Martinsburg shows why it is nationally ranked

September 19, 2008|By Larry Yanos

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - The nationally ranked Martinsburg boys soccer team extended its record to 9-0 on Thursday with a 3-0 victory over Musselman.

Senior goalkeeper Roger Ausherman rarely was called into action in recording his seventh shutout of the season for Martinsburg - ranked No. 1 in West Virginia and 16th by the National Soccer Coaches of America.

The schools battled to a scoreless tie in the opening 40 minutes, but Martinsburg broke the deadlock 10 minutes into the second half on Eliud Vegas' goal from the deep right corner. Teammates Michael Trumble and Maan Amer followed with goals to complete the scoring.

"The defense has been solid all season and they did the job again tonight," Martinsburg coach Greg Miller said. "I thought Matt Yates did a nice job, but the entire defense played well.

"We have good depth, and I thought we wore them down a little in the second half. We missed some scoring opportunities early, but we stayed aggressive, used the entire field and attacked the goal much better in the second half."

Ausherman - in his first year of varsity competition - and the rest of the defense has been the keys to the Bulldogs' early-season success.

"I didn't play varsity last year because we had a senior goalkeeper, but I'm getting an opportunity now," Ausherman said. "Our defense was really strong again tonight and I didn't really have too many save chances. We are playing well as a team right now."

Musselman coach Gino Marchese was disappointed at being shut out.

"We've done a nice job on offense all season but we couldn't get it going tonight," Marchese said. "We played an excellent first half, but a defensive mistake cost us early in the second half and they took advantage."

Musselman is now 4-3-3 on the season.

"We've played a very tough schedule thus far," Marchese said.

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