Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
NJIT
McCabe Leads Bison Men's Soccer Past NJIT, 3-0
10/29/2008 8:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 29, 2008
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Sophomore Tommy McCabe, a Florida native playing on a frigid night in central Pennsylvania, scored his first two collegiate goals to lead the Bucknell men's soccer team to a 3-0 win over NJIT on Wednesday at Holmes Stadium. The non-conference victory gets the Bison back even on the season at 7-7-3 heading into Saturday's critical Patriot League showdown at Lehigh.
McCabe (Sarasota, Fla./Cardinal Mooney) is typically a defender who does not get many scoring chances - he had only five career shot attempts entering the game - but he recently moved up to the left halfback position, and against NJIT he cashed in not once but twice. In a scoreless game 29 minutes in, Luke Joyner (Dallas, Texas/JJ Pearce) played the ball wide to the left side, and from a very tough angle, McCabe lobbed the ball to the far corner over the head of backpedaling goalkeeper Ryan Sutherland.
It remained 1-0 until the 76th minute, when Anthony Ferraro (West Long Branch, N.J./Shore Regional) wound up from the top of the 18. His shot deflected off a defender's leg toward the left side of the box. McCabe pounced on the loose ball in open space and had an easy finish to make it 2-0.
With only 5:06 to play, Matt Hittson (Radnor, Pa./Radnor) took a free kick near midfield and put it right on the head of Alex Russo (Middletown, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy), who flicked it in for his fourth goal of the year.
Bucknell controlled possession for most of the night and finished with a 23-16 shot advantage. The Highlanders put only two shots on frame, and both were turned aside by Will Byrne (Harrisburg, Pa./Susquehanna), who won his second game of the season.
NJIT had few good scoring chances, and perhaps its best came on the game's very first shot seven minutes into the game. A Hittson foul gave Gustav Warfving a free kick from 25 yards out, but Warfving's shot around the wall just missed the lower right corner.
Mark Schmiegel (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) was terrific on the front line for the Bison, even though he did not register a point. He took a game-high six shots and was dangerous all night. Ferraro, who like Schmiegel and five other fellow seniors were playing in their final home game, took four shots and picked up his second assist of the year.
Conor O'Brien (Mt. Sinai, N.Y./St. Anthony's) was credited with an assist on McCabe's first goal, giving O'Brien a point in three straight and four of his last five games. It was his league-leading seventh assist of the year, which is now tied for ninth-most on Bucknell's single-season chart.
Joyner also extended his point-scoring streak to three straight games with his fourth assist of the campaign. Hittson's assist was his fourth of the year, surpassing his career point total (3) coming into the season.
The Bison are back in action on Saturday at Lehigh at 7 p.m. With two Patriot League games remaining on the schedule, Bucknell is two points behind both Lehigh and Lafayette for the fourth and final playoff spot. The Bison can move back into the top four with a win and a Lafayette loss at Navy, but a loss at Lehigh would eliminate Bucknell from the postseason.
