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.