Monday's Scoreboard
West Virginia 2, Pitt 1
Akron 2, Michigan State 1
Notre Dame 2, NIU 0
Stories Courtesy of MAC Sports Information
West Virginia 2, Pitt 1
Box Score
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University men's soccer team earned a 2-1 win over No. 3 Pitt on Monday night in front of 1,316 fans at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
The Mountaineers opened the scoring in the 21st minute with a goal by junior midfielder Luke McCormick, before senior forward Adam Burchell's 76th-minute tally proved to be the game-winner in the victory. The win marked the highest-ranked opponent West Virginia has defeated since No. 1 Connecticut on Oct. 18, 2011.
"We never questioned if this group had enough quality and depth – it's about doing it when it really counts on a big night like tonight," WVU coach Dan Stratford said.
"This was one of the most exciting crowds that I've been a part of. I remember playing in this type of atmosphere, and it makes a huge difference. You saw some of that passion and energy come out in our players, as well."
WVU (2-0) opened the scoring with a hard-fought first goal midway through the first half. In front of the Pitt net, senior forward Yoran Popovic's tackle freed the ball away from the Panther goalkeeper, allowing McCormick to pounce and bury the shot to make it 1-0. The score line held until the first-half horn sounded.
Pitt (1-1), though, scored quickly in the second half with a 50th-minute goal to tie the match at 1.
From there, the Panthers nearly took the lead in the 67th minute, before fifth-year senior goalkeeper Steven Tekesky was able to get a fingertip on a Pitt shot attempt to keep the contest even. That came four minutes after sophomore midfielder Ryan Crooks found himself in front of goal before being denied inside the 6-yard box.
Tekesky finished with two saves on the night.
In the 76th minute, the Mountaineers took the lead for good. After a ball was played wide to redshirt sophomore defender Kyle Lehnert, sophomore midfielder Ryan Baer's chip into the box was met by a header from Burchell and into the back of the net to give West Virginia a 2-1 advantage.
The tally was the first of Burchell's WVU career.
Then, the Mountaineers were able to fight off their Backyard Brawl rivals in the final minutes of the match to improve to 35-10-5 all-time against the Panthers, including 19-4-3 at home. Pitt outshot WVU, 13-10, in the fixture, while the Mountaineers had a 6-3 edge in shots on goal. The Panthers also tallied nine corner kicks, to WVU's three.
Popovic led the way for WVU with three shots in the win, including two on goal. McCormick and Baer registered a pair of shots each.
With the win, West Virginia improved to 14-4 in home openers since Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium opened in 2004. What's more, WVU has now won six consecutive home openers in Morgantown.
Additionally, WVU has now defeated a top-25 opponent in 14 of the last 16 seasons. The squad also has 16 top-15 wins in the last 15 years, including 12 top-10 victories.
Up next, the Mountaineers play host to their second top-15 opponent of the week, as No. 11 Penn State travels to Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium on Friday, Sept. 3. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET.
Akron 2, Michigan State 1
Box Score
EAST LANSING, Mich. – University of Akron men's soccer freshman Wan Kuzri Wan Kamal (Carbondale, Ill.) capped a come-from-behind 2-1 victory at Michigan State (1-1) on Monday, Aug. 30, scoring the game-winning goal for the Zips (2-0) with 25 seconds remaining in regulation.
The tally was the second in as many games for Wan Kuzri Wan Kamal, who fired a laser to the back of the net from 15 yards out off an assist from senior Diogo Pacheco (Lisbon, Portugal), his second assist of the night.
The triumph was the Akron's second consecutive 2-1 victory on the Spartans' home pitch at DeMartin Stadium and served as the fifth straight win overall past Michigan State.
"Winning on the road is not easy, you have to battle and find ways to win," Akron head coach Jared Embick commented. "Today our guys off the bench really lifted us. Shoky (Jason Shokalook), Diogo (Pacheco) and Kuzri (Wan Kuzri Wan Kamal) came in the game and lifted us. When our team finds its game and rythm we can score in bunches. We have showed a ruthlessness that great teams have. We build from here and look forward to coming back to a great crowd for Friday's game."
After not securing a shot in the opening 45 minutes of play, the Zips came out on the attack in the second half and registered a 10-7 edge in shots, including a 3-1 margin in shots on goal. Akron and Michigan State concluded the evening with 10 shots apiece.
The opening half proved to be a defensive battle as Michigan State edged the Zips in first-half shots, 3-0, including posting the only shot on goal in the opening stanza.
The Spartans broke the stalemate in the 63rd minute (62:29) when Michael Miller floated a ball over senior goalkeeper Will Meyer's (Solon, Ohio) shoulder to give Michigan State a 1-0 lead.
Pacheco narrowly missed leveling the game at one at the 70:17 mark as his strike from the center of the box was inches off finding the corner of the net off passes from freshmen Dyson Clapier (Layton, Utah) and Wan Kuzri Wan Kamal.
Akron continued to attack the offensive third before finally breaking through with when freshman Jason Shokalook (Erie, Pa.) netted the equalizer in the 79th minute (78:26) courtesy of an assist from Pacheco.
Meyer was stout in net for Akron in the match recording one save, while Hunter Morse collected a pair of stops for Michigan State.
Pacheco directed the Zips' offensive efforts recording a team-high three shots, while Shokalook and Wan Kuzri Wan Kamal garnered two shots each. Miller led the Spartans with a game-high five shots.
Notre Dame 2, NIU 0
Box Score
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- A goal on either side of halftime helped lead Notre Dame to a 2-0 victory over the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team on Monday night (Aug. 30) at Alumni Stadium. Eno Nto scored in the first half and Matthew Roou tallied in the second to lift the Fighting Irish to the win despite the Huskies holding a 57/43 edge in possession.
"We are disappointed to be coming out with a loss," said NIU head coach Ryan Swan. "I thought there were a lot of really good moments for us. Our ball movement was good, and we had a lot of possession tonight, but they were more clinical than us in the end. We were unfortunate on the first goal, with a deflection that went in and the second they capitalized on our mistake at the back and got to goal very quickly. I think that was the difference between the two teams, we weren't as clinical as they were.
"Notre Dame are a very well-organized team, they did a good job of limiting our opportunities, but our decisions and our movement in the final third weren't quite as sharp as we hoped they would be."
In the 10th minute, Jack Lynn had a chance for Notre Dame as he got on the end of a low cross from the right and fired high from a tight angle at the top of the six-yard box.
NIU's (1-1) first two shots came just around the quarter-hour mark. Adrian Corona (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central) got on the end of a Roque Viegas Jr. (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Syracuse) cross and fired a shot high from just outside the box and, after the Huskies had a penalty shout for what appeared to be a Notre Dame handball in the box, Nick Markanich (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) had a volley that was held by Notre Dame goalkeeper Bryan Dowd.
Notre Dame (1-1) opened the scoring in the 22nd minute as a shot from outside the box by Nto took a big deflection and snuck inside the post, leaving NIU goalkeeper Martin Sanchez (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy) with no chance as the Fighting Irish took the 1-0 lead.
Lynn nearly doubled the advantage for Notre Dame as he muscled off a NIU defender and fired a shot from close range that was saved by Sanchez and cleared by Adrian Lara (Shorewood, Ill./Joliet Township) in the 24th minute.
The Huskies had their best spell of possession late in the first half and a shot from Markanich forced a corner in the 41st minute. Two minutes later, Camilo Estrada's (Dallas, Texas/Lone Star) drive from distance went just wide as Notre Dame took a 1-0 lead into the interval.
Neither team created much in the way of chances in the first 20 of the second half as the Fighting Irish continued to hold the one-goal lead.
Notre Dame doubled its advantage in the 70th minute. Dawson McCartney whipped a ball into the box and Roou got on the end of it, redirecting the ball past Sanchez to give the Fighting Irish a 2-0 lead with 20 minutes to play.
With NIU chancing the game in the final minutes, Sanchez came up with a pair of excellent saves, the first coming in the 82nd minute as Lynn found himself in behind the Huskie defense and the NIU goalkeeper made a save with his feet. Sanchez made another outstanding stop in the 85th minute on a chance by McCartney.
Sanchez finished the contest with five saves and Dowd also recorded five stops for Notre Dame.
NIU will return home on Saturday, Sept. 4, when the Huskies host St. Thomas (Minn.). Kickoff against the Tommies is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the NIU Soccer Complex.
