October 5, 2002

Box Score

Providence 1, VT 0

 

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Virginia Tech men's soccer team was shutout by the visiting Providence Friars Saturday afternoon in a BIG EAST match held on Tech's Moseley Field. With the loss, the Hokies fall to 5-5-1 on the year and 2-3-1 in conference, while the Friars improve to 3-7-0 and 2-3-0 in conference play.

Providence freshman Eoin Lynch scored the lone goal of the match on a header from five-yards out in the 11th minute of play. Lynch, who shot the ball wide on a breakaway five minutes into the contest, elevated above the Tech defenders deflecting the ball into the goal for his fourth goal of the season. Sophomore Carlos Suero served the ball into the center of the penalty box from 30 yards out for the assist.

The Friars had an opportunity to increase their lead two minutes into the second half on a penalty kick after a foul by Tech goalkeeper Chase Harrison (Huntington, W.Va.) in the penalty box. Harrison saved Providence midfielder Mauricio Solano's shot preventing the Friars from increasing their lead.

Tech reserves John Havas, Greg Hermandorfer, Karl Schlegl and Peter Woody all started the second half and helped create more scoring opportunities for the Hokies as Tech outshot Providence 10-3 in the second stanza. Tech's best opportunity came in the final minute of regulation off a direct kick outside the penalty box. With all but one defender in the box, including Harrison, Providence goalkeeper Jeff Newman made a diving save on a shot by Harold Russell (Swarthmore, Pa.) to preserve the shutout and the victory. Newman finished with four saves.

"Today we saw that attitude is everything," head coach Oliver Weiss stated. "With a little luck we could have gotten a goal. We created better chances with our reserves in the game than we did with our starters."

Weiss continued, "We tend to fancy ourselves as a better team than we really are and, as a result, don't work as hard as the other team. When we do that we shoot ourselves in the foot. You have to give credit to Providence. They are a good team and did a good job executing their game plan today."

The Hokies will return to action Tuesday afternoon when they host UNC-Greensboro on Moseley Field at 4 p.m.

Goals by period                1  2      F
------------------------------------------
Providence (3-7-0, 2-3-0)      1   0  -  1
Virginia Tech (5-5-1, 2-3-1)   0   0  -  0

SCORING SUMMARY:
1. 10:15 PC LYNCH, Eoin (SUERO, Carlos)

Shots: Providence 6, Virginia Tech 15
Saves: Providence 5 (NEWMAN, Jeff 4; TEAM 1), Virginia Tech 1 (HARRISON, Chase 1)