday to complete a come-from-behind 3-2 win over Northern Illinois in the Mid-American Conference opener.
SIUE has won four straight and improved to 8-1-2 overall and 1-0 in the MAC. Northern Illinois has lost two in a row and fell to 7-4 overall and 0-1 in the conference.
To start the MAC that ways is fantastic," SIUE Head Coach Mario Sanchez said. "What a game. I give so much credit to Northern Illinois because they are by far the best team we have played this year. It was an exciting, fun game and we're obviously happy to get the result."
Phillips scored the game winner in the 106th minute. Following some impressive combination play from Greg Solawa and Keegan McHugh, McHugh got the ball on the end line before guiding a pass through to the top of the six-yard box, where Phillips finished.
"Kelby has been knocking on the door and he finally gets his goal," Sanchez said.
Northern Illinois opened a 2-0 lead in just over 30 minutes in the first half. Alex Welch put the Huskies on the board with a shot from 20 yards out in the eighth minute. Nick Markanich made it 2-0 in the 33rdminute scoring from short range after a pass from MAC assist-leader Kevin Rodriguez.
Sanchez praised his younger players for settling the game down from that point.
"I give credit to the young kids. At one point we brought on three or four freshmen," he said. "They played without fear. They changed the momentum in the first half."
The Cougars pulled within one in the 40th minute. Phillips delivered a cross into the box from the right side. Lachlan McLean headed it on, but NIU goalkeeper Konrad Dziedzic made the save. The rebound came back to McLean who scored to make it 2-1.
"To get that goal with five minutes to go in the first half was huge," Sanchez said. "It gave us a little bit of belief. It gave us a lifeline."
McLean leveled the score in the second half with his team-leading seventh goal of the season. TC Hullpicked up the assist.
Northern Illinois outshot SIUE 14-11 for the game.
The Cougars go back on the road to face Butler in Indianapolis on Tuesday.
Akron 0, Bowling Green 0
Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – In a hard-fought contest played in wet and muddy conditions due to lingering rain and lightning, the University of Akron men's soccer team battled Bowling Green (2-5-3, 0-0-1 MAC) to a 0-0 draw in double overtime in the Mid-American Conference opener for both schools on Saturday, Oct. 6.
The Zips (4-4-2, 0-0-1 MAC) outshot the Falcons on the evening, 21-7, including 10-2 on frame, BOXSCORE (PDF)and posted a 16-1 edge in corner kicks, but Akron was unable to find the golden goal in overtime to earn the triumph.
Sophomore David Egbo (Enugu, Nigeria) directed the Zips' offensive efforts recording a game-best five shots. Contributing four, three and three shots, respectively, for Akron was freshman Sam Tojaga (Erie, Pa.), redshirt sophomore Diogo Pacheco (Lisbon, Portugal) and senior Ezana Kahsay (Asmeras, Eritrea). Chris Brennan led Bowling Green with a team-high three shots.
The contest was played in rain early before action was halted due to lightning with 7:30 remaining in the opening stanza. The contest resumed nearly 40 minutes later as neither side found a goal in the opening 45 minutes of play.
Junior Marcel Zajac (Mississauga, Ontario) placed the first shot on goal of the evening on frame at the 17:11 mark, only to see his strike thwarted by a save from Falcons' goalkeeper Anthony Mwembia.
Akron senior goalkeeper Ben Lundt (Berlin, Germany) denied the scoring chance with a save off a header by Moe Mustafa in the 30th minute (29:15).
Immediately before the lightning delay, senior Abdi Mohamed (Westerville, Ohio) connected on a shot on goal at the 35:44 mark for the Zips, again denied by a Mwembia save.
Following the delay, Kahsay unleashed a shot in the 43rd minute (42:57) that was collected for a save by Mwembia.
The Zips outshot Bowling Green in the opening half, 6-3, including 3-1 on goal.
Lundt again made the save for Akron off a shot by Brennan in the 58th minute (57:15).
Shot by Pacheco and redshirt junior Skye Harter (Copley, Ohio) were denied by saves from Mwembia at the 70:29 and 73:36 marks, respectively.
With the clock winding down in the second half, Pacheco and freshman Marco Milanese (Isernia, Italy) posted shots on goal, which again were stopped by saves from Mwembia in the 83rd (82:08 and 82:42) minute.
The Zips bettered the Falcons in second-half shots, 8-4, including 4-1 on net.
Neither side was able to record a shot in the opening overtime period. In the second-overtime stanza, Akron registered seven shots, including three on goal, and garnered six corner kicks, but were unable to find the back of the net with the game-winner. Egbo, Tojaga and Harter each had shots on goal thwarted by saves from Mwembia over the final 10 minutes of the match.
Lundt finished the evening making two saves en route to collecting his fourth shutout of the season and 24th of his Akron career, while Mwembia made 10 stops to also earn the clean sheet.
Akron returns to action on Tuesday, Oct. 9, as the Zips travel to East Lansing, Mich., for 7 p.m. match at Michigan State. The contest will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
