The Bison men’s soccer team secured a 1-0 win over Lafayette in their Patriot League opener on Sept. 22. In his first collegiate start, Michael Pavick ’22 scored his first career goal in the 10th minute to give the Bison a 1-0-0 start in conference play.

From the sound of the first whistle, the Orange and Blue played strong, controlling possession of the ball and displaying great ball movement. The team came together to break the Lafayette defensive back line early in the game.

“Our energy level was at the best it has been for the season,” head coach Brendan Nash said. “We were able to play very well defensively and put Lafayette under quite a bit of pressure when they had the ball.”

Leading up to the Bison goal, Matt Thorsheim ’21 delivered a pass to the back post, finding Nick King ’20. From there, King headed the ball back to Pavick, who capitalized and delivered the goal. Having previously battled to numerous overtime games, this early goal proved to be crucial for team morale.

In the second half, Lafayette attempted to press the Bison and force mistakes, although the back four of Tyler Peterson ’19, Quinn Bredin ’20, Dany Teran ’19, and Bernie Wright ’20 were excellent all night, allowing only nine shots for Lafayette. Goalkeeper Ryan Ott ’19 collected two saves for the night.

This matchup marked the first time the Bison had defeated Lafayette since the 2014 season. Additionally, it was the team’s first Patriot League opener win since 2014.

The Bison will look to build on their performance when they travel to American University on Sept. 29 for a league contest starting at 2 p.m.