Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Princeton
Adam Edwards Breaks PL Shutout Record in 1-0 Win Over Princeton
11/2/2005 7:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 2, 2005
PRINCETON, N.J. - Adam Edwards (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown) made two impressive saves in the final minutes to preserve his 27th career shutout and break the Patriot League record as the Bucknell men's soccer team downed Princeton 1-0 Wednesday night at Lourie-Lovie Field in the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
Edwards made a diving stop on a shot by Princeton's Kyle McHugh with 20 seconds to play to give the Bison the win. That save was preceded by a stop of Jame Wunsch's header off a free kick opportunity less than a minute later.
The lone goal of the game came in the 10th minute when senior Tim Faneck (Shavertown, Pa./Dallas) headed the ball into the right side of the net off a pass from Joe Mellott (Highland, Md./Mount Saint Joseph) on a restart near midfield. The goal was the second of the year for Faneck, and the third of his career. He is now tied with Mark Schmiegel (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) for second on the team with five points this year.
Bucknell's defense, which has yielded just 14 goals this season, held Princeton scoreless, largely due to Edwards and his three saves. The senior goalkeeper entered the game tied with Lehigh's Ryan Grzeszczak atop the Patriot League career ledger with 26 saves. Earlier this year Edwards broke the Bucknell career mark of 24 shutouts that had been held by Ted Peterson since 1975. The shutout was the ninth of the season for Edwards, leaving him one shy of tying his career high of 10 that came during his freshman campaign.
Princeton's best scoring chance came in the 52nd minute when Alex Reison found Wunsch near the left post for a goal, but the score was disallowed due to an offside ruling.
Bucknell, which was outshot by Princeton 9-7, nearly took a 2-0 lead 15 minutes into the second half, but the Tigers goalkeeper, Bobby Guelich, stopped Scott Visnic (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) on a breakaway. Guelich matched Edwards with three saves in the game.
The victory helped Bucknell improve to 8-6-3, while Princeton had its three-game unbeaten streak snapped and fell to 4-7-3 on the season.
The Bison return to Patriot League play to close out the regular season Saturday night when they travel to Annapolis, Md., to face Navy at 7 p.m. Bucknell is currently in a three-way tie for fourth place in the Patriot League with the Mids and Colgate. All three have matching 3-3-0 league records. The top four teams in the Patriot League standings advance to the postseason tournament. The Bison will clinch their third consecutive berth with a victory and a result other than a tie in Saturday's Lehigh-Lafayette match or a win and a Colgate loss or tie versus Holy Cross. Bucknell will also qualify for the postseason with a tie and a Colgate loss if Lafayette or Lehigh end up as the top seed.
