MORGANTOWN -
A golden goal from defender Eric Schoenle in the 99th
minute gave the West Virginia men's soccer team a 2-1 victory over No.
25 Xavier on Thursday evening at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium in the NCAA
Tournament first round.
West Virginia had a 1-0 lead for the majority of the match before conceding a goal to Xavier in the 85th minute to knot the game at 1-1, forcing sudden death overtime.
Forward
Jay Williams began the game-winning play when he was fouled while
making a run past the left side of the Xavier defense. Midfielder Allan
Flott was called upon to take the free kick and played a perfect ball to
Schoenle, who converted a diving header off the post and into the back
of the net for his fifth career game-winning goal.
WVU
had 18 shots in the match to Xavier's nine, including eight shots
on-goal to five, while also holding the corner kick advantage at 7-3.
After
a slow start by both teams, the Mountaineers began to pressure the
Musketeers in the final ten minutes that led to a goal by Williams in
the 39th minute, the first of his career.
After
Xavier was unable to clear the ball away, midfielder Uwem Etuk was able
to play a cross into the box from the far side of the pitch. Williams
was able to receive the cross, playing away from a Xavier defender and
then slotting the ball into the far side of the net from just inside the
18 yard line.
Gino
Depaoli scored the game-tying goal for Xavier after numerous chances
and offensive pressure from the Musketeers. Depaoli took a shot from 20
yards out into the far side of the net past diving WVU keeper Pat
Eavenson. Luke Spencer started the attack bringing the ball up the right
side of the field and made a pass to Hagglund, who played a cross to
Depaoli for the goal.
Eavenson
came up with four huge saves to preserve the win, including a save on
Spencer only 30 seconds into the overtime period. Spencer ripped a
bending shot from 20 yards out that Eavenson made a sprawling save to
his left on.
Justin Marshall made five saves in the loss for Xavier, while a defender made a key team save late in the match.
Early
in the first half Xavier nearly had a goal off the foot of Hagglund.
After a turnover by defender Matt Drake, Hagglund had a one-on-one
opportunity against Eavenson. Eavenson came out of the box and made a
diving kick save on Hagglund.
The Mountaineers came out firing in the second half and almost capitalized in the 47th
minute when Etuk took a shot that rebounded out to forward Andy Bevin.
Bevin blasted a shot from 25 yards out that sailed over the net. Bevin
also had a shot in the 54th minute from the same distance that was punched over the net.
Defender Raymon Gaddis almost connected on his first career goal in the 48th minute when he collected a ball and only had the goalkeeper to beat. Gaddis took a shot that went just wide right of the net.
A shot by Xavier's Will Walker in the 56th minute nearly equaled the game, but a point-blank save by Eavenson kept the game in favor of the Mountaineers.
Bevin
recorded a game-high five shots, including two on-goal, while Etuk also
finished with two shots on-goal. Spencer, Hagglund and Depaoli all took
two shots and one on-goal for Xavier.
The
victory pushes WVU's record to 11-7-1 overall and snapped Xavier's five
game-unbeaten streak. The Musketeers, the Atlantic 10 Conference
champions, end their season with a 12-5-4 record.
The
Mountaineers advance to the NCAA second round and will travel to
Maryland, who had a first round bye, for a match on Sunday, Nov. 20, at 5
p.m. WVU and the Terrapins played early in the regular season with
Maryland winning 3-1.
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