Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Colgate
Alli, McCabe Bring Bison Men's Soccer Back to 3-3 Draw with Colgate
10/23/2010 8:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 23, 2010
LEWISBURG, Pa. - In one of the more remarkable finishes in recent Bucknell men's soccer history, freshman defender Mayowa Alli (Lanham, Md./Bishop McNamara) headed in two goals in the 86th minute to tie the game at 3-3, and senior Tommy McCabe (Sarasota, Fla./Cardinal Mooney) made sure it stayed that way with a bicycle kick to save a ball off the goal line in the first overtime period, helping the Bison steal a point from first-place Colgate Saturday night at Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium.
Now 6-6-2 overall and 2-1-2 in the Patriot League, Bucknell remained in playoff position with the tie. With eight points, the Bison are tied for fourth place with Navy, but Bucknell holds the tiebreaker thanks to a 2-0 victory over the Midshipmen on Oct. 2. Colgate (7-4-4 overall, 4-0-1 PL) remained in the lead with 13 points, while American and Lehigh are now tied for second with 10 after the Mountain Hawks scored a 2-1 win over the Eagles on Saturday. Army picked up its first point of the year with a 1-1 draw with Lafayette, keeping the Leopards in sixth place with four points. Each team has two league games remaining, and the top four make the Patriot League Tournament.
Colgate had yet to concede a goal in Patriot League play all season, and the Bison seemed to be in trouble when Steven Miller scored for the Raiders on their first shot of the night just 5:28 in. A free kick after a foul set the goal in motion. After two Colgate touches, a Bucknell defender headed the ball out of the box, but Miller sent a sharp volley inside the far post to make it 1-0.
Brendan Burgdorf (Westfield, N.J./Pingry School) became the first Patriot League player to score on Colgate in the 21st minute. Coming in from the left flank, Burgdorf somehow powered his way through two defenders and nudged the ball over to Josh Plump (Millburn, N.J./Millburn). Plump's shot was smothered by charging Colgate keeper Chris Miller, but Burgdorf popped a little header over Miller's head into the open net from a tough angle on the left side. It was Burgdorf's team-leading fifth goal of the season.
Eight minutes into the second half, Bucknell had a great chance to take the lead after some nice counter-attack work from Luke Joyner (Dallas, Texas/J.J. Pearce) and Burgdorf set up McCabe on the left side, but McCabe's hard shot sailed high.
That proved big not quite four minutes later when the Raiders took the lead. Wade Martin and Mike Reidy overlapped on the right wing, and Reidy sent in a cross that was headed in Shane Conlin from inside the six-yard box.
Bucknell's best chance to equalize came with 21 minutes remaining, when Burgdorf skipped a shot through traffic just past the left post after a long throw-in into the box.
Colgate then seemingly threw the final dagger with 5:57 left in regulation, as Conlin worked around a defender on the end line coming in from the right side, then found Matt Schuber alone in front for a one-touch goal.
Down 3-1 against a team that had allowed only 11 goals in its first 14 games of the season, the Bison never stopped working. Right after the Colgate goal, Bucknell earned a corner kick. McCabe served a perfect ball to Alli near the top of the box, and the rookie fullback slammed a header into the right side of the net for his first career goal.
The Bison quickly won possession back and drew a foul about 50 yards from the goal near the left touch line. This time Alli set up on the back post, and McCabe delivered another perfect ball for the soaring Alli, whose header struck the bottom of the crossbar and went down over the line.
Alli's first two collegiate goals came at 85:04 and 85:54, and before time expired in regulation he had a look at a hat trick, but his left-footed shot through traffic slipped barely wide to the left.
The Raiders took all three shots in the first 10-minute overtime session, and they came within inches of ending it with about 3:30 left in the period. Jeff Leach got behind the defense on a breakaway, and with Bison keeper Marc Hartmann (Bradenton, Fla./St. Stephen's) charging out, Leach chipped a shot over Hartmann toward the empty net. But McCabe came out of nowhere to catch up to the bouncing ball right at the goal line, and he bicycle-kicked it back over his own head and out of harm's way before careening himself into the back of the net.
Bucknell's best chance at a golden goal came in the 102nd minute on a free kick from 30 yards. McCabe's shot made it around the wall toward Ross Liberati (Warwick, Md./Tower Hill) at the left post, but Liberati could not quite flick it in.
Hartmann's best save of the night came with 4:50 remaining, a diving stop to his right to turn aside a 25-yard blast from Conlin.
It was Bucknell's highest-scoring tie game since a 3-3 stalemate at Towson on Sept. 18, 1985, and it was the team's highest-scoring draw in a home game since a 3-3 tie against Wilkes on Oct. 18, 1957.
The final stat sheet was very close all the way around. Colgate had a 20-19 edge in shots and a 9-7 edge in shots on goal. The Bison had a 5-3 edge in corner kicks, while Bucknell committed 10 fouls to eight for Colgate. Hartmann finished with five saves, while Miller had four.
Prior to the game, seniors McCabe, Liberati and Travis Rand (Westbrook, Maine/Westbrook) were honored as part of Senior Night ceremonies. Their final regular-season home game comes up on Tuesday at 7 p.m. against NJIT. Bucknell's final two Patriot League contests will be at Lafayette on Oct. 30 and Lehigh on Nov. 6.
