Bucknell University
Albany
Bucknell Men's Soccer Tops Albany 4-0 to Cap Big Weekend at Class of '98 Invitational
9/16/2012 8:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 16, 2012
Final Stats |
Photo Gallery 
| BUY PHOTOS
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Mayowa Alli scored two spectacular first-half goals and Brendan Burgdorf and Brian Ward added two more in the second half to help the Bucknell men's soccer team conclude a banner weekend with a 4-0 win over Albany on Sunday at Graham Field. The victory was the fourth in a row for the Bison (4-1-2), who are in the driver's seat to win the Class of '98 Invitational. Penn State would have to defeat Adelphi 11-0 in the final game of the tournament later on Sunday to take the title away from Bucknell.
UPDATE: Penn State defeated Adelphi, 3-0, meaning Bucknell wins the tournament on the second tiebreaker (goal differential). Brendan Burgdorf was named Tournament MVP, and he was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Mayowa Alli, Brian Ward and Chris Thorsheim.
The Bison were spot on at both ends of the field all weekend. Including Friday's 7-0 win over Adelphi, Bucknell outscored its two foes 11-0 and outshot them 36-16. The 11 goals were the most scored in back-to-back games by the Bison since 1973, when they scored 14 in consecutive wins over Drew (6-0) and Rutgers (8-4).
"I am very pleased with the weekend," said head coach Brendan Nash. "We are in a good way mentally right now heading into Patriot League play. Coming off the road, I think that our confidence was a little bit in limbo, but this weekend we sorted ourselves out. The guys are playing well and working hard. It can get sharper, but we are creating chances, and the quality is much better than last week, which was better than the week before."
Bucknell's two first-half goals marked a flashback to 2011, when high-flying defender Alli was the team's top goal-scorer, primarily coming on set pieces. Alli, who had seven goals last season, notched his first two of 2012, both coming on headers in the goal box.
The first tally came on a corner kick sequence 14:59 into the match. Albany cleared away the initial corner kick, but Josh Butzke lofted the ball back into the box, where Alli headed it home from six yards out.
Bucknell still led 1-0 into the final seconds of the first half. Albany was whistled for a foul about 35 yards out with 15 seconds remaining, and the clock was stopped to attend to an injured Great Danes player. On the restart, freshman Chris Thorsheim sent a ball toward the back post, where Alli leaped over top of a defender to head the ball in before crashing hard to the turf.
Some nifty ballhandling by Josh Plump along the right side of the penalty area set up Bucknell's third goal in the 59th minute. Plump got past a pair of defenders, came in along the end line, and found Burgdorf all alone in the goal mouth for a tap-in goal. It was Burgdorf's second goal of the weekend and 19th of his career.
Freshman Jesse Klug was robbed three times on diving saves by Albany goalkeeper Tim Allen, the first of which came on a header off a terrific cross from CK Kumah that Allen tipped off the crossbar.
Denied a goal-scoring chance of his own, Klug helped set up the fourth goal when he dropped a pass to sophomore Brian Ward, who netted his first collegiate goal with a left-footed strike off the left post and in.
Freshman goalkeeper Mike Lansing, back in the lineup after a one-game injury absence, made two saves en route to his second career shutout. Classmate Clarke Fox did not allow a goal in Friday's win over Adelphi, and the Bison now have three straight shutouts and a scoreless streak of 291:07.
Bucknell outshot Albany 18-9. Allen finished with eight saves for the Great Danes (2-5), who fell 1-0 at Penn State on Friday night.
The Bison open up Patriot League play next Saturday night at Lehigh at 7 p.m.
