Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Binghamton
O'Brien's Seventh Goal of Season Leads Bison Men's Soccer Past Binghamton, 1-0
9/30/2009 8:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 30, 2009
| Highlights
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Conor O'Brien (Mt. Sinai, N.Y./St. Anthony's) scored his Patriot League leading seventh goal of the season while Tommy Caso (Phoenix, Md./McDonogh) made six saves to backstop a solid defensive night for the Bucknell men's soccer team in a 1-0 win over visiting Binghamton on Wednesday night at Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium. The Bison improved to 6-3 on the season, while the Bearcats had their three-game winning streak snapped and fell to 5-4.
The Bison had very few good scoring chances in this one, but they got the break they needed in the 54th minute. Sean King (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) tried to loft a long lead pass out of the midfield, but O'Brien could not get a boot on a high bouncing ball. The ball rolled on to keeper Jason Stenta, who bobbled it slightly. O'Brien never gave up on the play, stuck a toe in on the loose ball to knock it away from the fallen keeper, then punched it into an empty net.
That would be the game's only goal, and with the exception of one instance the Bucknell defense did a good job keeping the ball out of danger over the last 37 minutes of play.
Binghamton attempted eight second-half shots and 16 in the game, but the only true threat came in the 85th minute when Kyle Kucharski found open space at the top of the 6-yard box. Caso made a diving save to his right on Kucharski's header that was ticketed for the back of the net. The Bison then cleared away the ensuing corner kick.
Freshmen Josh Plump (Millburn, N.J./Millburn) and CK Kumah (Accra, Ghana/The Hotchkiss School) both had decent looks to put the Bison up 2-0, but both shots curved wide of the near post.
Caso bounced back nicely after a tough outing against American over the weekend. He finished with six saves and recorded his third shutout of the season.
O'Brien's goal was the 22nd of his career. That ties him with Scott Visnic (2002-05) for 10th place on Bucknell's all-time list. He also moved past Bill Dahl (1960-62) into eighth place on the Bucknell career points list with 63.
Binghamton came into the game riding three straight shutouts, including a 4-0 whitewash of Niagara on Sunday. The Bearcats had not allowed a goal since a 2-1 overtime loss at Gonzaga on Sept. 18.
The Bison snapped a two-game losing streak to Binghamton but now lead the all-time series 4-2-1.
Bucknell returns to Patriot League play on Saturday night, visiting Navy for an 8 p.m. contest in Annapolis, Md.
