Leopards Upset Holy Cross in Men's Soccer Patriot League Semifinal
Nov. 16, 2007
LIVE PL Championship Game Coverage:
WORCESTER, Mass. - The Lafayette men's soccer team upset No. 1 seed Holy Cross, 2-1, in Friday's Patriot League semifinal game in Worcester, Mass. The Leopards advance to the Patriot League championship game for the third season in a row and will face the winner of the second semifinal game between No. 2 Colgate and No. 3 Bucknell. Junior Steve Ference and senior Mark Price both waited until their team's biggest game of the season to score their first goals of the fall. Sophomore goalie Philip Nelson had another solid outing in goal as he fell just minutes shy of recording his 11th shutout of the season when Holy Cross scored at the 1:20 mark. Nelson finished with seven saves in the game as the Leopards advance to the championship game for the 10th time since 1990. Despite out-shooting the Leopards 9-5 in the opening half, the Crusaders failed to find the back of the net thanks to a solid defensive effort. Freshman B.J. Glenn took two of the five shots in the first half and Holy Cross goalie Thomas Booth was forced to make five saves against the Lafayette offense. Lafayette's first real scoring threat came when Glenn had a breakaway at around the 35 minute mark. He got behind the Holy Cross defense and Booth but his shot went wide of the left goal post. A Holy Cross yellow card at the 21:57 mark gave Lafayette another scoring opportunity with a free kick but senior Anthony Sepe's shot was saved. The Crusaders' Marsalis Beckford responded with his own shot at goal but it sailed wide as both teams failed to capitalize on their scoring chances. The second half featured seven shots by each team. With just over 20 minutes left in regulation, Sepe took a corner kick to that senior Mike Tilley bicycle kicked to right side of the goal but Booth got a hand on it make the save. Ference had the team's next scoring opportunity of the night with 20:31 left in the half. He took a free kick that went underneath the hands of Booth to give the Leopards their first lead of the game. Minutes later senior Scott Hawkins narrowly missed scoring the game's second goal but Booth made yet another save. Price scored the game's second goal on a centering pass from Chip Aronica to give the Leopards a 2-0 lead in the match with 6:25 remaining. The Leopards seemed to be on their way to securing a win and their 10th shutout of the season but against Lafayette with 1:20 to go gave Holy Cross's Alejandro Melean a free kick that he directed past Nelson to put the Crusaders on the board. The Leopards hung on, however, for the win and the opportunity to play for the title on Sunday. The championship game is scheduled for Sunday at 2 p.m. The winner earns an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Game Notes: * The Leopards will play in the Patriot League Championship game for the 10th time since 1990 and for the third-consecutive year.
|
