by Russell Vannozzi | Nov 23, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
It’s safe to say that the Lipscomb men’s soccer team probably wouldn’t still be alive in the NCAA tournament without goalkeeper Chris Zappia. The fifth-year senior made eight saves against both No. 17 Washington and No. 9 Central Florida to help the Bisons pull off two improbable upsets and advance to the Sweet 16 against No. 3 Kentucky. “Chris is shining right now,” Lipscomb coach Charles Morrow said. “I’d say he’s playing his best, but it’s not like he’s not on par with what his best was last year. He’s been a great goalkeeper for us for several years now.” Zappia boasts a 10-4-1 record in net and has made 61 saves on the year. Entering Saturday’s match against the Wildcats, he has a .782 save percentage and is allowing just 1.07 goals per game. But unlike the six Lipscomb freshmen that are currently playing big roles for the Bisons, Zappia had to patiently wait his turn to become a significant contributor. His first three years in the program were spent behind Micah Bledsoe, who now plays for Nashville SC of the USL. From 2013-16, Bledsoe won 26 starts, had a save percentage of .735 and finished his career with 15 clean sheets. Zappia took over goalkeeping duties in 2017 and was instrumental in leading Lipscomb’s to its first-ever ASUN tournament title and NCAA tournament appearance. He finished the season with 11 wins and a .698 save percentage in 21 starts. “You can look at Chris and what’s he done as a model of perseverance and [how] good things come to those who wait and work hard,” Morrow said....
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
WASHINGTON, D.C. – It’s been a season of firsts for the Lipscomb women’s soccer team. The Lady Bisons won their first ASUN regular season title, their first ASUN tournament championship and their first NCAA tournament game with a thrilling victory over Mississippi State last week. Unfortunately for the Lipscomb, that tournament magic ran out Friday against No. 4 seed Duke. The Blue Devils outplayed the Lady Bisons in every aspect of the match en route to a 3-0 victory at George Washington University. Lipscomb goalie Kate Mason was constantly peppered with Duke shots, and the senior made 10 saves. But Duke’s Tess Boade, Kayla McCoy and Gabi Brummett each found the back of the net by cracking Lipscomb’s back line of Justis Bailey, Logan McFadden and Hailey Eck. Lipscomb (15-5-2) junior Olivia Doak had a scoring opportunity in the closing seconds of the first half, but Duke keeper Brooke Heinsohn secured the ball before Doak could get a clear attempt on net. Kaitlin Echols eventually registered Lipscomb’s first official shot attempt in the 67th minute. Doak had Lipscomb’s best scoring chance in 84th minute, but Heinsohn made a juggling save to preserve the shutout. Duke outshot Lipscomb 26-4. The game was originally scheduled to be played at Georgetown’s Shaw Field. However, the D.C. area was hit with 1.5 inches of snow, sleet and freezing rain Thursday, forcing the match to be moved to George Washington University’s artificial turf field. With the victory, Duke (16-3-2) advanced to the Round of 16 of the Women’s College Cup. The Blue Devils will play the winner of Washington State-Georgetown on Sunday morning. Photo courtesy of Lipscomb...
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...
