Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Army
Bucknell Men's Soccer Drops 2-1 Heartbreaker to Army
10/20/2012 8:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 20, 2012
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LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell men's soccer team suffered an excruciating 2-1 loss to Army on Saturday night at Emmitt Field, as Jason Lewis' goal with 13.3 seconds remaining negated Collin Costello's equalizer for the Bison just 44 seconds earlier. Bucknell fell to 5-6-4 overall and 1-2-2 in the Patriot League, but even with this result the Bison are still only one point out of the fourth and final Patriot League Tournament spot with two league games remaining.
After Army scored just 6:09 into the match, Bucknell spent almost 83 minutes chasing the tying goal. The Bison were ferocious in the second half, outshooting the Black Knights 14-4, and they had a couple of near misses before finally netting the equalizer with 56.8 seconds showing on the clock.
Chris Thorsheim set the goal in motion with a deep cross in from the right side. An Army defender headed the ball high into the air in the middle of the box. Brendan Burgdorf charged in and won the second ball, heading it forward toward the right post. Jesse Klug then back-heeled the ball into the 6-yard box, where Costello was all the way up from his fullback position to tap it into the open net.
The Bison seemed to have forced overtime, but the Black Knights got one last gasp in regulation when a ball played up the right sideline was touched out for an Army throw-in from the 18 extended. Mitch Johnson sent the long throw into the box, where it was headed down by Parker Dixon. The ball somehow leaked through to Lewis at the 6, and he finished into the left side of the net with 13.3 ticks left.
"We just need to keep plugging away," said head coach Brendan Nash after the game. "We have been snake bit here recently, and we are just having trouble finishing. The lesson we learned tonight is that the game is 90 minutes. In each of these setbacks we have learned some tough lessons, and we just have to hope that these lessons will pay off for us in the next two weeks."
Army (4-8-1, 1-3-1 PL) got on the board quickly off a set play on a restart after a Bison foul. On a free kick from 30 yards out, Michael Kim played the ball on the ground wide to the right of the Bucknell wall. Devin Perlee ran onto it, served a low cross into the goal mouth, and Trent Brown finished with a redirect from point-blank range.
The Black Knights took that 1-0 lead into the locker room after an evenly played first half, but the Bison were energized coming out in the second. Early in the period Klug took a hard shot that required a diving fingertip save by Winston Boldt. In the 67th minute Boldt made a save on a CK Kumah free kick but spilled the ball in front of the right post, and an Army defender dangerously cleared the ball toward the goal but into the outside netting.
Burgdorf missed just high with a hard, turning shot from 25 yards out in the 79th minute, and then Patrick Figgie had a good look at a rebound with five minutes to play that required a save from Boldt. Figgie, playing in his second straight game as a starter, had a number of good chances. In the first half he thought he had a goal through the keeper's legs, but defender Tommy Jaeger came sliding in at the last second to block it away.
Bucknell outshot Army 19-9 on the night and finished with a 9-4 edge in corner kicks. Klug led the Bison with six shots while Figgie had four. Mike Lansing made four saves for the Bison and Boldt had five for Army.
Costello, a senior central defender, had never scored a goal in his collegiate career until Wednesday night at Penn State. Now he has two goals in as many games.
Through five rounds of Patriot League play, the standings are still very much unsettled. American took over sole possession of first place with 11 points after beating Navy 3-2 earlier in the day. Colgate is in second with nine points, followed by Lafayette with eight and Lehigh with six. Bucknell, Navy and Holy Cross are locked in a three-way tie for fifth place with five points, and Army now has four points.
Bucknell has a non-league game at NJIT on Tuesday night, then returns home to face Colgate next Saturday. The 4 p.m. start will be Senior Day, and it is also Homecoming Weekend at Bucknell.
