Bucknell University
Boston University
Men's Soccer Wraps up Regular Season with 1-1 Draw with No. 24 Boston University
11/8/2014 8:52:00 PM | Men's Soccer
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Jesse Klug scored his team-leading ninth goal of the season three minutes into the second half to help the Bucknell men's soccer team earn a 1-1 tie with 24th-ranked and Patriot League-leading Boston University on Saturday night at Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium.
The Bison wrap up the regular season with an 8-9-2 overall record, 4-3-2 in the Patriot League. Bucknell entered the evening tied with Lehigh for fourth place in the league standings. The Mountain Hawks won 2-1 at Holy Cross, giving them the No. 4 seed and Bucknell the No. 5 seed for next week's Patriot League Tournament. That means the Bison will play at Lehigh on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in a quarterfinal clash.
Boston University had already clinched the No. 1 seed and the right to host the semifinals and championship game next weekend. The draw moved the Terriers to 11-3-4 overall and 6-0-3 in the Patriot League.
Bucknell celebrated Senior Night prior to the match, honoring Rafael Enriquez-Hesles, Jonathan Grad, Mark Leibensperger, John Miller, Pat Plourde and Brian Ward. All six were in the starting lineup, with Enriquez-Hesles and Plourde making their first career starts.
"The first 25 minutes will all of our seniors on the field, the effort was great and we did a good job dealing with the emotion," said coach Brendan Nash. "We responded well after they scored and played pretty well, but there are still some things that we need to sharpen up going into the playoffs. We are healthy and we know that Lehigh is playing better now than when we saw them earlier in the year."
The Bison were sound defensively for most of this match, but the Terriers capitalized on one of Bucknell's few lapses just before the half-hour mark. Jordan Barker flicked a header on to Mac McGuire running down the right flank. McGuire's cross found a wide-open Felix De Bona, who had an easy point-blank header for his fourth goal of the year.
Bucknell equalized at the 48:09 mark. Sebastiaan Blickman started the build-up by winning a 50-50 ball just inside his own half. Blickman passed ahead to Grad, who found Klug about 20 yards from goal. Klug touched the ball around a defender, caught up to it on the other side and then blasted a shot off the outstretched fingertips of keeper Nick Thompson and into the back of the net.
The goal moved Klug into the top 10 on Bucknell's career points list. His 56 points rank 10th all-time, and with 22 goals the junior forward needs just one more to join the top 10 on that chart.
Bucknell finished with a 19-11 shot advantage and a 5-4 edge in corners. Boston University took three shots in overtime, including one by McGuire that skimmed off the top of the crossbar. The Bison took a pair of shots in extra time, but both were wide of the target. Klug led all players with nine shots, giving him a league-high 91 on the season.
Clarke Fox played the first half in goal for Bucknell and was credited with one save. Mike Lansing was in goal for the second half and overtime and finished with two saves in 65 scoreless minutes.
In the Patriot League Tournament, Bucknell will be looking to avenge a 2-1 loss to Lehigh earlier in the season. The Mountain Hawks scored twice in the final 18 minutes to steal the win at Emmitt Field.
