Bucknell University
Howard
Second-Half Surge Leads Bucknell to 4-0 Win over Howard
9/13/2014 5:49:00 PM | Men's Soccer
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Junior striker Jesse Klug enjoyed a career-best afternoon with a goal and three assists, sending the Bucknell men's soccer team to a 4-0 rout of Howard on Saturday afternoon at Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium. Chris Thorsheim, Patrick Figgie and Jonathan Grad all tallied a goal and an assist to help Bucknell improve to 4-2 on the season.
The "Battle of the Bison" started out in a chilly rain, but by halftime the sun was shining brightly. And that was when Bucknell was able to put what had been a tightly contested match out of reach. Nursing a 1-0 lead unto the 56th minute of a physical game, Klug, Thorsheim and Grad all scored in a 10-minute burst.
"Our second-half performance was more up to our expectations, but we still have yet to put together a full 90 minutes," said head coach Brendan Nash afterward. "This was a step in the right direction as we prepare for some very tough games coming up on the schedule."
Mike Lansing went all the way between the pipes, making three saves en route to his second shutout of the season and 15th of his career. That moves Lansing into a tie for sixth place with Kevin Meyer (1980-83) on Bucknell's all-time shutouts list.
Bucknell saw nearly all of the ball in the game's opening minutes but could not get a shot honed in on frame. That changed in the 15th minute, when Grad sent a ball behind the defense to Klug along the right side of the box. Klug directed the ball past charging keeper Eric Hamilton, and Figgie finished with a sliding volley into the roof of the net.
The game evened out a bit after Bucknell took the lead, although Hamilton kept it 1-0 when he tipped a strong header from Zack Rockmore off the post in the 24th minute.
Head coach Brendan Nash limited many of his starters' minutes in this non-league contest. That included Thorsheim, who came in as a substitute and was held to 37 minutes. But Thorsheim had a major impact on the game while he was on, particularly during that decisive second-half flurry.
Just over 11 minutes into the second half, Thorsheim put on quite a ballhandling exhibition. First he split two defenders, then he carried three more on his back while charging into the area. At the last second he slipped a pass to his right to Klug for the open finish and a 2-0 lead.
Klug returned the favor only 3:13 later. Figgie started the sequence by winning a 50-50 ball near midfield, and then Klug slotted a diagonal pass to Thorsheim in the box on the left wing. As Hamilton charged out, Thorsheim neatly lobbed the ball over his head and into the goal.
Bucknell made it 4-0 in the 66th minute when Grad collected a pass from Klug, took a touch around the keeper and scored from a sharp angle on the left side.
It took some strong goalkeeping from Hamilton and a defensive save off the goal line by Jordan Rice to keep it 4-0, as the reserve forward unit of Pat Plourde, Justin Galiani, Crispin Muessle and Ben Derleth applied waves of pressure over the final 20 minutes.
Bucknell finished with a 23-7 shot advantage, including a 15-2 margin in the second half. Hamilton logged eight saves for Howard (0-7).
Bucknell is back in action next Saturday at home against Xavier at 2 p.m. The free pregame barbeque that was postponed due to the poor weather today will now be held prior to the Xavier game at 1:30 p.m.
