Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
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Bucknell Men's Soccer Claims Second Patriot League Title!
11/15/2009 7:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 15, 2009
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LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell freshman Brendan Burgdorf (Westfield, N.J./The Pingry School) headed in a corner kick from classmate C.K. Kumah (Accra, Ghana/The Hotchkiss School (Conn.)) less than 15 minutes into Sunday's Patriot League Men's Soccer Championship Game and that was all the scoring the Bison needed as they defeated American 1-0 for their second title in four years at an unseasonably warm and sunny Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium. With the victory, Bucknell earned an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament and will be making its fifth all-time appearance in the field.
The Bison will find out their opponent and location of their first-round NCAA game on Monday evening at 5:30 p.m. when the complete 48-team NCAA field is announced live on ESPNEWS.
Burgdorf's goal, which came with 30:12 remaining in the first half, was his eighth of the season, moving him into a tie for third on the Bison freshman scoring list with Scott Gilroy.
Bucknell netminder Tommy Caso (Phoenix, Md./McDonogh) recorded two saves and his ninth shutout of the year, moving him into a tie for third on the Bison single-season ledger.
Bucknell, which improved to 16-5-0 and tied the 1998 Lafayette team for the most wins by a Patriot League team, had control much of the first half, outshooting the Eagles (9-7-3) 9-5, including 9-2 at one point. The Bison broke out of the gate quickly as Burgdorf and Ross Liberati (Warwick, Md./Tower Hill) attempted back-to-back shots on a Kumah corner kick less than 90 minutes in.
With about 12 minutes remaining in the first half the Bison launched five shots total on back-to-back possessions, but could not notch a second goal as three of the five were blocked by defenders and another sailed wide of the goal.
American which was looking for its third title since joining the Patriot League in 2001, came close to knotting the score in the final minutes of the first half. A Bison defender headed an Eagles throw-in in the direction of the goal and Caso had to knock it away to prevent an own goal. The rebound went to American's Nidhal Charfi, who shot the ball past Caso's outstretched right arm, but Patriot League Tournament MVP Patrick Selwood (Darnestown, Md./The Heights School) was there to redirect the ball to Caso and prevent the equalizing score.
The best scoring chance for American in the second half came with about 14 minutes remaining when Cameron Petty rolled one from the left wing diagonally past Caso, but the ball continued past the right post and out of bounds.
The Eagles then had possession of the ball for much of the final four minutes of play and were able to fire three shots, but none came close to getting past Caso.
In addition to earning MVP honors, Selwood was a member of the All-Tournament Team. He was joined by Burgdorf, Conor O'Brien (Mt. Sinai, N.Y./St. Anthony's), who scored the winning goal in overtime of Friday's semifinal victory over Lafayette, and Liberati.
Bucknell, which entered the weekend with an 0-4-5 all-time record in Patriot League Tournament play, is now 2-4-5. The Bison's only other tournament title came in 2006 when they won twice on PKs.
Thanks to Burgdorf's goal, Bucknell stretched the longest consecutive games with a goal streak in the nation to 26.
The men's soccer championship marks the second Patriot League title this year for Bucknell, following the women's cross country team.
The Bison, who also advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 1974, 1975, 1976 and 2006, will await their first-round pairing. The first round of the NCAA Tournament is Thursday, Nov. 19.
