Men’s soccer’s offensive woes continue at Navy, No. 5 Syracuse
October 23, 2014
The men’s soccer team started its week off at defending Patriot League champion Navy on Oct. 18, ultimately falling 1-0.
The first half saw no scoring, but the Bison had strong pressure going into the second half, as a few of their shots barely missed their targets. Navy’s defense played well by holding its opponents without a score, although the Bison held the possession advantage and also took more shots on goal than Navy.
After Navy stopped what would have been a goal from Jesse Klug ’16 in the 63rd minute, one of Navy’s few chances resulted in a goal at the 65-minute mark. The Orange and Blue fought until the final minute, as Jonathan Grad ’15 had his shot blocked with 30 seconds remaining in the game.
“The game against Navy was a very hard fought game that really should have gone our way. We outplayed them, created more chances than them, and they knew that they were lucky to come away with the win,” Mike Lansing ’16 said. “It is safe to say that, even if you outplay a team, the score may not end the way you want it.”
On Oct. 21, just a few days after the long battle versus Navy, the Bison traveled to nationally-ranked Syracuse. Syracuse was able to capitalize on the Bison’s mistakes and win the match 4-1. Ben Derleth ’18 scored the only goal for the Bison, his first career goal at the University.
Syracuse’s first goal came just 47 seconds into the game after a clearance by Lansing was stolen and ended as an open-net score. The Bison trailed 2-0 at halftime. This was the first time the Bison have allowed four goals in a game since 2010. Syracuse had only allowed five goals all season entering this game, so the Bison knew this would be a tough opponent.
“We had another hard fought game against Syracuse. Unfortunately, the score line did not show that we held our own and created good chances against one of the top five teams in the country. We look to bounce back against Colgate on Saturday,” Lansing said.
The Orange and Blue (6-9 overall, 2-3 Patriot League) will next face Colgate in a road game on Oct. 25.
