Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Penn State
Bucknell Men's Soccer Earns Share of Penn State Classic Championship with 2-0 Win over Nittany Lions
9/7/2008 8:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 7, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Senior Mark Schmiegel (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) scored the go-ahead goal early in the second half and freshman Tommy Caso (Phoenix, Md./McDonogh) made five saves in his first career shutout, helping the Bucknell men's soccer team claim a share of the Penn State Classic championship with a 2-0 victory over the host Nittany Lions on Sunday afternoon.
The victory, which came before a Big Ten Network television audience and a bi-partisan crowd of 1,149 at Jeffrey Field, snapped a 25-game losing streak to Penn State (1-3). Coupled with Friday night's 1-1 tie with 10th-ranked Ohio State, Bucknell (2-1-1) came away with a four-point weekend against Big Ten competition.
Ohio State was a 2-0 winner over No. 18 Tulsa earlier in the day, and based on goal differential, the Bison and Buckeyes were declared co-champions. Bucknell sophomore defender Ross Liberati (Warwick, Md./Tower Hill) earned co-MVP honors along with Ohio State's Geoff Marsh.
After allowing six goals in two matches last weekend, the Bison got their defense shored up for this tournament. Bucknell allowed only one goal in 200 minutes of action, and stalwart defender Liberati joined fellow defenders Sean King (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) and Patrick Selwood (Darnestown, Md./The Heights School) on the all-tournament team.
"Our focus all week was on defense," said head coach Brendan Nash. "Everything we did in practice was defense-oriented, and we had to get back to preaching to the team that if you want to play for Bucknell, defense comes first."
Schmiegel, who assisted on Bucknell's goal against Ohio State and scored the game-winner against Penn State, also earned all-tourney accolades.
Bucknell got on the board first just 55 seconds into the second half on a pretty give-and-go sequence between Schmiegel and fellow co-captain Conor O'Brien (Mt. Sinai, N.Y./St. Anthony's). Schmiegel played a ball to O'Brien in open space in the left side of the box, and O'Brien touched it back to Schmiegel, who buried his second goal of the season.
Schmiegel almost added a second goal in the 51st minute when his shot rang off the left post and ricocheted out.
Bucknell did get that all-important insurance goal with 11:16 remaining. Chris Hennings (West Chester, Pa./Henderson), who had been stopped on a breakaway moments earlier, took a long ball at the top of the box, deftly flicked it around a defender, caught up to it on the other side and slipped a shot past Liam Fitzwater into the right size of the goal. The tally was Hennings' team-leading fifth of the season, with the first four all coming one week earlier against Canisius.
Both sides had a handful of good chances in a scoreless first half. Caso made four saves in the opening half, and his first was the toughest. Just over five minutes in, Caso hesitated in coming after a loose ball in the box, and he had to make a tricky save on John Gray's header on a bouncing ball.
About six minutes later, Bucknell had two excellent scoring chances, with freshman Luke Joyner (Dallas, Texas/J.J. Pearce) right in the middle of both. First, Joyner headed a nice pass onto the foot of O'Brien, whose shot from open space on the left side sailed just over the crossbar.
Moments later, Fitzwater came off his line to play a ball with his feet, but he mis-hit the pass right to Joyner. The Bison midfielder tried to chip it over the keeper's head into the empty net but spun it wide to the right.
In the 30th minute, a Bucknell foul gave Penn State a free kick just outside the box, but Drew Cost's shot went over the bar.
Penn State outshot Bucknell 21-7 in the game, with 11 of those shots coming after the Bison had taken the lead.
"For a young team, this weekend's performance against two quality opponents certainly gives us some momentum going forward," said Nash. "Confidence-wise, we came in believing that we could play with teams that are supposedly bigger, faster and stornger. I think we showed Ohio State and Penn State we are a pretty good team."
Bucknell's last victory over Penn State came on Oct. 14, 1975, a 2-0 decision in Lewisburg. Bucknell's last point in State College was a 1-1 tie in 1974, and its last victory here was a 1-0 verdict in the 1974 NCAA Tournament. The Nittany Lions are now 57-7-3 in the series, which dates back to 1930.
The Bison also continued their school-record scoring streak. They now have at least one goal in 19 straight contests.
Next weekend Bucknell hosts its own annual tournament, the Days Inn Classic. The Bison host Cornell at 7 p.m. on Friday night in their home opener at Varsity Soccer Field, then they face Hartwick on Sunday at 3 p.m.
