Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Lehigh
Alli's Golden Goal Sends Bison Men's Soccer into Postseason
11/6/2010 8:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 6, 2010
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Just minutes after Bucknell got the win it needed from Lafayette over Navy, Bison freshman Mayowa Alli (Lanham, Md./Bishop McNamara) scored 3:10 into sudden-death overtime in the regular-season finale at Lehigh, sending his team to a 2-1 win and a berth in the Patriot League Tournament. CK Kumah (Accrah, Ghana/Hotchkiss School) netted the tying goal in the 76th minute, and Bucknell will have a chance to defend its title as the No. 4 seed next weekend at Colgate.
After suffering a heartbreaking 2-1 overtime loss at Lafayette last week, the Bison (8-8-2, 3-2-2 PL) found themselves one point behind Navy for the fourth and final tournament spot. Bucknell needed to win at Lehigh and have Navy lose or tie in order to keep its season going.
In Annapolis, Sean Peckham scored in the 48th minute to put Lafayette up 1-0, but around the same time Bucknell fell behind when it committed a foul at the edge of the box, and James Graf converted the penalty kick at the 52:49 mark.
As the clock trickled inside 15 minutes to play, the Bison finally cracked Lehigh's stingy defense when Kumah took a pass from Andrew Powell (Charlton, Mass./St. John) on the left side, ran past a defender and buried a tracer inside the upper right corner for his first goal of the season.
In the final five minutes of regulation Bucknell had two corner kicks, but a shot from Travis Rand (Westbrook, Maine/Westbrook) went high. Lehigh earned a corner kick with just over a minute to play, and Bison keeper Marc Hartmann (Bradenton, Fla./St. Stephen's) made a save on Kevin Strunk with 18 seconds left.
While the Bison and Mountain Hawks were in their break prior to starting overtime, the Lafayette-Navy game went final. That meant Bucknell's playoff scenario was simple: score a goal and the season continues; if not, the Leopards would steal the final spot.
The Bison launched an offensive assault right away. In the third minute of overtime, Luke Joyner (Dallas, Texas/J.J. Pearce) sent a shot wide, but soon after they earned a corner kick. Tommy McCabe (Sarasota, Fla./Cardinal Mooney) sent in the corner, Lehigh goalkeeper Jonathan Nydell made an initial save on Powell and then a defender cleared a Ross Liberati (Warwick, Md./Tower Hill) bicycle kick off the line. Alli had the third crack at it, and he blasted home a volley for the game-winner at 93:10.
It was not the first dramatic goal for Alli this season. Against Colgate on Oct. 23, the Bison trailed 3-1 in the final three minutes of regulation before the freshman defender scored twice in a row to pull out a 3-3 tie. Alli now has three goals and three assists on the season.
Bucknell outshot Lehigh 21-7, including 11-3 in the second half and 4-0 in overtime. Hartmann improved to 5-3-1 on the season with a two-save performance, while Nydell finished with six saves for Lehigh (8-7-2, 4-2-1), which had been 4-0-1 in its last five league games. The Mountain Hawks had allowed two or more goals only once in their last nine games, that coming in a 3-0 loss to No. 4 Maryland. Lehigh's team goals-against average of 0.84 ranked No. 2 in the league coming in.
Earlier in the day, Colgate defeated American 1-0 to clinch the regular season title. The Raiders finished with a 5-0-2 Patriot League record and 17 points. Lehigh (4-2-1, 13 points) will be the No. 2 seed. Bucknell and American both finished with 3-2-2 league marks and 11 points, but the Eagles will be the No. 3 seed based on their head-to-head win over the Bison on Sept. 25.
Bucknell and Colgate will meet in one of the Patriot League semifinal games next Friday in Hamilton, N.Y., while Lehigh and American will square off in the other. The winners will meet Sunday, Nov. 14 for the championship.
