Lebanon Valley Defeats Bobcats in ECAC Semi-finals

The season came to an end on Saturday when we lost our semi-final match to Lebanon Valley 4-1.  It's not the way we hoped the season would end and I certainly do not think the score was indicative of the game, but its soccer and that's how it goes sometimes.

Lebanon Valley was a very active team and did a good job of moving off the ball and pressuring our defense.  We never quite found any attacking flow and did not connect passes like we did on Wednesday night.

They scored two goals off of set pieces in the first half.  The first was a long throw-in that we did not clear and the loose ball was played to a Lebanon Valley player and he beat goal keeper Drew Hock for the lead.  The second was a free kick that the GK came out for and miss-timed and again the ball fell to a Lebanon Valley player who shot it into an open net.  We ended the half with a 6-5 lead in shots, but found ourselves down 2-0.

The second half we made a few adjustments and pressed hard to get back in the game.  We created some good opportunities, but failed to get that goal that would spur on our comeback.  With everyone pushing forward Leb Valley would score their third goal with about eight minutes left when after a counter attack we were exposed in the back and they were able to beat goal keeper Hassan Mostafa with a lofted shot.  Jared Fohs would answer back for us just 14 seconds later to make it 3-1, but Leb Valley would get their fourth with two minutes remaining off a deflected shot that caught the keeper going the wrong way.  We ended the half with 9-3 advantage in shots, but again gave up two goals and struggled to find the back of the net.

I thought we fought hard and played to the end, but just didn't make enough good things happen  while Lebanon Valley did a good job of capitalizing on their limited opportunities.  The seniors certainly left it all on the field and could walk-off knowing they put forth an honest effort.  That makes three years in a row that we have advanced to the CAC semi-finals and the ECAC Tournament.  Hopefully next year we can make a run that will get us to the CAC finals and a possible bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Two Second Half Goals put Bobcats in the ECAC Semi-finals

Seniors - Michael Norman and Kunle Akeifeleye

On a very cold night in early November the boys kept their home unbeaten streak alive.  Two second half goals from Michael Norman and Kunle Akinfeleye helped us advance to the semi-finals of the ECAC Tournament with a 2-1 win over Washington and Jefferson.

I thought we played one of our better games of the year as far as moving the ball around and trying to find some combination play.  We pressed them from the beginning and tried to create  turnovers that would lead to counter-attacking opportunities.  The turnovers led to some good possession for us, but we struggled to convert the final pass to create the easy scoring opportunity.  At the end of the half W&J held a slight 6-5 lead in shots.

The second half we kept up the pressure and countered much more efficiently creating more scoring opportunities and would out-shoot the President's 12-2 in the second half.  Michael Norman got us on the board 10 minutes in when he knocked home a corner kick from Alex Brainard. 

http://youtu.be/4h_7O7nvSA4 - Norman goal 

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The lead was short lived as W&J would equalize just minutes later when we failed to clear a ball in the box and it would lead to a tap in from about six yards out.  Kunle Akinfeleye would net the game winner jut six minutes later when he followed up his own shot after a great feed from Chris Herbert.

http://youtu.be/z-YIP49wPqE - Kunle goal

The win puts us in the semi-finals where we will face Lebanon Valley College at 4pm on Saturday at Swarthmore College.  The winners of the semi-final games will be meet at 3pm on Sunday at Swarthmore for the ECAC South Region Championship.

Frostburg State has been selected for the ECAC Championships and has been awarded the #2 seed.  Swarthmore College has been awarded the #1 seed and will host the four team final four on the weekend if they advance from the first round.

We will host Washington and Jefferson College on Wednesday night at 7pm.  We have already played W&J this year at home and escaped with a narrow 3-2 victory after scoring the winning goal in the closing seconds.

Here is the rest of the bracket:

First Round – Wednesday, Nov. 13

East Region 
Penn State Abington (10-4-3) at Swarthmore (9-5-4), 7:00 PM
Muhlenberg (9-7-1) at Marywood (13-3-2), 5:00 PM

West Region
Washington & Jefferson (10-6-3) at Frostburg State (12-6-0), 7:00 PM
Lebanon Valley (10-7-3) at Juniata (13-6-2), 2:00 PM

Semifinals – Saturday, Nov. 16th at Highest Remaining Seed

 At the conclusion of the quarterfinals teams will be reseeded based on the below overall regional seeds. The highest remaining seed will play the lowest remaining seed.

1. Swarthmore College	5. Lebanon Valley College
2. Frostburg State University	6. Juniata College
3. Marywood University	7. Muhlenberg College
4. Penn State Abington	8. Washing & Jefferson College

Championship – Sunday, November 17th at Highest Remaining Seed
Two Semifinal Winners, TBD

FSU Eliminated from CAC Playoffs

The title run for 13 seniors ended on Wednesday as were defeated by Salisbury 1-0.  This makes the third straight year we advanced to the CAC semi-finals, but have been unable to get to the championship game.

Overall I thought we gave a strong effort.  Salisbury is a good team and was probably the better team on the day, but we played well enough to keep ourselves in the game and had a few opportunities to get on the board.

It was a typical FSU - Salisbury match with a lot of physical play.  Both teams got their share of hits in including five yellow cards and a red card as time expired.  Salisbury was very dangerous on the counter, but our backline held strong and was able to keep the Sea Gulls out of the goal for most of the game. 

With under 10 minutes to play Salisbury was awarded a free kick near the top corner of the box.  As the ball was served everyone attacked the ball and unfortunately the ball got flicked and found its way to an open Salisbury player at the corner of the six yard box.  The Salisbury player shot it back across the goal out of the reach of keeper Hassan Mostafa.

It's tough to see the season come to a close for the seniors.  You always wish you could give them one more game or get them a little further than they got the year before, but unfortunately this will make the third straight elimination in the semi-final round. We have put in for the ECAC Championships so hopefully we'll get the chance to play a few more games and give the senior class a chance to close their season out with a win.

ECAC bids will come out Monday afternoon after the NCAA selections.

Bobcats Advance to CAC Semi-finals

Senior Pablo Torrano

CAC playoffs began Saturday afternoon and we had to make a return trip to the University of Mary Washington.  The game was very similar to the first match as both teams were pretty evenly matched, but this time were able to come away with the narrow 1-0 victory and advance to the CAC semi-finals on Wednesday.

The first half was even as both teams recorded just three shots a piece.  The second half was a little more open as both teams pushed for the go ahead goal.  Pablo Torrano got the game winner early in the 2nd half when he took a feed from Chris Jones that split the defenders and put him in on goal.  Torrano calmly placed the ball to the side of the charging UMW keeper.  Both teams would create 2 or 3 clear scoring opportunities, but would be unable to capitalize on them.

As the game winded down Mary Washington pushed for the equalizer and we pushed for the insurance goal to put the game away.  It would lead to an exciting finish as both teams left it all on the field and in the closing seconds we would clear two rebounds off the goal line to preserve the win and move on to the next round.

Freshman keeper Hassan Mostafa had a very strong game in goal and did a great job of dealing with the flighted balls and the dangerous UMW set pieces.  This was a big win for us as it was a road win on grass against a very good team.  Hopefully the confidence will carry over to the semi-finals on Wednesday.

The semi-finals are set for Wednesday afternoon at 2pm at Salisbury.  Salisbury enters the game with a 16-2 record and the top seed in the playoffs.