AKRON, Ohio — Tucker Stephenson scored on a give-and-go in the 81st minute as West Virginia upset 10th-ranked Georgetown 1-0 in men’s soccer Sunday at the Akron Classic.
The Mountaineers (1-1) surrendered only three shots and achieved their first win against a top-10 foe since beating No. 8 Indiana in 2013.
“Our guys were tremendous today,” Mountaineers coach Marlon LeBlanc said. “We had a lot of great possessions and created a lot of chances. This was a game where we had to grind, and we knew it was going to be a grind.”
It capped a rough weekend for Georgetown (0-2), which lost Friday night’s opener to No. 2 Akron on a goal in the 90th minute.
“Today wasn’t a good performance and I have to give West Virginia credit because they were disciplined and worked hard through 90 minutes,” said Hoyas coach Brian Wiese.
The decisive score began with Louis Thomas bringing the ball in along the sideline, then passing toward the endline to Sebastian Garcia-Herreros, who flicked toward the center of the box. It was tipped by a defender toward Stephenson, whose strike from 10 yards out found the left side of the net past diving Hoyas keeper JT Marcinkowski.
“I just knew I had to get in the box, and (Garcia-Herreros) cut it back for me,” Stephenson said. “I was right at the PK spot and put it away.”
West Virginia missed a golden chance in the 58th minute, when junior midfielder Jad Arslan’s shot on a breakaway was blocked by Marcinkowski.
Georgetown’s best opportunity came in the 70th minute, when a string of three corner kicks made for a prolonged offensive possession before a Hoyas foul cleared it. Georgetown had two shots, both which were blocked.
Seven minutes later, a pass from the near side resulted in a great shot attempt, but it went high.