St. Vincent

We traveled to St. Vincent, leaving 5 regular players at home due to illness and injury and came away with 1-1 draw. Freshman Abiye Jack made his first start in goal for us and was very solid. This was our fourth straight road game and we are improving after each game. We looked very good attacking the Bearcats and had many more scoring opportunities then we had the previous two matches. The new formation implemented in the Behrend game was really allowing our players to get forward and be more dangerous. It was freshman Dillon Muise who broke the deadlock with just 7 minutes left in regulation. St. Vincent did not give up and earned a free kick just outside the penalty area with 5 minutes remaining. They would finish the service with a header off the free kick and force overtime. Overtime provided us with opportunities to win the game even in the final seconds. Danny Hutchins had a great touch on a long ball to set himself up in front of goal with just seconds remaining only to see the ball skip just outside the far post. We are very proud of the way some of our younger guys stepped up in the absence of so many veterans. Its good to know that we are deep enough on the bench to compete for wins on the road.

Conference Opener

We opened conference play away to Penn. State Behrend. The game was back and forth and mostly played in midfield with neither team registering many shots on goal. Behrend was awarded a penalty kick in the 80th minute and that was the lone score in the game. We were proud of the way our defense played limiting a quality opponent to only two shots on goal, but we would like create more opportunities going forward and capitalize on those opportunities. Especially in conference play where every game is important, we know we are going to need to be more dangerous in the final third.

Bobcats fall to F&M

On a rainy, chilly night in Lancaster, PA we suffered our second defeat of the season to Franklin and Marshall. I don't know if it was the long trip, the weather or a combination of both, but we never really found ourselves in the game. F&M kept us on our heels most of the match, but we kept good shape in the back and didn't allow too many scoring opportunities. Playing as defensive as we were, it was no help to us when junior Raul Diaz was sent off for a slide tackle 12 minutes into the second half. This put our midfeld under much more pressure and eventually F&M woud dcapitalize on a free kick.

With Sean Jones still out with an injury and now Raul missing the next match, the boys will have to find away to adapt their game and go on the road to hopefully pick up our first conference win of the season at Penn St. Behrend.

AMCC Player of the Week

Brian Davis was awarded the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Men's Soccer Player of the Week honors last week. He scored the game winning goals against both Waynesburg and Shenandoah and also had the assist that set up the goal to force overtime against Shenandoah. The freshman forward currently has 4 goals and 10 points on the season.

Press Release

Overtime

We travelled to Shenandoah on 9/11 to play the Hornets. We conceded the first goal and found ourselves down 1-0 at the half. The second half started with the same back and forth tempo of the first and in the 22nd minute Mike Pistorio got good penetration through their defense and laid a ball off to Michael Bistany who chipped the keeper and leveled the game at 1 goal a piece. Shenandoah fought back and managed to score again putting us down 1-2. The end of regulation saw many of the Bobcat attacks thwarted by the Hornet defense and keeper. However, with 30 seconds left in regulation Brian Davis got down to the end line and laid a ball back for Ricky Marchant and the senior sent the game into overtime. Just 2 minutes into overtime it was Brian Davis who would score the golden goal and give us the victory. Again we were disappointed to concede early goals but proud of the way we responded and kept playing hard the whole game. It wasn't the prettiest of wins but any time we can go on the road and come home with a victory we'll take it.

Home vs Waynesburg

An early mistake put us down a goal in the opening minute. A corner kick 20 minutes later and we fell behind 2-0. A few minutes later Sean Jones would finish after an incredible effort by Steve Jacobsen to win the ball back deep in their half. Jones would then send Shawn Baker in on a breakaway with a nicely weighted through ball and the freshman would equalize with 10 minutes remaining in the half. The second half was a well contested mach and we finally went ahead in the 77th minute when Brian Davis found the net. Davis would then score again just 2 minutes later after a flick on from Baker. We added another in the 83rd minute after Jacobsen found Ricky Marchant who beat the keeper high to the far side, giving the Bobcats a 5-2 victory at home. We were disappointed to give up the early goals and find ourselves trailing that early, but we were very proud of the way the team responded to equalize before half and then grab a victory at the end.

Back to Winning Ways

Our boys entered the second day of the Cabrini Tournament a little disgruntled from the loss the day before, but readjusted their focus for Polytech of NYU. We came out with a sense of urgency and it was not long until our Bobcats had factored in the contest. With just under 5 minutes in the game, senior transfer, Chris Mumby put a good cross into the box which was met by Sean Jones, who finished for his second of the young season. After the goal, our aggressive mentality dropped off quite a bit, and the game started to be played more in the midfield. The story of the game, however, was the failed conversions on attacking play by our team. At half the scoreboard read 14-1 in shots in favor of our Bobcats. The start of the second half turned out to be much the same until conversions by Jones and Mike Bistany really put the game away. Bistany's goal came from a corner kick that he converted when he found a rebound in the box and Jones' second of the day was a cool headed finish from Davis' hard work on the flank. At 3-nil the Bobcats were comfortable, and the Fighting Blue Jays of Polytech were really starting to let up. The game finished 3-0 for the Burg, but let's hope these missed chances don't burn us in the future.

First Setback of Season

Our men have suffered the first setback early in this year's season. Hoping that we would be able to play the hosts of the Cabrini College, in the finals, our men fell short to Alvernia. After a slow start to the match, the guys picked up play and started knocking the ball about comfortably. It seemed that the team was still suffering from start of the season "jitters" before they settled in. Failure to capitalize on chances in front of goal in the first half hurt the lads, as, against the run of play, Alvernia slotted home, their first of two goals that afternoon. The goal seemed to deflate the boys a tad as the rest of the first half was evenly played amongst the two sides. The second half looked promising, as we started to take control of the game again. But our hopes were again pegged back when Alvernia converted on a free kick just outside the box. Although down two-nil, we fought hard and gained many more opportunities in front of goal, but the goal never came. The score-line read two-nil, but the team played better for large parts of the game, then our home opener.

First Game...

The first game of the season is always special, even more so when its at your home field under the lights with a supportive crowd. That was the setting for the first match of the season against Bethany. We started the match with "First Game Jitters" and saw ourselves down a goal 15 minuntes in. We would eventualy settle into our shape and found ways to get forward and put pressure on the Bisons. Mike Pistorio came on as a substitute and really helped out the attack. He would also provide the first goal of the season for the Bobcats after taking on a defender towards the endline and driving a low hard shot inside the far post. Shortly after Sean Jones found Brian Davis on a throw in deep in the Bison territory and Davis was able to volley it home and give Frostburg a 2-1 lead just seconds before the half time whistle. Bethany would equalize just 5 minutes into the seecond half, but it wouldn't take long for a response from the home side. Just 7 minutes after Bethany equalized we were awarded a corner kick that proved to be the winner. Raul Diaz served a ball into Greg Bistany at the near post who calmly headed the ball in putting FSU up 3-2. Anytime you can play at home and get a win it is very special, but there is still work to be done and room to grow.