October 25, 2014

 

(5-8-2, 1-5-0)     1 2 OT F  Lafayette 0 1 0 1 American 0 1 1 2 Box Score (9-3-2, 3-2-1)  

 

EASTON, Pa. - Following a costly Lafayette foul at the top of the defensive box, American's Liam Robley slotted a bending free kick around the wall and into the left side of the goal in the 99^th minute to drop men's soccer on Saturday afternoon at Mike Bourger '44 Field at Oaks Stadium, 2-1.

American opened an offensive-laden first half in the sixth minute when the Eagles' Jordan Manley sent a ball up the field, finding Stephen Hauschild with space in front of the Lafayette goal. Manly sent a powerful shot across the goal, but the Leopards' freshman goalkeeper, Brad Seeber, dove to his right and thwarted the scoring chance.

Each team finished the opening 45 minutes with six shots apiece, but nothing crossed the goal lines and the sides went into the break scoreless. Coming out in the second, the Leopards continued their offensive prowess, while American fell back to defend.

Senior Alec Golini, working on a counter up the right side, allowed multiple runs to pass in front of him and picked out junior Nate Arronson on the far side in the 53^rd minute with a beautiful ball across the back of the Eagles defense. Arronson settled and fired a rocket past the diving American goalkeeper to put the Leopards on top, 1-0.

American countered less than eight minutes later when Mark Plaisance, working up the right side of the field, played a ball into the box for Chris Fanet. The ball found Fanet on the far side and his shot beat Seeber for the equalizer with 30 minutes to play.

The game would move into an extra session as neither team could find the winning tally in regulation time. With just over a minute remaining in the first overtime, an unfortunate Lafayette foul gave American a free kick in a dangerous position at the top of the box. Robley finished, sending Lafayette to its eighth loss of the season.

Seeber was excellent between the pipes in his third appearance for the Maroon and White, making seven saves on the day, while the Eagles' Dylan Hobert was equally as good with seven saves as well. American led the way in shots, 12-11, and corner kicks, 7-1.

With the loss, the Leopards fall to 5-8-2 on the year and 1-5-0 in Patriot League play, while American moves to 9-3-2 on the year and 3-2-1 in conference action.

Lafayette returns to Patriot League play on Wednesday when it travels to Lewisburg, Pa. to take on Bucknell at 7 p.m.­­­