Oct. 17, 2004
Box Score
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (www.lafayette.edu) - Sophomore Thomas Harju scored in the 84th minute as Lafayette dealt Navy a 1-0 loss on Sunday in men's soccer action. Lafayette remains in the Patriot League regular-season hunt, as the Leopards are currently 3-1 in conference play and just one game behind frontrunner American.
Neither team had much of an opportunity to score in the match's opening half, as Lafayette outshot Navy 5-3. The Leopards appeared to get on the board late in the first half when senior Victor Krasij sent a shot through traffic into the back of the net on a free kick. Lafayette, however, was whistled for a foul on the play for making contact with Navy goalie Frank DiFilippo. The foul erased the Leopards' score and sent the teams to their locker rooms in a scoreless tie.
The second half was much of the same until the last 10 minutes of the match. The Leopards created a scoring opportunity with six minutes left. Freshman Scott Hawkins played a ball towards DiFilippo that was deflected by a Navy defender. DiFilippo was caught out of position on the deflection and Harju found the back of a wide-open Navy net to give Lafayette a 1-0 advantage. Hawkins was credited with the first assist of his collegiate career.
Navy (3-7, 1-3) did not go away easily, registering its best scoring chance with 2:30 left to play, as McKenzie Plank found an opening in the middle of the field just outside the Lafayette box, but sent a hard shot just wide of the goal. After surviving the threat, the Leopards ran out the clock for the win and in the process handed Navy its first home loss of the season.
Lafayette outshot Navy, 8-5, on the afternoon and had four corners to Navy's two. DiFilippo collected three saves in the net for Navy, while his Lafayette counterpart, Mike Tortora, was not called on to make a save.
Lafayette will play a non-conference game at Siena on Tuesday at 3 p.m. and will return to Patriot League play on Saturday when it hosts Holy Cross at 1 p.m. at the Metzgar Fields Athletic Complex.
