EASTON, Pa. – The Lafayette men's soccer team pulled away with a 2-1 victory Tuesday night versus Albany at Gummeson Grounds: Home of Mike Bourger Field '44 at Oaks Stadium.
Lafayette held the majority of the possession in the first 10 minutes, which was rewarded in the 15
th minute. Sophomore midfielder
Beaux Lizewski picked up the ball on the right flank before he picked his head up. The Cranberry Township, Pa. native whipped a superb ball into the box, where a pouncing
Andrey McIntyre was waiting. The Hanover, Jamaica native found space in between both center backs and dispatched his header confidently into the bottom corner. Lizewski now leads the Patriot League in assists (4).
The Great Danes held a decent amount of possession (47 percent) throughout the first half, but struggled to connect in their final third. The visitors had plenty of time on the ball, but Lafayette's back line, led by
Cole Duschang and
Nicholas Liebich, held strong until the final minute of the half.
Albany's leading goal scorer, Ander Castillo, was subbed on late into the second half and made an immediate impact. Castillo was dribbling at the top-left corner of the Leopards penalty area before he curled a cross to the back stick. Timo Jansen made a great play on the ball, finishing the move off by tapping the ball past junior goalkeeper
Eric Axtman.
At the intermission, the game was all square at one goal apiece.
Neither team had many convincing chances in the first 10 minutes of the second half, but the match changed in the 57
th minute. Freshman forward
Cameron Bohn was fighting for a loose ball in the Great Danes' box when Nassim Nouajaa ended up fouling Bohn, which denied the freshman a goal-scoring opportunity. Nouajaa was granted a straight red card and the Leopards gained a penalty kick, which was emphatically slammed home by senior skipper
Carter Houlihan.
Despite being a man down for the remainder of the match, it seemed the send off for Albany energized the visitors. As more time ticked on, Albany found half chances through Castillo and Jansen who were their main threats throughout the evening.
Down the stretch, Axtman made a huge save in the 88
th minute that denied the Great Danes the chance of splitting points on the road. At the final whistle, the Leopards escaped with a narrow 2-1 victory.
The Leopards are back in action at 1 p.m. on Saturday as they host Navy for their Lead Council Game.
To keep up with the Lafayette men's soccer team, follow its social media pages.
X/@LafayetteMSOC | Instagram/@lafayette_msoc | Facebook/GoLeopards
