Bucknell University Athletics
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Bucknell Men's Soccer Stunned at Lafayette on Strange Goal in Overtime (UPDATE: Bison Qualify for Patriot League Tournament)
11/3/2012 8:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 3, 2012
10:35 p.m. UPDATE: After two incredibly dramatic games on Saturday evening, Bucknell has indeed qualified for the Patriot League Tournament. The Bison had to have a tie in the Army-Lehigh game and a Colgate win or tie at Navy. They got both, but not without some nervous moments.
Army led Lehigh 2-1 before the Mountain Hawks scored with 4:28 left in regulation, and neither team could muster a goal in overtime. Meanwhile, in Annapolis, Navy took a 2-1 lead with 5:45 left in regulation. A Midshipmen win would have spelled doom for the Bison, but Colgate tied it up with 1:25 left, then won it on a goal in the 109th minute.
Fourth-seeded Bucknell will play No. 1 American at Reeves Field in Washington, D.C., next Friday, Nov. 9 at 11 a.m. No. 2 Lafayette and No. 3 Colgate will follow at 2 p.m. The championship game will be Sunday, Nov. 11 at 1 p.m.
EASTON, Pa. -- The Bucknell men's soccer team dropped a stunning heartbreaker - and suffered a blow to its postseason hopes - when a 50-50 ball took a crazy spin and rolled into the net just nine seconds into sudden-death overtime, lifting host Lafayette to a 1-0 victory in the regular-season finale for both teams on Saturday at Oaks Stadium. The Bison are now 7-7-5 overall and 2-3-2 in the Patriot League, and they must have both Saturday night games break in their favor in order to capture the fourth and final spot in the Patriot League Tournament next weekend.
American, Colgate and Lafayette all clinched playoff berths on Saturday. Bucknell and Holy Cross are temporarily tied for fourth with eight points. Later on Saturday, Army hosts Lehigh and Navy hosts Colgate. In order to make the playoffs, the Bison must have Army and Lehigh finish in a tie, and have Navy do no better than a tie against Colgate.
Lehigh sits in sixth place with six points and would jump the Bison and Crusaders with a win over Army. Army and Navy both have five points and are both eliminated from postseason contention, but they could create a three- or four-way tie if one or both of them win. Bucknell wins a head-to-head tiebreaker against Holy Cross, but any multiple tie involving Bucknell, Holy Cross and either of the service academies puts the Crusaders in as the No. 4 seed.
A tie at Lafayette (7-7-4, 3-1-3 PL) would have clinched a berth for Bucknell, and that appeared to be a good possibility after the Bison and Leopards spent most of the first 90 minutes playing between the 18s. The Leopards booted the ball ahead off the overtime kickoff, and players from both sides got a foot on the ball simultaneously. The ball shot forward toward the Bison goal, and as goalkeeper Mike Lansing came out to play it, the ball spun away from him and trickled into the open net. Tom McCutcheon was credited with his second goal of the season.
"I have been involved in the game of soccer for a long time, and I have never seen a game end on a play like that," said coach Brendan Nash. "It was inexplicable. Our guys had the right effort and we were in a great position to earn the result we needed, but this game is strange sometimes, and today was certainly one of those cases."
Neither team had many quality scoring chances in regulation. Both team logged seven shots through 90 minutes. Lansing had to make three saves, while Lafayette keeper Nathan McDonald turned aside two shots. Lafayette had five corner kicks to three for the Bison.
American has clinched the regular-season title and will host the Patriot League Tournament next Friday and Sunday in Washington, D.C.
