Ajan Caneda

Copy Editor 

Bison’s five-game winning streak brought to an end

In its Patriot League opener, the men’s soccer team fell 2-0 at home against Army on Sept. 28, snapping the Bison’s five-game winning streak. The Orange and Blue dropped to 5-3, while Mike Lansing’s ’16 four-game shutout streak came to an end.

“Overall, it was just a really tough loss. A few breakdowns resulted in both of their goals, and it was just not the best performance from our team. It is a loss we are going to learn from, just as we learned from our first two, and we followed that up with a five-game win streak,” Lansing said.

The Black Knights struck in the 36th minute after a corner kick found an Army defender who headed the ball past Lansing. Prior to the goal, Lansing had posted the longest Bison shutout streak in 30 years.

The Orange and Blue searched for the equalizer, as Jonathan Grad’s ’15 shot was blocked by the Army goalkeeper. Mark Leibensperger ’15 launched a follow-up attempt that was rejected again by the Black Knights. Both teams had six shot attempts in the first half.

Army scored an insurance goal 53 seconds into the second half after a Lansing deflection left him out of position on the follow-up from 18 yards out. The game stayed 2-0 after solid defense from the Orange and Blue, but the Bison could not capitalize on their 15-12 shot advantage, including headed shot attempts by Mayowa Alli ’14 that failed to find the back of the net.

Lansing’s career-best scoreless minute streak was stopped at 428:29, while Jesse Klug’s ’16 scoring streak halted at four games.

The Bison look to regain some momentum, as they face Lehigh on Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. in Bethlehem, Pa. They will also battle the new Patriot League member, Loyola (Md.), at home on Oct. 9 at 7 p.m.

“We will look to come back strong on Saturday and we will grow from the loss. We are going to move on and focus on the next game ahead, rather than dwell on the loss against Army,” Lansing said.