Courtesy of West Virginia’s Information Department
Maryland 1, West Virginia 0
Box Score
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 22 West Virginia University men’s soccer team out-shot No. 1 Maryland, but lost 1-0 in a top-25 matchup on Monday night in front of one of the largest crowds in program history.
Before a crowd of 2,019, the fourth-largest crowd to see a men’s match at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium and the largest since 2010, the Mountaineers (6-4-1) recorded 15 shots, eight on goal. WVU held the top-ranked Terrapins (10-0-2) to eight shots, just two on goal. Maryland’s goal came in the 26th minute, off the foot of Amar Sejdic, to extend UM’s winning streak to seven matches and its shutout streak to five straight games.
“Our performance was really good tonight,” WVU coach Marlon LeBlanc said. “Give Maryland a lot of credit for being an excellent team, they’re the No. 1 team in the country for a reason, but I thought tonight, we were really good. If not for (UM goalkeeper) Cody Niedermeier standing on his head tonight, he was an excellent goalkeeper, he was tremendous, but I thought we were really good. Not just from a statistical standpoint, we put them under a lot of pressure all game long and really shut down a lot of what they do well.”
UM’s eight shots marked a season-low, while Monday was the second time all season Maryland was held to just two shots on goal. West Virginia’s 16 shots tied a season high for a Terrapin opponent and the Mountaineers’ eight shots on goal is the first time all season a UM opponent has sent more than five shots on net.
“It’s unfortunate we’re walking off the field without the result that we want, but I think there’s a lot to build on,” LeBlanc added. “The ball has to bounce our way at some stage. That’s the No. 1 team in the country, we’re not far off. They’re a good side, they take a lot of risk and they play soccer the way it’s supposed to be played, but so do we, and it made for a really good soccer match, a very entertaining match.”
UM’s Cody Niedermeier stopped all eight West Virginia shots. WVU junior goalkeeper
Jose Santos had one save.
Senior forward
Felix Angerer led the Mountaineer offense with five shots, two on goal. Junior midfielder
Joey Piatczyc recorded four shots, three on goal, while junior midfielder
Jad Arslan had three shots, one on goal.
In a fast-paced, action-packed first half, West Virginia had seven shots, four on goal, while Maryland notched five shots, one on goal. The Mountaineers came out fast to open the match, recording the first three shots on goal in the contest.
In the 15th minute on a breakaway, Arslan took a shot from 25 yards out that required Niedermeier to make a fantastic diving save to keep the game scoreless. Less than a minute later, Angerer got a cross into the box and headed it just wide of the net.
The Terrapins broke through in the 26th minute when a ball couldn’t be cleared inside the box by West Virginia. Maryland’s Jake Rozhansky got a rebound and sent the ball right to Sejdic, who put it in on the right side of the goal just out of the reach of Santos. His fifth goal of the season, at 25:05, put the Terps ahead 1-0.
The Mountaineers came out of halftime down a goal, but still kept the pace up trying to even the match. WVU had eight shots, four on goal in the second half, while Maryland recorded three shots, one on goal.
Early in the half, Arslan got the ball in the box and put a shot on goal, but the Maryland defense blocked the shot to shut down the chance. The Terrapins had a chance to increase their lead in the 76th minute off a header, but Santos was able to cover up the ball and clear it for West Virginia.
The Mountaineers got one more good opportunity in the 88th minute, as Piatczyc put a shot in on goal with pace, but it was covered up by the Maryland goalkeeper.
WVU’s home season concludes on Saturday, October 15, at 7 p.m. ET, for a Senior Night matchup against Mid-American Conference foe Buffalo. Before the match, WVU will honor its senior class of
Felix Angerer,
Mike Desiderio,
Christian Diaz,
Jack Elliott,
Griffin Libhart and
Trevor Moon. Along with Senior Night, it is also Military & First Responder’s Night, where free admission will be granted to members of the military and first responders with a valid military or first responders I.D. A Mountaineer Kids Club event is also planned, with special youth activities.
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.
