A controversial goal by West Virginia helped bury the AU men's soccer team Wednesday at Reeves Field, 2-0.
A shot off the foot of West Virginia sophomore Andrew Halsell early in the first half clanked the crossbar and bounced directly down to the goal line as AU (3-8-1) lost its early-game momentum.
AU goalkeeper Chris Sedlak reached out and grabbed the ball for what appeared to be a lucky break for the Eagles. Second later, a referee called the shot a goal even though AU coach Todd West protested.
"He was out of position to make that call," West said. "If you are going to call that you should be on the [corner line] line."
AU never bounced back. Players' heads once high drooped low with exhaustion, hands found knees, and coaches yelled orders in vain. The outcome was tough to swallow. Despite being undersized compared to the Big East Mountaineers (9-5-2), AU dominated much of the game and held 14-8 shooting advantage.
"We were pretty good in the first half," West said. "Then we let a questionable goal put us in the tank."
The Mountaineers added a second goal when a pass connected with a streaking Alex Yost for a breakaway shot drilled into the corner of the net. Sedlak allowed two goals on the first four shots he faced.
"[Sedlak] was late coming off the line off the [breakaway shot] out of the back," West said.
But for all the negatives and unlucky bounces, the Eagles found some positives to build off for the upcoming Patriot League game Saturday against Colgate.
Freshman midfielder Stephen Romeo led a first-half charge of scoring opportunities and energy that the Mountaineers initially could not match. Romeo said AU dominated, but he was frustrated about the loss.
"We just have to move on, this one doesn't matter, the Patriot League is what counts," Romeo added.
For the Eagles to move on, they must start finishing their scoring chances. AU doubled the Mountaineers in quality scoring opportunities but was unable to put any shots home. West Virginia junior goalkeeper Nick Noble had an impressive day on the stat sheet, but in reality was rarely troubled.
The Eagles continued to make opposing goalkeepers look more dominant than usual. With only 16 goals on 220 shots this season compared with opponents' 23 goals on 132 shots the Eagles have shown inadequacies in capitalizing on scoring chances.
But Coach West said he plans to stick with Sedlak through the season, and knows his team has the potential to win future games.
"We weren't lucky enough to win," said West. "It doesn't change anything we got to get ready for [Colgate] Saturday."
Shifting attention from today to Saturday seemed to be the overall theme of players and coaches.
But as the Eagles try to learn from mistakes, West posed the question: "Are we tough enough to do what we set out to do"
