by Russell Vannozzi | Nov 22, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
It’s easy to label the Lipscomb men’s soccer team as an underdog in the NCAA tournament. They just aren’t playing like one. After a sluggish 1-7 start to the season, the Bisons have orchestrated a turnaround of epic proportions. Lipscomb is 10-2 in its last 12 matches, including tournament upsets at No. 17 Washington and at No. 9 Central Florida last week. That sets up a Sweet 16 battle at No. 3 Kentucky this Saturday, when the odds will once again be stacked against Lipscomb. “When people doubt this team, for whatever reason, it seems to fuel the fire,” Lipscomb goalie Chris Zappia said. “It’s nice to show everyone that we’re sort of the David in the [midst] of a bunch of Goliaths at this point.” Those circumstances have allowed the team to play pressure-free on the big stage of the NCAA tournament. “I think that makes us a really dangerous team,” coach Charles Morrow said. “There were games that were harder for us to deal with in our conference tournament because there was that pressure [to win]. “To be able to go out and play free is a beautiful thing. I don’t know that any of these guys really and truly feel that they’re the underdog. They feel like they can beat anyone.” Lipscomb’s 2-0 loss at Butler in the program’s first-ever NCAA tournament appearance last season meant that some of this year’s team already had experience with the high stakes. “We’ve been pretty loose, honestly,” forward Logan Paynter said. “I think last year helped a lot. We were pretty nervous then. This year a lot of the...
by Russell Vannozzi | Nov 19, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
ORLANDO, Fla. – If there’s a Cinderella story in the NCAA men’s soccer tournament, it’s been the Lipscomb Bisons. And after a 1-0 overtime upset of No. 9 Central Florida on Sunday, the shoe apparently fits well. Lipscomb’s Louis Robinson got a foot on low cross from Austin Eager in the 97th minute, and the freshman beat UCF keeper Yannik Oettl to give the Bisons a 1-0 victory. The win came just three days after Lipscomb stunned Washington with a 5-4 victory in penalty kicks. The Bisons then made the cross-country trip from Seattle to Orlando on Friday to prepare for their second-round match at UCF. Lipscomb goalie Chris Zappia had another career night and made eight saves for the second consecutive game. UCF fired 19 total shots to Lipscomb’s eight, but the Bison defense held on for extra time. Just before Robinson’s decisive tally, Logan Paynter and Noah Gulden each had shots on the UCF net. The ball was cleared away by UCF and corralled by Ryan Birchfield, who fed a pass to Eager to set up the game-winning strike. Survive. Advance. @LipscombMSOC is moving on after an OT winner!#NCAASoccer pic.twitter.com/DJJN66OknH — NCAA Soccer (@NCAASoccer) November 19, 2018 The Knights (13-2-3) controlled possession and appeared to have the Bisons on their heels for much of the first half. But after allowing 10 UCF shots in the first 45 minutes, the Bisons allowed just five in the second half. Robinson, a midfielder from Nottingham, England, emerged as a goal-scoring threat midway through the season. His four goals are tied for second most on the team behind Paynter’s nine tallies....
by Russell Vannozzi | Nov 16, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
SEATTLE – Lipscomb goalie Luke Wilson sat on the bench for most of Thursday night’s first-round NCAA tournament game at Washington. His services simply weren’t needed as senior keeper Chris Zappia made eight saves to keep the game scoreless through regulation and two overtime periods. But Lipscomb coach Charles Morrow let Wilson, a known penalty-kick save specialist, loose with the game on the line, and the decision paid off. “Chris had such a good game… we asked Chris at the end of the game, it was his call,” Morrow told LipscombSports.com. “His words were, ‘Let Luke do what he does.’” Wilson stopped shots from Washington’s Corban Anderson and Charlie Ostrem while five of his Lipscomb teammates buried their attempts to give the Bisons a 5-4 shootout victory. “It’s hard and it takes a lot of confidence and belief in yourself,” Morrow said of stopping penalty kicks. “I couldn’t do it, but apparently Luke’s really good at it. I couldn’t be more proud of Luke’s performance.” Logan Paynter, Austin Eager, Louis Robinson, Ben Locke and John Wynia each converted penalty kicks to lift the Bisons to the upset. “It was an ugly game and definitely not the way we wanted it to play out, but our guys battled,” Morrow said. “I told the Pac-12 [Network] crew yesterday that one thing they might not know about this team is that we can play the beautiful game, but we can also win dirty. I think that is what it was tonight.” Washington (12-8) dominated possession for much of the contest and outshot Lipscomb 14-5. But between Zappia’s performance in net and Lipscomb’s aggressive play...
by Russell Vannozzi | Nov 14, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
Losing seven games in a row typically doesn’t equate to a championship season, especially when a team’s schedule only includes 16 regular season games. However, that narrative exactly describes how the Lipscomb men’s soccer season played out. Despite a forgettable start, the Bisons are in Seattle to make their second-consecutive NCAA tournament appearance on Thursday night against Washington. “Looking back at the season… it was all fun,” Lipscomb coach Charles Morrow said at Monday’s NCAA selection show watch party. “That’s something we sort of preach in our program. This is a game and it’s meant to be fun, but there were some trying days in that stretch. For the guys to have the resiliency and perseverance that they did was really, really impressive.” The Bisons went 1-7 in their first eight games, including a seven-match skid that began in August and continued until late September. “It was a rough start,” Lipscomb senior forward Logan Paynter said. “[We had] a lot of new guys and knew it wasn’t going to be easy, so we just knew we had to keep learning and keep growing.” The tough beginning was somewhat expected after losing 10 seniors to graduation, including key cogs like forwards Ivan Alvarado and Ivan Sakou, midfielders Eduardo Reza and Kyle Smith, and defenders Cameron Botes and Joe Kerridge. But there were some silver linings during that losing streak. Five of the seven losses were by just one goal each, and two of the defeats came in overtime to No. 7 Kentucky and Jacksonville. “Coming out of last year and losing 10 guys, you know there’s going to be a...
by Russell Vannozzi | Nov 12, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb men’s soccer team is heading the Pacific Northwest for its second NCAA tournament appearance. During Monday’s NCAA Selection Show, the Bisons learned that their first-round opponent will be the Washington Huskies. The match is set for Thursday at 9:00 p.m. CT in Seattle. “It’s great to still be going and still be a part of all of this,” Lipscomb senior forward Logan Paynter said. “I haven’t been to the Pacific Northwest and I don’t know much about [Washington], but [I’m] super excited to get out there and go play a game.” Lipscomb (9-9) began its season with a dismal 1-7 record, but the team made a miraculous turnaround to win eight of their final 10 matches. That stretch included upsets of No. 10 Louisville and No. 24 Florida Gulf Coast. In Saturday night’s ASUN title game, the Bisons defeated Stetson, 2-0. Paynter set the school record for goals by scoring the 34th and 35th tallies of his career. Lipscomb dropped a 2-0 contest at Butler in its NCAA tournament debut last season. Lipscomb coach Charles Morrow said he believes the lessons learned from that loss will help the Bisons in their second-straight postseason appearance. “[Butler] was a team that could have gotten a bye in the first round,” Morrow said. “I think that, while Washington will be just as strong, I really feel like the guys have more belief and more confidence in themselves this year.” Washington (12-7) is making its sixth NCAA tournament appearance under coach Jamie Clark, and the Huskies have a 12-23-2 all-time record in tournament play. Senior forward Scott Menzies leads the team with nine goals....
