Men's Soccer Stopped by West Virginia, 5-3

MORGANTOWN, W. VA. A string of four unanswered goals helped eighth-ranked West Virginia overpower 21^st-ranked Seton Hall, 5-3, in men’s soccer action on Saturday night at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium. The loss ended the Pirates’ six-game win streak and dropped them to 4-1-0 in BIG EAST play.

West Virginia took an early lead in the sixth minute when Jarrod Smith sent a shot from the right side that deflected into the net. The Pirates answered back in 12^th minute when sophomore Eliseo Giusfredi (Paterson, N.J.) converted a penalty kick to knot the game at 1-1. Seton Hall took a 2-1 lead in the 31^st minute when Giusfredi set up junior David Roman (Monroeville, N.J.).

The Mountaineers responded with four consecutive tallies, starting with Dan Stratford’s penalty kick in the 33^rd minute. After the teams went into halftime with a 2-2 tie, Smith gave WVU the lead with his second goal of the game. In the 50^th minute he blasted a shot from 15 yards into the upper corner, making it 3-2. Ryan Gillespie added another in the 62^nd minute off assists from Pat Carroll and Mike Anoia, before Smith set up Andy Wright in the 81^st minute for WVU’s fifth goal of the evening. Freshman Austin Nyquist (Rockford, Ill.) got SHU a goal back when he notched his first career goal in the 87^th minute.

Seton Hall held a 22-15 advantage in shots and a 7-6 edge on corner kicks, but WVU’s Nick Noble made eight saves in the face of SHU’s attack. Seton Hall’s Ian Joyce (Kinnelon, N.J.), who had two straight shutouts, made three saves.

The Pirates return to action on Wednesday, Sept. 27, when they travel to Washington, D.C., for a 3:00 p.m. game against Georgetown.

SCORING SUMMARY

                                                1    2        F

#21 Seton Hall (6-3-0, 4-1-0) 2    1    -- 3

#8 West Virginia (7-1-2, 4-0-1)     2    3    -- 5

5:34      WVU    J. Smith (7) (unassisted)

11:14    SHU     E. Giusfredi (6) (penalty kick)

30:02    SHU     D. Roman (2) (E. Giusfredi)

32:47    WVU    D. Stratford (1) (penalty kick)

49:49    WVU    J. Smith (8) (unassisted)

61:04    WVU    R. Gillespie (2) (P. Carroll, M. Anoia)

80:32    WVU    A. Wright (3) (J. Smith)