MORGANTOWN, WV – The Manhattan Jaspers Men's Soccer team (0-1) fell to the Mountaineers of West Virginia University (1-0) by a score of 5-2 at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium on Thursday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Jaspers enter a new era with Head Coach Tom Giovatto leading the Green and White as the program's sixth leader.
- Off a foul in the eighth minute, the Mountaineers got on the board off a feed into the six-yard box before finding the back of the net.
- Just two minutes later, West Virginia added an insurance tally beyond senior goalkeeper Ludvig Malberg.
- Manhattan recorded its first shot off the foot of freshman midfielder Henry Reinhart, before freshman forward Martin Rodriguez added the Jaspers' first goal of the campaign off a free kick.
- After the Mountaineers tallied four additional goals in the first half, the Jaspers found its rhythm in the second half.
- Defense was on full display just minutes into the second 45', where a pair of shots by West Virginia were blocked by Manhattan. Followed by an additional five shots either blocked or wide.
- In the waning minutes of the match, the Green and White scored their second goal of the match courtesy of sophomore midfielder William Fagerberg, with Jason Araujo finding the Incarnate Word transfer for his first as a Jasper.
STATS AND NOTES
- Sophomore midfielder William Fagerberg logged two shots with one on goal, that resulted in the teams' second strike of the match. The Austin, TX product recorded 49 minutes off the bench.
- Freshman forward Martin Rodriguez added one goal on one shot on target in a full 90 minutes on the pitch.
- Senior goalkeeper Ludvig Malberg registered five saves on 14 shots faced in a full 90 minutes on the pitch.
- Redshirt Sophomore midfielder Tolu Joseph added one shot in 90 minutes of match time.
QUOTES FROM THE JASPERS
Head Coach Tom Giovatto: "West Virginia is a very good team. In the first half we didn't do a good enough job defending our box on their cutbacks. After their second goal, we played well with and without the ball, found the chance to come back, and I thought we competed at a level that matched the demand of the game. I'm proud of the boys for their second half performance. The guys were incredible in the locker room at half time and understood how we went behind. The mood was right, we adjusted well, and I felt we fought hard to keep the second half steady against a top team."
NEXT UP
The Green and White are back in action on Tuesday, August 26 as the Jaspers play host to the Gothic Knights of New Jersey City University for a 6 p.m. kickoff. The contest can be viewed on the Jaspers Sports Network.
Follow Manhattan Men's Soccer on X and Instagram at @JaspersSoccer.
