Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
NJIT
Bucknell Men's Soccer Holds off NJIT, 3-2, for First Win of Year
9/22/2004 8:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 22, 2004
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Junior Scott Visnic scored a pair of first-half goals less than two minutes apart and senior Jonathan Hemmert registered a career-high three assists as the Bucknell men's soccer team opened up an early 3-0 lead before hanging on to defeat New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) 3-2 Wednesday afternoon at West Fields for its first victory of the season. The Bison improved to 1-4-1, while the Highlanders fell to 0-7-0.
Hemmert, who climbed into second place on Bucknell's career assists list with 21 career helpers, played a part in all three of the Bison goals. The first one came when Hemmert found freshman Justin Wolf with a pass from near midfield. Wolf then quickly found Visnic stationed near the right post for the goal. That score came just 10:57 into the contest.
Just 1:18 later, Hemmert threw the ball in from the left sideline to Visnic who rose up and headed the ball into the back of the net. The tally was Visnic's team-leading fourth of the campaign and the 19th of his career. He is just two scores shy of appearing on Bucknell's top-10 list for career goals.
More than 24 minutes elapsed before the next Bison goal, which Hemmert played a part in. The senior lined up for a corner kick in the right corner and found freshman Corey Curnutte, who, while in a crowd of people, redirected the ball to sophomore Andrew Loia for the goal.
Heading into halftime with a 3-0 lead, it appeared the Bison would cruise to their first win of the season, but Bucknell did not add another goal, while NJIT tallied twice.
The first of the Highlanders' goals came in the 59th minute when Eddie Romero scored on a breakaway, beating Bison freshman goalkeeper Joey Kuterbach, who picked up his first career win in his first-ever start and made one save. Adam Gross tacked on the other goal for NJIT on a penalty kick with just under 10 minutes to play.
Bucknell, which had an 8-1 advantage in shots in the first half, outshot the Highlanders by an 18-4 margin in the physical game. For the contest, NJIT tallied 19 fouls, while the Bison were called for 14. The Highlanders also picked up three yellow cards to Bucknell's one.
The Bison open up Patriot League play this weekend when they host Army at 2 p.m. at West Fields. The match will be broadcast live on 1380-AM WMLP in the Lewisburg area and on www.SportsJuice.com over the internet.
