Oct. 11, 2014

 

(4-6-2, 1-3-0)     1 2 OT1 OT2 F  Lafayette 0 2 0 0 2 Holy Cross 0 2 0 1 3 Box Score (5-4-2, 2-2-0)  

 

EASTON, Pa. – Junior Eric West connected on the end of a corner to force overtime with 2:16 remaining in the second half, but Holy Cross’ Joey DeVivo slotted in the golden goal in the 102^nd minute to drop the Lafayette men’s soccer team on Saturday afternoon at Mike Bourger ’44 Field at Oaks Stadium, 3-2.

Following a scoreless opening half that featured just six shots between the two teams, the Crusaders finally opened the scoring in the 55^th minute on a free kick. Holy Cross drew a foul at the top of the 18, a dangerous area for the Lafayette defense. The Crusaders’ Arno Rupp lined up alongside leading points man Justin Carfora, who everyone thought would put the chance on goal. Instead, Rupp stepped up and sent a low bender around the wall and into the left side of the net, beating Lafayette senior goalkeeper Sandy Leavy for the first goal of the game.

Lafayette senior Alec Golini tied it up just seven minutes later as the ball fell to him on a corner kick. Freshman Daniel Felman sent the ball into the box and after it pinballed around, it eventually fell to the foot of Golini, who sent a low ball through traffic and into the side netting to knot it up at one.

Holy Cross’ Eddie Viscount countered just five minutes later as he connected with Rupp for the second goal of the game for the visitors. Rupp, a dangerous offensive threat throughout the game, worked his way down the left side and sent a low, bending cross across the goal mouth, where Viscount had stepped in front of a Lafayette defender and he headed it past Leavy for the go-ahead tally.

The game was far from over at that point, though, as West’s tally in the 88^th minute forced the game into extra time. Off a corner taken by sophomore Ben Marks, West used his size and strength to leap up over a host of Holy Cross defenders and get a head on the service, finding the back of the net to tie the game at two.

The opening 10-minute overtime featured no score, but unfortunately for the Leopards, DeVivo’s marker in the 102^nd minute was the gamewinner. Rupp was again involved in the golden goal as his cross to the near post found the head of Viscount, who flicked it back across the goal mouth and DeVivo was waiting on the other side to head it into the open net and give the Crusaders a 3-2 win.

The game was evenly played for the full 102 minutes as the teams were tied in shots, 12-12, and Lafayette worked seven corners compared to just three for Holy Cross. It was physical affair that featured five bookings and 35 total fouls.

Leavy and the Crusaders’ Kevin Wright were solid in goal despite all of the scoring. Wright made five saves for his fifth win of the season, while Leavy came up with three saves in his sixth defeat.

Next up for the Leopards is their final non-conference game of the season on Tuesday, hosting Buffalo at 6 p.m.