September 27, 2014

 

(3-4-2)     1 2 OT1 OT2 F  Lafayette 1 0 0 0 0 Colgate 0 1 0 1 1 Box Score (4-3-1)  

 

EASTON, Pa. - Despite dominating play for the majority of the game, Colgate goals in the 74^th and 104^th minutes completed a comeback bid against the Lafayette men's soccer team on Saturday afternoon at Mike Bourger '44 Field at Oaks Stadium, 2-1.

Midway through the opening half, the Leopards opened the scoring off a corner. Sophomore Ryan Egan found the ball after it pinaballed around the box following a low service and sent a low ­shot into the far-side netting for a 1-0 advantage.

Lafayette would take that lead into the halftime break and continue to control play out of the intermission, missing a pair of threatening opportunities to add insurance to their lead. In the 68^th minute, senior Chandler Fraser-Pauls found himself with an open-goal opportunity, but his shot sailed high and wide.

Then, just a minute later, junior Todd Forrester was played an excellent ball down the middle of the field and made a step around the goalie to allow him a shot at the empty net. Unfortunately, Forrester's step-around touch was a tad heavy and put him in a tough position on the end line. His shot ended up hitting the side netting, leaving the Leopards with just a slim 1-0 advantage.

In the 74^th minute, Colgate's Ethan Kutler gave the Raiders life with a finish from the left side of the box off the hands of senior goalkeeper Sandy Leavy, knotting the game at 1-1. In the second overtime session, Kutler and the Raiders' Zach Pagani worked their way into the middle of the field and into a situation that allowed them to take advantage of one defender. Kutler dropped the ball to his left, finding a cutting Pagani, who finished to the far side for the golden goal.

Leavy made one save on the day, suffering his first loss in five games and ended his clean sheet streak at three games. Colgate's Ricky Brown notched three saves on the day.

The Leopards paced the game in many of the statistical categories, including a 16-9 edge in shots and a 4-1 advantage in corner-kick opportunities. Junior Greg Biggiani led the offense with two shots on goal, while freshman Daniel Felman added one and Egan put his only shot on goal into the back of the net.

With the loss, the Leopards drop to 3-4-2 on the year and 0-1-0 in Patriot League play. Next up for the Maroon and White is a trip to Annapolis, Md. on Saturday to take on Navy at 7 p.m.