Three Bobcats Earn All-CAC Honors

Ryan Russell

Frostburg State men's soccer standout Ryan Russell grabbed the league's highest honor as the Player of the Year for the second-straight season as the 2012 All-Capital Athletic Conference teams were released Thursday.
Russell, who was named the 2011 Capital Athletic Conference Player of the Year after leading the league in points (34) and goals (16), earned the honor again this season after finishing first in the league in goals (14), points (39), and assists (11).

The senior forward from Waldorf, Md., is just the third player in conference history to earn the award in consecutive seasons, as Mary Washington's Tony Trepal won it in 1991 and 1992 while Jon Ports of York won in the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

Joining Russell on the All-CAC first-team are senior midfielder Shawn Baker and junior defender Chris Jones.  Baker joins the first team as a repeat selection from the 2011 All-CAC squad. Baker, a three-year starter for the Bobcats, was second in the conference in points with 21 and third in goals with eight.

Shawn Baker

The Baker and Russell connection posted the league's highest scoring numbers for a team duo combining for an impressive 50 points on the year. The tandem also combined to notch eight game winning goals this season.

Jones was selected to the first team after helping Frostburg post a 1.30 goals against average. The Bobcat defense posted five shutouts of their 12 victories during the season. Jones also contributed on the offensive end this year as he posted four goals and was fourth on the team in points.

Chris Jones

York (Pa.), Mary Washington and Salisbury all joined Frostburg with having three members named to the first team. York took home the Rookie of the Year with freshman defender Matty Martinez while Mary Washington's Jason Kilby was named the 2012 Coach of the Year.


http://www.cacsports.com/sports/msoc/2012-13/releases/2012_All_CAC_MSoc.pdf

FSU Downed by Marywood

Our season came to an end last Wednesday night as we lost to Marywood College 4-1 in the first round of the ECAC Tournament.

Going into the game I wasn't sure how the boys would respond coming off the heartbreaking loss to York. I was hoping we could put the loss behind us and focus on Marywood, but we just came out very flat and didn’t look like the team that gave it everything they had in the CAC semi-finals. We were controlling the ball fairly well in the beginning of the game, but we just never had that look in our eyes and after Marywood scored on their first shot of the game in the 17th minute we knew it was not going to be our night. Marywood would score again towards to end of the half and we would have to try and dig out of a 2-0 hole.

We made a few substitutions at the half to try and instill some life into the boys, but it was more of the same in the second period. With just seven minutes gone Marywood would score two more goals. One on a bad give away off a back pass to the keeper and then a penalty kick one minute later. We finally showed some signs of life after the goals, but it was too little too late. Shawn Baker would get one back for us in the 62^nd minute, but that would be our only tally of the game.

It was not the way we wanted the season to end, but the boys had put so much into the York game that there just wasn't much left for the ECAC's. The disappointment of not advancing to the CAC title game was still weighing on them and their hearts and heads were just not where they needed to be to compete in the ECAC’s. It's a disappointing way to wrap things up, but I am very proud of this team and the season they had. We didn't reach our goal of advancing to the CAC Championship, but we made some great strides towards being a nationally and regionally competitive team and a team that should always be in the talk come CAC playoff time. 

Our season concludes with a 12-3-4 record and ranked #5 by the NSCAA in the South Atlantic Region.

Bobcats Awarded #2 Seed in ECAC South Tournament

After finishing the regular-season with a 12-1-4 record FSU was selected as the No. 2 seed in the 2012 ECAC Division III Men’s South Soccer Championship.  The tournament is an eight-team field with quarterfinal, semifinal and championship rounds.  Former AMCC rival was selected as the No. 1 seed for the tournament.  Frostburg finished the season 12-2-4 after their CAC semi-final loss and ranked 4th in the South Atlantic Region.

In the first-round contests on Wednesday, November 5^th, Penn State Behrend (16-3-0) will host La Roche College at 1:30 p.m. while the second seed Frostburg State (12-2-4) will host No. 7 Marywood University (10-6-3) at 6:00 p.m. in Maryland.  No. 3 Lebanon Valley College (13-5-2) plays Neumann University at 2:00 PM. at Lebanon Valley and Penn State Abington (12-4-0) will take on Alvernia University (11-7-3) at 7:30 p.m. in the No. 4/No. 5 match-up at Alvernia.

The first-round winners will advance to the semifinals on Saturday, November 10^th at the site of the highest remaining seed.  The winner of Penn State Behrend/La Roche will face the winner of Penn State Abington/Alvernia in one semifinal, and the winner of Frostburg State/Marywood will play the winner of Lebanon Valley/Neumann in the other semifinal.  The semifinal winners will play Sunday, November 11^th for the championship.

2012 ECAC Division III South Men’s Soccer Championship

First Round – Wednesday, November 5^th

No. 8 La Roche College (8-8-0) at No. 1 Penn State Behrend (16-3-0), 1:30 p.m.

No. 7 Marywood University (12-6-3) at No. 2 Frostburg State Univ. (12-2-4), 6:00 p.m.

No. 6 Neumann University (12-8) at No. 3 Lebanon Valley College (13-5-2), 2:00 p.m.

No. 4 Penn State Abington (12-4-0) at No. 5 Alvernia University (11-7-3), 7:30 p.m.

Semifinals – Saturday November 10^th at highest remaining seed

PSU Behrend/La Roche winner vs. PSU Abington/Alvernia winner, 11:00 a.m.

Frostburg State/Marywood winner vs. Lebanon Valley/Neumann winner, 1:30 p.m.

Championship – Sunday, November 11^th

Two Semifinal Winners, 1:00 p.m.

Bobcats Eliminated from Playoffs

Thursday night saw our hopes of competing for the CAC Championship come to an end. In a wild semi-final match-up against York College we lost 4-3 in double overtime.

The game started out with some very physical play as Ryan Russell was taken down the first five times he touched the ball. York would pick up 3 yellow cards on 3 successive fouls on Russell. Michael Cronauer scored what we thought was the first goal of the game when he headed in a short corner from Russell. To everyone except the official and the linesman it looked like the ball had crossed the line and had hit the back part of the net before the goalie was able to reach back and throw the ball back out of the goal. The game tape would show what we had initially thought and that the ball had crossed the line, but unfortunately we would have to live with the referee's decision and try and get our heads back into the game.

We would fall behind 2-0 before Chris Jones would re-direct a free kick past the York keeper with just minutes remaining in the half. York would open up a 3-1 lead, but after Pablo Torrano was thrown to the ground during a fight for the ball on a free kick, a penalty kick was awarded. Shawn Baker would step up an convert his 4th penalty kick of the season. With under a minute to go we were awarded another free kick and with everyone pushed forward including the goalkeeper, Pablo Torrano found a way to get his head on it and directed it into the side of the goal for a dramatic come from behind last second tie.

The referee once again was unsure of the goal and would have to ask the linesman for help again, but this time the goal was awarded. York would score the heartbreaking game winner three minutes into the second overtime. The heart and resiliency that the boys showed in coming back in a game of this nature goes a long way towards describing the character of this team. I was very proud of the way that they kept fighting and never quit despite being down or feeling like the referee was against them.

We will now have to wait and see where we get seeded for the ECAC Tournament as we do not expect to receive an at-large-bid to the NCAA Tournament.

FSU Closes out Season by Defeating Goucher

On Tuesday night the boys finished up the regular season with a 3-1 victory over Goucher College.  We end the regular season with only one loss on the year for an impressive 12-1-4 record.

With the playoff picture already set and having a non-conference game to end the season we went into the game with a winning mindset, but also wanted to play a lot of guys and keep some other guys healthy.  Junior Drew Hock got his first collegiate start in goal and Andrew Adami and Collin Sainz also picked up their first starts on the season.

Ryan Russell scored his team leading 14th goal of the season just five minutes into the game after he juked a player in the corner of the box and powered a shot past the keeper into the left corner of the goal.  Alex Brainard followed up his first collegiate goal last game with a great volley in the box off of a Ryan Russell cross.  Just when the game seem secured we would suffer an own goal and let Goucher back into the game at 2-1.

Junior Kunle Akinfeleye scored his first collegiate goal midway through the second half when he followed up his own miss and buried the rebound into the side netting.  Every healthy player got in the game and we were able to sit four players who will hopefully be near full strength come our playoff game next Wednesday.

Sunday afternooon York College will face off agaisnt St. Mary's College to determine our semi-final matchup on Wednesday.  Game time is still TBA at this point.  We finished the regular season ranked 4th in the South Atlantic Region by the NSCAA and Junior Chris Jones picked up Defender of the Week honors for the CAC last week.

Bobcats Roll to Win on Senior Day

Seniors: Cody Butts, Scott Wasser, Yacob Kahsai, Abiye Jack, Godwin Amuzie,
Ryan Russell, Shawn Baker

On Saturday afternoon the boys finished off conference play with a 3-1 win over Marymount and a 3-1-2 record in the CAC.

The game started on a positive note after Ryan Russell was fouled in the box and Shawn Baker converted the penalty kick just five minutes into the game. Unfortunately, Marymount responded with a penalty kick of their own six minutes later and the game would be tied 1-1. We struggled the remainder of the half and really didn't do much to threaten the Marymount goal. It was one of our more sloppy halves of soccer that we had played all season.

We made some adjustments for the second half and came out with a much better focus and began to dictate the play. Shawn Baker would score his sixth goal of the season when he tapped home a corner kick off of a Godwin Amuzie flick with just under three minutes gone in the half. We held Marymount in check and out shot them 14 -2 for the half. Junior Alex Brainard would score his first collegiate goal to put the game away in the 85th minute off an assist from Baker.

We said goodbye to seven seniors; Shawn Baker, Abiye Jack, Yacob Kahsai, Godwin Amuzie, Cody Butts, Scott Wasser, and Ryan Russell. In the last two seasons this class has recorded a 22-4-9 record and has helped the team advance to the CAC semi-finals.

With the win we are now 11-1-4 and will be the #2 seed in the CAC Playoffs. We will have a bye for the first round and will be home on Wednesday Oct 31st for the semi-finals.

Bobcats Battle #11 Ranked Spartans to Draw

On Wednesday afternoon the boys fought hard to draw with the nationally ranked York Spartans 1-1. Dealing with a few injuries still we knew we would have to stay very organized and absorb the York attack for a while and wait for our chances to counter.  We almost got through the first half unscathed, but York was able to get on the board in the 41st minute when after a deflection outside the box a York player was first to the ball and was able to find a teammate at the back post who beat the keeper to the side. We definitely hung on during the first half and just tried to weather the storm.

The second half we came out with a bit more of an attacking mindset and were able to make it a more even game. The shots for the second half were 6-4 in favor of York. Ryan Russell did what he does best when given an opportunity in front of the goal and after goalkeeper Abiye Jack sent a long punt into the York end, Russell out raced two defenders to the ball and hit a one-time chip shot over the keeper who was playing off his line on the punt.

We kept our shape in the overtimes and were able to keep York of the board while having two good opportunities of our own. Unfortunately we probably needed the win against York to get a first round bye. Now it looks like we will be home for a first round game as long as we can take care of Marymount on Saturday at Homecoming.

I want to say thanks to the Alumni who made it out to support us in our away match. Russ, Benny, JT, and Mark - myself and the boys appreciate the support.

Saturday is Homecoming and senior day. We will play Marymount at 5pm after the football game and will be saying thank you to seven seniors for their efforts over the last few years and for helping make FSU and regionally ranked soccer program once again.

FSU Suffers First Defeat of Season

It was a rough week for the Bobcats as we lost our first match of the season and finished the week 0-1-1.

On Wednesday night we faced a tough Washington and Jefferson team that was playing their best soccer of the season.  Dealing with some injury issues we had to get the job done without one of our starting forwards, center midfielder, left back, and center back.  It was a non-conference game so were hoping to get some of the reserves some quality minutes.

Freshman Michael Cronauer got us on the board early when he finished off a corner kick from Bryan Whitmore.  W&J would respond midway through the half with a goal of their own to tie the game at one all.  Ryan Russell would get his team leading 12th goal of the season in the 67th minute.  We thought we had put the game away, but W&J would strike late in the game with a goal in the 88th minute to tie the score and would have another opportunity at the buzzer, but goalkeeper Abiye Jack would save the potential game winning shot.  We probably played our best soccer in the first overtime as we put together a few good chances but were unable to get the game winner.  W&J was the first team to out-shoot us this year and was probably the better team on the day.  We were fortunate to get out of their with the 2-2 tie.

On Saturday Mary Washington came to town for a crucial CAC conference match.  With Pablo Torrano still out with a shoulder injury and starting center back Bernard Fatusin just working himself back into the lineup we were thankful to have Kyle Walczak and Jared Fohs back for this match.  Mary Washington would have the better of the possession in the first half as we struggled to deal with their three central mid-fielders.  Neither team generated much offense as we only got off two shots while Mary Washington registered five.

The second half we made some adjustments in the middle and began to even out the play, but again both offenses were held in check.  Only a combined total of 4 shots were put on frame all game by both teams.  Unfortunately late in the game we would make the mistake that would decide the game.  After a ball was served into the box one of our backs tried to bring the ball down instead of clearing it out and his missed trap went right to a Mary Washington player who then found a wide open teammate inside the 6 yard box for the easy goal.

We did not do enough to win the game and when you make mistakes like that against a good team where goal scoring opportunities are at a minimum you usually end up losing the game. We will have to rebound right away as we get ready to go on the road to defending CAC Champion York College who currently leads the conference with a 4-0 record.

FSU Needs OT to Down Seahawks

Freshman Michael Cronauer

On Saturday afternoon the FSU men's soccer team had another tough CAC contest on the road. Freshman Michael Cronauer would net the golden goal in the second overtime to give the Bobcats the 4-3 win.

The game started well for us as junior Chris Jones headed in a corner kick in front of his hometown fans just 10 minutes into the game. St. Mary's responded when a poor clearance was controlled by a St. Mary's player and then placed in front of the box for an easy score to tie the match. We responded late in the half when Yacob Kahsai took a feed from Alex Brainard who then streaked down the outside of the field and right into the box where he placed a shot just out of the range of the St. Mary's goalkeeper. Three minutes later St. Mary's would respond again when they knocked home a rebound off a free kick that was not punched away by the FSU keeper.

We held a 12-3 advantage in shots at the half and felt pretty good about how we were playing despite the two mistakes made in the back line. Unfortunately the mistakes would continue into the second half when just after 5 minutes of play St. Mary's would be awarded a penalty kick to take the lead 3-2. We kept our composure and kept pressing throughout the half. We got some good looks at goal to tie the score including our own penalty kick that was unfortunately missed. Ryan Russell played hero once again when he found the net with 9:30 remaining to tie the game. We felt like we had the momentum and kept attacking, trying to get the game winner. We finished regulation with a 24-6 advantage in shots.

The offense was very impressive in the overtime periods as we got off 11 more shots before Michael Cronauer headed home the game winner off a nice service from Alex Brainard. We are now 10-0-2 and 2-0-1 in CAC play. We are on the road Wednesday for a non-conference match against Washington and Jefferson before returning home on Saturday for a crucial CAC match up with Mary Washington.

FSU Gets Late Tally to Draw with McDaniel

Junior, Pablo Torrano

On Wednesday night the McDaniel College men's soccer team came close to handing the Bobcats their first loss of the season. A late goal by Pablo Torrano helped FSU remain unbeaten when he tied the match 1-1 in the 85^th minute.

We tied McDaniel last year and knew they would put up a fight again this year as they have been playing a very competitive schedule. Dealing with some injuries and a suspension we were hoping we would still have enough offensive fire power to put McDaniel away. Starting center back Chris Jones was out due to a red card suspension and our other starting center back Bernard Fatusin tried to return after being out for two weeks, but only played 5 minutes before being pulled for his recurring injury. Reserve center back Brandon Zurita has filled in nicely, but was forced out of the game with an ankle injury early in the second half.

With the backline being pieced together it was probably inevitable that we would make a mistake and when we did McDaniel would capitalize. After failing to clear a ball out of the box due to a miss kick a McDaniel player beat an FSU player to the far post and touched the ball past the keeper for a 1-0 lead. It was McDaniel's only shot of the half, but they made it count.

We played fairly well with the revamped line-up, but could not find the tying goal. Finally with 5 minutes remaining Ryan Russell would serve a nice ball from the left flank into the box and Pablo Torrano would go up and beat two McDaniel players to the ball to head in the tying goal. I thought after we tied the game that we would have enough momentum to get the winner, but we fell just short. We limited McDaniel to just 3 shots on goal, but we were unable to find that second goal and had to settle for the tie.

We are on the road this weekend for an important CAC match against St. Mary's College. We are hopeful to get some of the players back healthy and the return of Chris Jones should fortify the backline.

FSU Downs Wesley

Junior Bryan Whitmore

We picked up our first CAC win of the season with a hard fought 2-0 victory of Wesley College on Saturday afternoon.

With only the one tie against Salisbury in CAC play it was going to be important for us to go on the road and earn our first conference win of the season. Wesley came into the game coming off a win over Eastern Mennonite and two one goal losses before that so we knew it would be a tough match. 

We played well in the first half and did a good job of not letting their offense get on track. Ryan Russell struck early in the second half when he avoided a collision between the Wesley GK and a defender and found himself all alone in front of the goal for the easy knock in. Wesley seemed to grab some momentum after the goal as we probably sat back and played a little too defensively. They saw more possession of the ball in the middle third, but our defense held strong and did not allow many scoring opportunities. In the 79th minute the midfielders found Russell for a quick a counter attack and as the defense closed Ryan down he slid the ball across the top of the box where Bryan Whitmore hit a nice one-touch finish into the side-netting to seal the game.

It was a hard fought game by both teams and a good road win for us to take us to 1-0-1 in CAC play. Next up is a non-conference match against McDaniel College on Wednesday at 7pm at Bobcat Stadium.

Second Half Rally Propels FSU Over Hood

Frostburg State used a quick strike attack in the second half to down Hood College 4-1 on Tuesday night.

The first half saw a fairly even game with the lone goal coming on a Ryan Russell free kick midway through the first half. We squandered two opportunities inside the six yard box that could have put the game away early, but the Hood defense held strong and kept it a one goal game going into half time.

We came out with a better focus in the second half and began to press the Hood back line. Thirteen minutes into the second half the FSU attack would take charge. Bryan Whitmore would knock home a sitter on an open goal after Pablo Torrano attacked the end line and drew the keeper out and found Whitmore waiting in front of the net. Ryan Russell would score again one minute later and Pablo Torrano would finish off the scoring two minutes after Russell. Unfortunately after the first goal of the half Hood would be credited with an own goal after an FSU defender headed the ball into our goal off of a long free kick.  It took FSU just three minutes to put the game out of reach and earn our eighth victory of the season.

We are still not playing as consistently as we need to be and will need to have a better showing this Saturday as we get back into CAC play with an away match at Wesley College. We are currently 8-0-1 and ranked #6 in the South Atlantic Region.

Junior, Pablo Torrano
 

Bobcats Come From Behind on Road Again

Frostburg collected another come from behind road win at Waynesburg on Saturday evening.

Junior, Michael Norman

The host Yellow Jackets would catch Frostburg early in the game as a Waynesburg player would run onto a long punt that was not cleared by the FSU defense and beat the FSU keeper to the ball for an easy score.  The Bobcats would start to get back in the game and control the play, but it would take some time to unlock the Waynesburg defense. FSU was rewarded a penalty kick when a Pablo Torrano shot was handled by a Waynesburg defender in the box. Shawn Baker would step up and tie the score at one a piece. Eight Minutes later Ryan Russell would get his third game winning goal of the season as he collected a Jared Fohs throw-in and buried his fifth goal in his last three games. Michael Norman would finish off the half with and insurance goal in the 44th minute. The Bobcats would finish the half with a 13-2 advantage in shots.

The Bobcats would see the game out in the second half by keeping possession and limiting the Yellow Jackets to just four more shots. We were able to get a lot of guys in the game and reward some guys with some playing time for the hard work they have been putting in during practice. Reserve backs, Phil Nana and Brandon Zurita stepped up in the backline when two defenders were lost to injury and Andrew Adami and Raphael Adjeoda logged significant minutes up top and gave Russell and Torrano a much deserved rest.

We have one more non-conference game this week against Hood College before we get back into CAC play on Saturday with a road trip to Wesley College.

Russell Hat Trick Propels Bobcats

Senior, Ryan Russell

On a cold and rainy Frostburg night, Ryan Russell would put the Lions away with his first collegiate hat trick.

Ryan Russell has gotten back to his 2011 CAC Player of the Year form with four goals in the last two games. It didn't take him long to get the Bobcats on track as he took a feed from Shawn Baker to get in behind the Lion defense and put the Bobcats up 1-0 in the 9th minute of play. After the Russell goal play went both ways and neither team threatened too much as FSU held a slim 4-2 advantage in shots.

The second half saw the wind pick up and the play was a little sloppy, but the FSU offense started to press. It took a while to put the game away, but Russell would complete his hat trick in the 83rd and 86th minute of the match. FSU would end the game with an 18-4 advantage in shots, but the game felt closer than the box score would suggest.

We didn't quite play to level we saw on Saturday against Salisbury, but a 3-0 shutout at home against a very scrappy Altoona team is a good win. We are currently 6-0-1 and have two more upcoming non-conference games before we get back to CAC play on the 29th against Wesley.

Altoona Goals - http://youtu.be/fIE6IvzOAm4 

Bobcats Draw Conference Opener

 

In a battle of regionally ranked teams, Frostburg (#7) and Salisbury (#5) battled to a 1-1 draw on Saturday afternoon at FSU.

Trying to avenge last season’s defeats against Salisbury we came out and played a very strong half.  We stayed organized on defense and were able to keep possession of the ball as we advanced up the field.  Neither team threatened too much in the first half and we would go to the intermission tied at 0-0.  Frostburg would hold a slight 5-2 advantage in shots for the first half.

We would strike the first blow less than half way through the first half.  Shawn Baker would play a nice through ball to Ryan Russell off of a quick re-start and Russell would put it away just out of the reach of the keeper to right side of the goal.  Salisbury would equalize with just about 12 minutes remaining in the match when their forward followed up a rebound off of the hands of Abiye Jack who made a good initial save, but couldn't parry away the knockdown. 

Forward, Ryan Russell

We had a few opportunities in overtime, but could not quite get that second goal to give us the win.  It was a great game of soccer and although we are disappointed to not get the win, we know that we will probably have to face them again in the playoffs and just want to focus on maintaining this level of play.

Up next is Penn St. Altoona on Tuesday at 7pm at Bobcat Stadium.  Altoona is coming off of a huge upset win against #19 nationally ranked Susquehanna University.

http://Www.youtu.be/fzMeNnWFcK0 - Goal vs. Salisbury

Frostburg Takes Jimmy Mills Tournament Championship

The Frostburg State Men's Soccer team took home the Jimmy Mills Tournament Championship this past weekend in Haverford, PA.

On Saturday afternoon the boys would face Ursinus College.  Ursinus came into the match with a 1-1 record and win over Wilkes College in their previous match.  The Bobcats got the offense rolling early as Chris Jones netted his second of the season off a corner kick from Ryan Russell just three minutes into the game.  Russell would add to the lead a minute and a half later with his second of the season after beating the defender on the end line and slipping the ball past the keeper at the near post.

Frostburg would control the tempo the majority of the match and take the 2-0 lead into halftime.  Seven minutes after the intermission the game would be delayed for lightning for 40 minutes and after play resumed Ursinus came out firing and got on the board just two minutes into the restart when an Ursinus player beat Abiye jack with a well struck ball from outside the box.

The game became more competitive after the goal, but we would bunker down to put away the game.  We only allowed one shot on goal for the match and 7 total shots, so the defense did its job on day one of the tournament.

On Sunday afternoon we would face the hosts, Haverford College in the championship match of the Jimmy Mills Tournament.  Haverford entered the match with a 2-1 record and ranked #10 in the Mid-Atlantic Region.

The game with Haverford was even in almost every aspect.  Shots were tied 13-13, shots on goal were 7 to 6, corners were 6 to 5, and fouls were 10 to 9.  Both teams worked extremely hard and fought for all 90 minutes.  Both teams missed chances in front of goal and the keepers came up big when called upon.  The difference in the match was a penalty kick by Shawn Baker in the 19th minute of the match.  Ryan Russell received a feed from Pablo Torrano and was taken down by a lunging defender in the box.  Baker calmly tucked away his penalty kick for his third goal of the season.

Our bye week comes at a perfect time as we now have a week to get healthy and prepare for CAC regular season champions Salisbury this Saturday afternoon at Bobcat Stadium at 2pm.

 

Buffalo State Goals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQbtgNcRuRQ&feature=plcp

Men's Soccer Pulls of Stunning Comeback

The Bobcats pulled off a dramatic come from behind 5-4 (OT) win Wednesday afternoon at Bethany College.

With 7 players out for the game including 4 starters we knew it would take a team effort to earn the road victory. The game started on a positive note as Pablo Torrano opened the scoring in the sixth minute of the game with his second goal of the season. The Bison would respond 4 minutes later to tie the score at 1-1.

The rest of the half was a nightmare as we would struggle to really threaten the Bison goal and Bethany would capitalize on the mistakes that were made in our defensive third. With just 6 shots in the half Bethany would score 3 goals and take a 3-1 lead into half-time.

The second half did not start much better as Bethany would once again capitalize on a defensive error to take a 4-1 lead just 35 seconds into the second half. The only good thing about the early goal was it gave us plenty of time to re-group and try and get back in the match. With just under 18 minutes remaining junior defender Jared Fohs hit a bomb from about 35 yards out that beat the keeper and tucked under the crossbar. A minute and a half later junior Bryan Whitmore hit another long rage shot from outside the box that found the back of the net to make it 4-3. Junior Michael Norman would tie the game in the 82nd minute off a throw-in from Jared Fohs.

With momentum on our side the boys kept knocking, but could not find the game winner in regulation. We held a 25-9 advantage in shots, but made the game much more difficult with the early mistakes that were made in the back. We got right after it again in OT and senior transfer Godwin Amuzie knocked home the game winner after a scrum in the box from a corner kick.

Not the prettiest game we've been a part of, but it showed tremendous heart and resolve to come back from that deficit on the road to win the game. We head to Haverford, PA this weekend to face Centennial Conference teams Haverford and Ursinus.

Bobcats Defend Title

On the opening weekend of the 2012 season the Frostburg State Men's Soccer team defended their FSU Kick-off Tournament crown with a pair of 3-0 wins.

On Friday night the Bobcats would play host to visiting SUNYAC contender Buffalo State College. Both teams seemed to be dealing with first game jitters as the play was not the cleanest and the passing game was not where we would like it to be. Despite not quite playing up to our capabilities we managed to finish our opportunities and build a 3-0 lead going into half-time.

Junior transfer, Pablo Torrano got the scoring going off a fine feed from Ryan Russell in the 8th minute of the match. Russell would get his first of the season in the 23rd minute off one of his patented free kicks. Freshman, Michael Cronauer would seal the victory with his first collegiate goal off a long throw-in from Jared Fohs.

We would possess the ball much better in the second half and would create several more scoring opportunities, but would fail to increase the lead. Senior, Abiye Jack would face only 2 shots in net to pick up his first shutout of the season.

On Saturday afternoon we would face Mt. St. Mary College from New York. They advanced to the championship game by defeating St. Vincent College 1-0 on Friday. Again, we failed to knock the ball around as much as we would like, but we were able to control the tempo and again limited our opponent to only two shots for the match.

It took a while to breakthrough, but Shawn Baker slotted home a deflection off a corner kick to give us the lead in the 77th minute. We would ride the momentum of the goal and strike two more times in the next 12 minutes. Junior, Chris Jones would head home a great goal off a free kick service from Russell and Baker would add his second of the season as he followed up on a Andrew Adami shot that came off the post.
http://youtu.be/Gya3LerIK3A - Goals from Mt. St. Mary game

It was a great way to start the season. We played a lot of guys this weekend and got two shutout victories to start the season off right. Our depth will be tested as we head to Bethany, WV on Wednesday down 7 players. Starters Ryan Russell, Cody Butts, Scott Wasser, and Kyle Walczak will be out with injuries along with key reservists Yacob Kahsai and Brandon Zurita. Back-up keeper, Ed Flynn is also on the mend and will be out this game as well.

Two Bobcats Earn Additional Honors

Junior forward Ryan Russell was selected to the NSCAA All South-Atlantic Region second team.  

Russell scored 16 goals in his first year with the men's team and was named the CAC Player of the Year. He led the conference in goals and points with 34. Russell had six game-winning goals.

http://www.nscaa.com/news/2011/12/2011-ncaa-division-iii-men-all-south-atlantic

Senior defender Jamie Flewellyn has been named to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III South Men's Soccer All-Star team.

Flewellyn, a Capital Athletic Conference first team selection, earned second team ECAC honors after leading a Frostburg defense that posted 0.94 goals against average, including six shutouts. On the offensive end, he scored three goals on the
season including Frostburg's only goal in their ECAC tournament game against Swarthmore.

In addition to being named all-conference this season, Flewellyn also garnered first team All-AMCC honors in 2009 before Frostburg joined the CAC. Flewellyn finished his career with 71 starts and scored six goals from his defensive position.

Flewellyn captained the 2011 Bobcats to an 11-3-5 record and an appearance in ECAC South Regional Tournament.

ECAC South All-Star Team