West Virginia knocks off #1 UConn

In his first collegiate start sophomore Jason Bristol scored the game-winning goal to help No. 20 West Virginia defeat No. 1 Connecticut 1-0 tonight at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium. 

Just seven minutes into the second half, senior captain Dan Stratford struck a perfect arching ball off of a set piece in between the Huskies’ posts. Bristol used his 6-4 height and drilled a line-drive header past UConn’s goalie. It was Bristol's first career goal.

"I had a hunch that Jason (Bristol) would step up and he stepped up big for us tonight," said West Virginia coach Marlon LeBlanc. "It was a very important goal."

The Mountaineers controlled most of the tempo in a very physical match which produced two yellow cards. UConn out-shot WVU 15-10, but WVU held an 8-5 corner kick advantage. Freshman goalkeeper  Zach Johnson made four saves and earned his eighth shutout in nine matches.  WVU is now 3-1 against Top 10 teams this season. The Mountaineers defeated then-No. 6 Maryland on Sept. 7, and then-No. 5 Duke on Sept. 15 - both on the road - before tonight’s win over the No. 1 Huskies. The Mountaineers lone loss came against then-No. 3 Notre Dame, 1-0, on Oct. 6.

“The team played their hearts out tonight”, said LeBlanc. “We put pressure on their defense and made their defenders make decisions. All the credit belongs to the team tonight. Tonight they showed everyone what they could do.”

The win marks the highest ranked team the Mountaineers have defeated in Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium and under LeBlanc. A crowd of 1,773 helped rally the squad to victory. It was the second largest crowd ever to see a WVU men’s soccer team play at home.