The AU men’s soccer team was unable to pick up the victory Oct. 26 against Lafayette, tieing 0-0 despite double overtime in a rematch of last year’s Patriot League Championship game which saw the Leopards beat the Eagles 2-0 at Reeves field.
Entering the matchup head coach Todd West knew the game would be a physical game.
“They like to turn it into a war and a grind, and I think they did that,” West said of Lafayette.
The Eagles (4-6-5, 2-2-2 PL) received a strong performance from senior goalie Billy Knutsen, who recorded his fifth shutout of the year making four saves on the afternoon.
The Eagle defense aided Knutsen, blocking Lafayette’s (4-3-7, 2-3-1 PL) seven corner kicks in the first half.
AU’s defense would hold strong, limiting the Leopards to convert on shot opportunities. In total the Leopards would record just one shot on goal out of nine in total.
“Set pieces have kind of been a difficult point for us the entire year,” Knutsen said. “We have been working a lot to in practice and we moved some people around in our zone and it worked out today.”
Offensively, the Eagles failed to capitalize on their chances. AU opened the game trying to exploit the Leopard defense with longer passes which proved to be ineffective.
After the failed opening sequence, the Eagles began to shorten their game and started to see some results, peppering Lafayette keeper Nathan McDonald with shots. Some narrowly missed the net either high or to the sides, with the remainder being handled by McDonald. AU recorded 13 shots in the first half, six of which were saved.
The Eagle’s offense had more opportunities to score in overtime, earning multiple set pieces in both overtime periods in Lafayette’s zone, but still failing to convert those chances into a goal.
This marks the second straight game the Eagles have played to a draw, going all the way in a 0-0 matchup against West Virginia Oct. 22 at Reeves Field.
AU has also not scored a goal since the second half of its 2-1 overtime loss to the U.S. Military Academy, a span of more than 250 minutes of game time. The tie also continues AU winless streak at five. AU has also failed to record a home victory since a Sept. 28 2-0 win over Lehigh.
The tie leaves the Eagles as one of the top six Patriot League teams qualifying for the conference tournament. In years past, only the top four teams qualified for the Patriot League tournament but the additions of Boston University and Loyola, the conference has added two more teams to the tournament.
Next for the Eagles is a road match Oct. 30 against Loyola University.
