Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Lehigh
Men's Soccer Remains in Playoff Hunt After 1-1 Draw at Lehigh
10/31/2015 11:27:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Bucknell and Army West Point are both tied for the sixth and final playoff spot with nine points, although the Black Knights also have a mid-week game with Navy before heading to Lewisburg next week. Eighth-place Holy Cross has eight points but also has two games remaining, while Lafayette lurks in the No. 9 spot with seven points with one match to play.
Bucknell's chances at Lehigh (10-5-2, 4-3-1 PL) took a hit when Gianfranco Giammatteo headed in a free kick just 8:57 into the contest.
The Bison responded well, and they finally equalized in the 52nd minute on Blickman's fourth goal of the season. A Lehigh defender got caught deep in his own corner and tried to play a long ball out to safety. Blickman intercepted the outlet and passed ahead to Jesse Klug, who dribbled into the box before being surrounded by four Mountain Hawks. Klug managed to slip a pass to his right to Blickman, who took one touch and blasted a shot inside the right post.
Both goalkeepers played a big role in keeping the match level. Bucknell's Fox finished with eight saves, including a stop on Jamie Luchini's breakaway in the 63rd minute. In the final 20 minutes of regulation the Bison had to defend eight corner kicks. Fox made saves on three of them, and Luchini hit the post on another.
Fox had two more big stops in the final two minutes of the second overtime period. First he robbed David Zipkin on a header from close range, and then he dove to steer aside Jamie Luchini's hard shot from the top of the 18.
Lehigh keeper Joe Bogan made his best save of the night in the 105th minute, diving to his right to block Klug's dangerous free kick from the left edge of the box. Bogan finished with three saves.
Lehigh finished with a 30-16 shot advantage, including a 9-3 edge in overtime, but Fox had seven of his eight saves after halftime and the Bison defense held up under pressure.
"I thought we showed good resilience coming from behind to get a point against a good team on the road," said head coach Brendan Nash afterward. "We responded well after they scored the early goal, but then Lehigh responded well after our goal. We will take the point and prepare for a big game next week against Army."
Klug's assist was his fourth in the last two games. He now has 74 career points, one behind Bob Rhein for seventh on Bucknell's all-time list.
The Bison will host Army West Point at 2 p.m. next Saturday at Emmitt Field. The team will recognize its seniors prior to the match.
