Bucknell University
Buffalo
Thorsheim Strikes Again in Bucknell's 1-0 Win over Buffalo
9/6/2013 11:02:00 PM | Men's Soccer
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Chris Thorsheim scored his third goal of the season just 2:02 into the match and the defense took over from there, as the Bucknell men's soccer team edged Buffalo 1-0 on Friday night at Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium for its first victory in 2013. Goalkeeper Mike Lansing secured his sixth career shutout with help from a revamped defensive unit, and the Bison improved to 1-2 with La Salle coming in on Sunday.
Just two nights earlier the Bison left Emmitt Field frustrated after falling to Saint Francis (Pa.) 1-0 despite a 21-3 shot advantage. This time they got the early goal they were looking for just after the start of play. The sequence began with Josh Butzke's deep corner kick that just missed connecting with Mayowa Alli. John Miller put the ball back into the box, where Thorsheim's point-blank shot was initially cleared off the line by defender Austin Place. But the ricochet came right back to Thorsheim, who bounced the rebound past scrambling goalkeeper Waleed Cassis.
Thorsheim scored twice in the season opener against Canisius and now has all three Bucknell goals this season.
“We told our guys, 'Don't take a moral victory out of Saint Francis, let's exert pressure and try to get an early goal,'” said head coach Brendan Nash after the game. “You never know how that is going to work out, but we were able to score on our first restart. Their defender made a great play to keep it out the first time, but then Chris put it in the back of the net.”
Nash has used a number of different combinations early in the season, and he changed up his defensive personnel in this one. Freshmen Peter Krebs and Sebastiaan Blickman made their first career starts, with Krebs lining up at center back alongside Alli, and Blickman playing a defensive center midfield position just in front of the back four. Veteran backs Joe Meyer and Brian Ward held down the edges, and the Bison were able to limit the Bulls to just eight total shots and just three on goal.
“It's early on, these are non-conference games, and we have a very young team,” said Nash. “We are looking at different lineups to try to see who we are. Sebastiaan Blickman played more of a defensive role today, and we put Peter Krebs in at right center back. It's tough to put freshmen in those positions, but we can put them into these non-conference game so they can show us what they can do. The lineup that we saw the first two games or in this game might not be the lineup that we see in the next game, or when Army comes here for the first Patriot League game.”
Lansing made two saves and dealt with some tricky crosses, and Alli cleared a ball off the line 10 minutes into the game on Buffalo's most dangerous chance of the night. Russell Cicerone took a bending free kick just outside the box that required a diving save from Lansing, and Alli was in the right spot to turn away Place's follow-up attempt.
Cassis made three saves for Buffalo, which fell to 0-2-1 on the season. Bucknell finished with a 16-8 shot advantage and has now outshot its opponents 59-26 on the season.
Bucknell plays its fourth straight home game on Sunday at 2 p.m. against La Salle, a veteran team that is coming off a wild 5-3 loss to Patriot League newcomer Loyola (Md.). Free tee shirts will be given out prior to the game.
