Bobcats Battle #9 Ranked Captains to Draw

Sophomore GK Hassan Mostafa

Saturday afternoon the boys faced their toughest opponent of the year in Christopher Newport University. CNU came into the game as the #9 ranked team in the country and boasting a record of 11-1-1.

It's no surprise that our defense played extremely well, but to hold CNU to a 0-0 draw was an accomplishment.  We started the game with six freshman and three sophomores in the starting line-up. This was the first game CNU was held scoreless all year and as the game progressed you could see a bit of confidence beginning to grow in our youngsters.

The first half was more about absorbing the pressure and doing our best to stay organized in the back. I was very pleased with our work rate and how we competed for all 50/50 balls and loose balls as well.  We were definitely under some duress early in the game.  CNU would register a 12-3 advantage in shots, but the defense was up to the test including a huge penalty kick save by Hassan Mostafa midway through the half.  Brandon Lutz, a senior and first year player for us, was huge in his role as the ball winner in the center of the park.  He was instrumental in breaking up any attack CNU tried to establish in the air.

Senior Defender Brandon Lutz

The second half we began to push back a little and made it a more competitive game.  We had a few opportunities from the run of play and our set pieces we dangerous and almost got us on the board. The shot count was 7-3 in favor of CNU in the 2nd half.

Mostafa was big throughout the contest and made a few key saves when we needed him to keep us in the game.  Our defense leads the nation in overall save percentage and is #2 in the country in goals against average.  Mostafa is #5 in the country in GAA and #2 in save percentage.

We now stand at 7-3-3 and 2-1-1 in the CAC.  The playoffs are now wide open as there have been several upsets this past week.  It doesn't look like there will be any easy games as we get to the home stretch.

We have defending conference champion York at home on Wednesday at 5pm and then in-state rival Salisbury will be here on Sunday for a 2 pm match-up on Homecoming weekend.