The Princeton Tigers men’s soccer team’s hopes of a national championship were dashed tonight as the Bucknell Bison won tonight’s NCAA tournament first round match at Myslik Field at Robert’s Stadium in Princeton by the final score of 1-0. Brendan Burgoff’s goal in the seventieth minute was the deciding score in tonight’s game, which was a highly defensive contest. The goal came after a Conor O’Brien assist in which he passed the ball up the far flank to Burgoff, who shot from inside the eighteen-yard box into the near corner of the goal. Bucknell’s goal came after a thirty-minute lightning delay at the 65:13 mark.
The Tigers had several opportunities to score in the game, including three shots-on-goal from Josh Walburn, who had one shot saved, one deflected, and another go wide left. The Tigers had put six shots on goal in the contest, which Bucknell only put three of their eleven shots on goal. O’Brien tallied the other shots-on-goal for Bucknell, missing high in the fifteenth minute and missing wide left in the fifty-fourth minute. Princeton had twenty-two total shots on the evening.
After the game, Princeton head coach Jim Barlow said that he felt his squad was “getting a hold of things” and that the crowd was getting into the match. He added, “I don’t think we really had as many good looks on goal as we’ve had in the last five or six games.”
Princeton ends the season with a record of 9-6-3. Bucknell, now 17-5-0, will travel to Charlottesville, Virginia, to face the University of Virginia in the second round of the NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament.
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