BUCKHANNON – In the short history of the Mountain East Conference, the No. 22-ranked West Virginia Wesleyan men's soccer team now has its second victory over Notre Dame College as the Bobcats prevailed tonight with a 1-0 victory over the Falcons.
The Bobcats were 1-5-1 against the Falcons before night's contest at Culpepper Stadium
The game was a huge early regional battle as Wesleyan is ranked third in the Atlantic Region while Notre Dame entered the contest fourth in the region.
The lone goal came from the current MEC Offensive Player of the Week Juwon Akintunde.
With Notre Dame controlling possession the first nine minutes of the game, Paul Smith played a through ball to a streaking Akintude who beat Notre Dame keeper Daniele De Angelis just shy of the 10th minute of the game.
Notre Dame controlled a lot of possession the rest of the first half and second half, but they were never able to get a shot past Wesleyan keeper Alessandro Armenia.
It was Aremnia's fourth shutout in five games as he turned away eight shots.
The Wesleyan defense also did a stellar job in containing Notre Dame forward Leonardo Paiva.
Paiva led the nation in goals last season with 25 and was the MEC Offensive Player of the Year last season, but Wesleyan limited him to just two shots-on-goal.
The statistics leaned in favor of Notre Dame as they produced 14 shots and eight shots-on-goal compared to Wesleyan's nine shots and three shots-on-goal.
Notre Dame held an 11-3 margin in corner kicks.
Wesleyan was guilty of 16 fouls while Notre Dame was called for eight.
The loss dropped Notre Dame to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the conference.
Wesleyan improved to 4-0-1 overall and 3-0 in the MEC.
The Bobcats will face another regionally ranked team at home this Sunday when they face Millersville (Pa.)
Millersville is ranked fifth in the Atlantic Region.
The game will kick-off at 1 p.m.
(Photograph courtesy of Peter Galarneau Jr.)
