MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Two first-half goals less than five minutes apart propelled West Virginia over Binghamton 2-0 on Tuesday night in men’s soccer.
The Mountaineers (7-4-0) improved to 5-1-0 at home thanks to goals in the 22nd by Ryan Kellogg and the 27th minute by Josh DiMatteo, the first of his career. Tight defense held the Bearcats (3-6-2) to four shots as WVU produced its fifth shutout of the season.
West Virginia’s goals came from junior defender Ryan Kellogg, his third in the last two games, and freshman midfielder Josh DiMatteo, his first of his career. WVU out-shot Binghamton, 18-4, and held a 13-1 advantage in shots on goal. The Mountaineers improved to 15-0 the last three seasons when scoring two or more goals.
“We can be so much better from a soccer perspective still, so we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but we’re back to shutout soccer, which is what we want first and foremost,” West Virginia coach Marlon LeBlanc said. “I thought, tonight, their goalkeeper did a good job keeping them in the game, but we were close to seeing the floodgates open up tonight for the first time in a while.”
West Virginia sophomore Steven Tekesky stopped the one shot on goal he faced. His eight career shutouts rank No. 9 all-time in program history.
Kellogg’s goal, his fourth of the season, came at 21:47 and gave the Mountaineers a 1-0 lead. Near the end line, Albert Andres-Llop saved the ball and send it across to Ethan Shim, who slid and put the ball on net. The ball was blocked on the goal line by a defender right to Kellogg, who converted from just outside the six.
Less than five minutes later, DiMatteo made it 2-0, heading a cross from Sebastian Garcia-Herreros.