The men’s soccer team (1-2 Patriot League, 4-4-2 overall) secured its first Patriot League victory on Saturday, defeating Army West Point (0-3 Patriot League, 2-7-1 overall) by a score of 2-1.
The team traveled to West Point, New York, in desperate need of three points after consecutive Patriot League defeats put the Leopards at risk of being cut adrift from the playoffs. Facing the Black Knights with the worst overall record in the Patriot League, senior forward Lawrence Aydlett said the team was still ready for a tough match.
“The bottom line in the Patriot League is that all the games are going to be tough regardless of who’s in what place,” Aydlett said. “We know from moments in the past that it’s not the most important thing.”
The team would get a boost entering the game with the return of junior defender Nicholas Liebich, a key piece of their defense. Liebich suffered a hamstring injury in the team’s match against Albany and had missed the previous two games.
“It was awesome to be back on the field,” Liebich said. “It sucks sitting on the sideline when the team isn’t winning and you feel that you could help.”
The game started slow, with neither side creating clear-cut chances in the opening 30 minutes. Aydlett would find a small opening in the 34th minute, picking up the ball after Army cleared it and driving forward before dragging a shot wide right.
The best chance of the half would come just minutes later, with Aydlett winning the ball off of a sloppy turnover from an Army defender and feeding senior forward Andrey McIntyre. McIntyre would have been one-on-one with the goalkeeper but was called offsides.
After closing the first half the stronger of the two teams and outshooting the Black Knights 3-1, the Leopards came out looking to dominate the second half. Six minutes in, they would find their reward. Freshman midfielder Cade Maglione fired a low cross through the Black Knight penalty area that was picked up by sophomore forward Roy Biegon. Biegon fed a short pass to Aydlett, who fired the ball past the Army goalkeeper from outside the box to give the Leopards the lead.
Aydlett noted that scoring was “really big” for him.
“It’s been a tough season for me compared to the past,” Aydlett said, having missed early parts of the season due to a dislocated shoulder.
The Leopards would add a second goal in the 61st minute when senior midfielder Carter Houlihan’s corner found the head of Liebich, who flicked the ball into the far corner of the Army goal. According to Liebich, the team knew they would find success on corners due to Army’s zone defense.
“When we’re not being man-marked, it gives us more space to run onto the ball,” Liebich said. “Carter put a perfect ball in for me and all I had to do was jump and go get it.”
Liebich’s goal marked the first time this season that the Leopards have held a multi-goal lead. This cushion collapsed in the 76th minute when Army scored a goal via a mishit shot to cut the lead in half.
“Getting a second goal is super important,” Aydlett said. “We’ve seen in the past that anything can happen and in this game, they got a lucky goal that could have caused us to drop points.”
The Leopards would hang on despite a late Army surge in the final fifteen minutes to secure the win, which leaves them one point out of a playoff spot with six games still left to play.
“We all went there with the mentality of ‘we aren’t leaving with anything but three points,’” Liebich said. “That was the job to do, and I think everyone is super pleased.”
The Leopards will travel to Boston to take on Boston University on Saturday in a rematch of last season’s conference final.
“A lot of the guys that played in that game last year have a little bit more desire to get the win, especially at the place where they beat us,” Liebich said. “It would be huge to go there and take the three points away from them.”
