The Lipscomb men’s soccer team lost to the visiting Stetson Hatters 3-2 Saturday night after a compelling game that was decided in extra time.
The early goings of the game featured stout defense by both teams. Neither club could make a solid
attempt at goal until 16 minutes in, when Hatters junior midfielder Oliver Bryneus took a shot that sailed just wide left. A couple of minutes later, the Bisons had a good string of passes that led to a shot by junior midfielder Hayes Wood, but the strike was stopped by Hatters sophomore goalkeeper Owen Jack.
It was the Hatters who got on the board first near the 21st minute of play. The team benefitted from a Lipscomb defender inadvertently deflecting a cross on frame that sailed into the goal giving the Hatters a fortuitous 1-0 lead.
Stetson continued to play stout defense over the next 12 minutes of the first half. The Bisons finally
broke through the Hatters defense for a quality look at a goal and drew a foul to set up a Bisons penalty
kick. Owen Jack made a great initial effort to block senior midfielder Louis Robinson’s attempt. But Robinson’s tenacious second effort led to the equalizer 33 minutes into play, making
the score 1-1.
The remainder of the half involved two shot attempts by Stetson and one by Lipscomb, but neither team
could orchestrate scoring offense going into the break.
The second half was dominated by the Bisons early on. The first 20 minutes of play included six shots by Lipscomb, including a close miss hitting the right post by sophomore forward Javanne Smith that left him in disbelief.
Not even a minute after the miss by Smith, the Gulden twins connected to give Lipscomb a 2-1 lead. It
was senior center back Scott Gulden who scored his third goal of the year off the assist from senior right back Noah Gulden. Noah’s assist was his fourth of the year, equaling his assist tally from last season.
The momentum of the game and the energy at Lipscomb Soccer Complex had shifted farther in the Bisons’ favor after the go-ahead goal. But the Hatters stayed persistent despite the Bisons’ aggressive play. The final 10 minutes of regulation saw the Hatters piece together solid offense leading to three shot attempts. Their late offensive spurt broke the Lipscomb defense with less than five minutes remaining after Oliver Bryneus scored the equalizing goal for the Hatters that took the game into overtime.
The golden goal came after five minutes of extra time when the Hatters aggressively got the ball into the
six-yard box and freshman forward Nelson Pereira assisted on the goal scored by freshman midfielder
Felix Aakerburg. The Hatters upset the top-25 ranked Bisons by a score of 3-2.
Coming into the matchup, the Bisons were ranked No. 18 in the country, after starting the season
with five wins and two draws. This defeat makes two in a row for the team after losing earlier in the week to the Butler Bulldogs 3-1. The team will seek to bounce back when they host the
Liberty Flames on at 7 p.m. Oct. 2.
Photo courtesy of Danny Kotula