Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Navy
Men's Soccer Shuts Out Preseason PL Favorite Navy for Pivotal Conference Win
10/17/2015 7:24:00 PM | Men's Soccer
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Senior Clarke Fox made nine saves and the Bucknell men's soccer team made an own goal in the first half stand up in a 1-0 win over preseason Patriot League favorite Navy on Saturday at Emmitt Field.
It was a pivotal win for the Bison, who picked up three points while improving to 5-5-4 overall and 1-2-2 in conference play. They handed the Midshipmen their first conference loss of the season, dropping them to 6-5-1 overall and 3-1-0 in league play.
“More important than the points is the confidence for the guys,” said Bucknell head coach Brendan Nash. “The results haven't been going our way and the body language showed that. I told them if we start winning some games things are going to get better.”
The lone goal of the game came in the 16th minute. Bucknell's Adam Bradshaw delivered a perfect corner kick into the box. Three Bison players were in position to score with a header, but a Navy player got to the ball first. Fortunately for the Bison, his attempt to clear with a header found the back corner of his own net.
That was the only goal Fox and the Bucknell defense needed, but it wasn't easy. The Bison played a man down for the final 24:37 after Andrew Leischner picked up his second yellow card. They weathered 26 Navy shots and 11 corner kicks to notch the win.
“The score was what we were hoping for, but what happened in those 90 minutes wasn't really how we designed it,” Nash said. “Navy is a quality team and until we scored that goal it was kind of a back-and-forth game. We got kind of lucky on that goal, but we needed some luck with how the season has been going. After that, credit to Navy because they kept firing at us, and credit to our team because we defended. Going a man down with so much time left in the game is difficult, but the guys adjusted and left their hearts out on the field.”
Nash was especially pleased with the play of senior Zack Rockmore. He led the defensive effort as Bucknell shut out a Navy team that includes senior Jamie Dubyoski, the Patriot League Preseason Offensive Player of the Year.
Fox made three saves in the first half and six in the second half. Navy's best chance to score came in the 33rd minute when Sam Bascom's shot hit off the top right post.
Sebastiaan Blickman, Peter Krebs and Dany Teran all had a shot on goal for the Bison.
Bucknell will look to keep the momentum from back-to-back wins going when it travels to American for its next match on Saturday, Oct. 24. The contest is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.
