SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – West Virginia (0-1-0) set a program record for attendance on
Friday night, but was unable to give its fans a win as UC Santa Barbara (2-0-0) shutout the
Mountaineers 2-0 in front of 2,938 fans at Dick Dleesk Soccer Stadium during the opening
match of the West Virginia University/Nike Classic.

The Gauchos got on the scoreboard in the 15th minute when freshman Michael Nonni
sprinted at the WVU defense and laid off a pass to sophomore Waid Ibrahim, who beat
defenders Jason Bristol and Ryan Gillespie. After goalie Zach Johnson came off his line to
make the stop, Ibrahim slid the ball near post for the score, giving UCSB the 1-0 lead.

WVU came within inches of tying the game courtesy of sophomore Raymon Gaddis in the
19th minute. On what was WVU’s best chance to score, Travis Pittman, with his back to the
goal, slipped a pass to Gaddis, who was streaking on the far side. After beating a defender,
Gaddis was faced with just goalkeeper Sam Hayden, but sent a shot that went just wide of
the net.

At the 64:50 mark, the Gauchos tacked on the second and final goal of the game. Senior
Martin Hedevag slipped a ball through the Mountaineer defense to senior David Walker, who
was in alone with Johnson, and beat him for the score.

The Mountaineers out-shot the Gauchos, 7-6, but UCSB had three shots on goal, while WVU
managed just one. Sophomore Luis Silva led the team with two shots with one on frame.

UCSB returns to the pitch on Sunday, Sept. 6, when it faces Pittsburgh at 8 a.m. (PST) at Dick
Dlesk Soccer Stadium. The game is available on Gametracker.