Hilltopper Men Score 1st Shutout Win of NCAA D2 Era
BECKLEY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University men's soccer team posted its first shutout of the program's NCAA Division II era here Friday afternoon, pulling away to a 3-0 victory against Concord at the YMCA Paul Cline Complex.
In just their third season of varsity competition, Coach Sean Regan's rising young Hilltoppers (2-3) were in control from start to finish in snapping the host Mountain Lions' (2-3) two-match winning streak.
Freshman Vitor Otsuka gave West Liberty a 1-0 lead on an unassisted goal less than eight minutes after the opening kickoff and the Hilltoppers were on their way.
West Liberty carried that 1-0 lead into the second half as Concord put only two shots on net through the first 45 minutes, both of which were easily turned away by WLU netminder Noah Underwood.
The Hilltoppers went back on the attack when play resumed and were rewarded in the 67th minute when Josh Yeaman converted an assist from Danilo Tavares for a 2-0 West Liberty lead.
The Black and Gold added an insurance tally in the 86th minute on a Mikel Ubeda goal, assisted by Daniel Rovira, to wrap up the convincing win.
West Liberty outshot the Mountain Lions by a 13-7 margin and had a whopping 7-1 edge in corner kicks thanks to an aggressive offensive push. Underwood was charted with four saves in notching the first clean sheet of his college career.
The Hilltoppers return to the West Family Athletic Complex on April 2 for a 7 p.m. kickoff against West Virginia Wesleyan.
MEN'S SOCCER
West Liberty 3, Concord 0
West Liberty12 – 3
Concord00 – 0
First Half
WLU: Vitor Otsuka (unassisted), 7:58
Second Half
WLU: Josh Yeaman (Danilo Taveres), 66:02
WLU: Mikel Ubeda (Daniel Rovira), 85:14
Match Statistics
Shots: West Liberty 13, Concord 7
Saves: West Liberty 4 (Noah Underwood 4), Concord 5 (Sean Monro 5)
Corners: West Liberty 7, Concord 1