Men's Soccer Plays to Second Straight Scoreless Draw in PL Play at Lafayette

EASTON, Pa. -- The Bucknell University soccer team went to overtime for the third time in its past four games and played to its second consecutive scoreless draw in conference play as the Bison battled Lafayette to a 0-0 scoreless draw on the road.

Bucknell now stands at 5-6-6 (2-2-4 PL) while Lafayette (8-5-3, 4-2-1 PL) clinches a home game in the Patriot League Tournament.
The two teams, both with a lot on the line as far as postseason implications go, kept things condensed in the first half, with neither team getting too many clear-cut chances.

Lafayette had its first chance of the game at the 9:19 mark, when Luke Smith saved a deflected shot by the Leopards' Yiannis Panayides.

Patrick O'Hara had a good look 21 minutes in after making a driving run down the left wing before shooting back across goal. However, Sutton was on hand to force the ball wide and keep O'Hara from his sixth goal of the year.

The Bison had their clearest chance of the first half 28 minutes in when O'Hara latched onto a ball near the top of the box after King played Eddie Perez-Pelaez on a nice diagonal pass to free up the freshman forward in the box. Perez-Pelaez had his initial shot blocked by a defender before bouncing back to O'Hara. The sophomore put his laces through the ball to make solid contact, but Sutton managed to get in the way. The ball actually went over Sutton and gently tapped the cross bar, but the Lafayette goalkeeper did well to get back and keep the ball out.

Lafayette nearly found a breakthrough with just seconds left on the clock in the first half when Hale Lombard latched onto a volley back over his head in an attempt that looked destined for goal. However, Trevor Wiggins was alert and on the line after goalkeeper had come out to make the initial clearance. Wiggins headed the ball safely away as the two teams went into halftime scoreless.

Neither team managed a shot in the second half until Luke Smith, who earned his second straight clean sheet and the fourth of his career, was tested on a high, curling shot by Andrew Venezia in the 63^rd minute. However, the freshman dove high to his right to knock the ball away and out of danger.

Lafayette's best chance came when Hale Lombard snuck a low shot from the right side that just skipped past the far post of the Bucknell goal. King then forced Sutton into a save in the 75^th minute one of his six in a shutout for the Leopards.

The two teams couldn't muster any more chances in the final 15 minutes as the game went into overtime still scoreless, the third time in the past four matches that the Bison have went into added time.

The result in this one would be the same as the other two overtime encounters, as neither team could find the winning goal in overtime.

Bucknell's best chance of the extra period came at the start of the second overtime, when King curled a free kick from about 25 yards out that forced Sutton into another athletic save diving high to his right near the crossbar.

Neither team could find a breakthrough as Bucknell was kept off the scoresheet for the third consecutive game. However, Bucknell has also managed to keep its opponents off the scoreboard in two of those encounters.

Bucknell's draw against the Leopards was only the third time in nine games that the Leopards failed to win at home.

"I thought this was one of our better games of the year," said Head Coach Brendan Nash after the game. "Their goalkeeper played a great game, and we just weren't clinical enough in the final third to get a goal today."

The Bison now move level on points (10) with Colgate and American, who both won earlier in the day. The three teams currently occupy spots five, six, and seven in the standings with one game to go. Lehigh leads the standings with 20 points, followed by Loyola (Md.), Lafayette (14), Navy (13), Bucknell (10), Colgate (10), and American (10). Boston University (9), Army (6), and Holy Cross (3), round out the standings.

Bucknell will play at Lehigh on Wednesday in its final regular season contest.

Men's Soccer Plays to Second Straight Scoreless Draw in PL Play at Lafayette

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Team Stats

Stefan Gollisz

Nick King

Matt Thorsheim

Patrick O'Hara

Players Mentioned

Patrick O'Hara

Eddie Perez-Pelaez

Luke Smith

Trevor Wiggins