Chris McCree
Sports Editor
The men’s soccer team earned a 1-1 tie at Holy Cross last weekend, moving the team into a tie for fourth place in the Patriot League at 1-1-2. Josh Plump ’13 scored the Bison’s lone goal midway through the first half, but the team was not able to pull ahead despite outshooting the Crusaders 21-9.
“Even though we were really aiming for three points and the win Saturday, tying Holy Cross on the road was not the worst outcome,” Plump said. “The past few games we have come out flat in the first half, which has been a problem for us. We put together a decent second half, but could not find the back of the net.”
The Orange and Blue got off to a slow start, recording just four shots in the first half to the Crusaders’ five. Twenty-three minutes into the contest, Holy Cross’ Luke Melody took a corner kick out of the air and headed it into the back of the net to give the Crusaders the lead.
“It has been a constant weakness in the past couple of games; we start games very slowly. I believe we have conceded almost all of our goals in the first half,” Chris Thorsheim ’16 said. “Our strength has been our ability to respond and dominate the second halves of games.”
The Holy Cross lead was short-lived as Plump quickly knotted the game just four minutes later. On the play, Plump beat three defenders across the top of the box and fired a strike into the back of the net.
Going into the half at one goal apiece, the Orange and Blue came out in the second with a heightened aggression and dominated the half. The team outshot the Crusaders 11-1, but could not manage to get the go-ahead goal. In the closing minutes of the game, Thorsheim fired a very promising strike, but it bounced off of the goalpost, allowing the Crusaders to conserve the tie through the end of regulation.
In overtime, the Bison continued their offensive dominance and outshot their opponents 6-3. The team generated two solid scoring chances from Brendan Burgdorf ’13 and Jesse Klug ’16, but both were kept out by the Crusaders defense.
“We are a fit team capable of outscoring opponents with ease, except we have not been finishing our chances,” Thorsheim said. “In our past couple of games, we have outshot and created many chances. It’s putting these shots on goal that has been difficult for us.”
The tie represented the second straight for the Bison in Patriot League play after earning the same result against Navy on Oct. 6. The team has three league contests remaining on the schedule before the Patriot League tournament begins in early November. The first of these match-ups will occur tomorrow when the team hosts Army at 7 p.m.
“The Patriot League is still up for grabs,” Thorsheim said. “The next couple of games will be extremely important for us. These Patriot League challenges ahead will dictate whether we have the ability and the desire to become a championship team.”