MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Sophomore Albert Andres-Llop scored in the 51st minute and West Virginia upset No. 5 Michigan State 1-0 on Wednesday night in men’s soccer.
The Mountaineers (7-3-3) earned their first win over a top-10 team since a 1-0 victory against No. 7 Georgetown in last season’s opening weekend. West Virginia had not beaten a top-10 opponent at home since a 2-0 triumph over No. 1 UConn in 2011.
The Spartans (9-2-2), who sport the nation’s top RPI, were shut out for just the second time this season. West Virginia held MSU to a season-low-tying two shots on goal.
“It feels good,” Mountaineers coach Marlon LeBlanc said. “It was a fantastic performance from start to finish. All of the credit goes to my guys, they were fantastic. I told these guys two days ago we were going to win this game tonight and they believed.”
Andres-Llop’s goal was his team-leading fifth of the season, while Jorge Quintanilla registered his team-best fifth assist.
In the sequence running up to the goal, Rushawn Larmond took the ball around a defender and into the 18 on the far side, where he centered to Louis Thomas. Though Thomas’ shot was blocked, the deflection went right to Quintanilla just inside the 18. He made the quick pass to Andres-Llop, who fired the ball on goal from the penalty kick mark and beat the Michigan State keeper Jimmy Hague.
Michigan State held a 10-5 edge in shots, but West Virginia freshman keeper Steven Tekesky made one save, while the Mountaineers defense cleared another shot off the line.