Men's Soccer Falls to Duquesne in Overtime

Cody Stratton

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Belmont men's soccer team (3-5-0) ended its four match road trip with a 2-1 overtime loss to Duquesne (4-3-0) on Saturday night.  Freshman Cody Stratton (Fort Worth, Texas) recorded his second career goal, as he tallied the lone Bruin score off of an assist from freshman Nico Olsak (Boca Raton, Fla.). 

"We played a terrific first half," Head Coach Earle Davidson said.  "Duquesne is a very difficult team to play against.  They're athletic and they play extremely direct."

BU got on the board first when Olsak fed Stratton for the score in the 45th minute of play.  With just a couple minutes to play in the half, Olsak received a ball just in front of midfield.  The freshman played a long ball behind the defense up the left side and found a streaking Stratton.  Stratton then fired a peach past the Duquesne goalkeeper to record his second goal in as many games for the Bruins.

Duquesne tied the match at 1-1 when Tyler Tompkins scored in the 69th minute of play.  There was a foul called just before the score, which was in favor of the Bruins.  As the Belmont team set up for their set piece, the official changed his mind and awarded the free kick to the Dukes.  Caught off guard, the BU defense allowed for Tompkins to easily get in behind and tie the game with just about 20 minutes remaining.

"The game never should have been tied," Davidson said.  "If we're given enough time to set up after the switching of the call, there's no way we give up that goal, and we leave with the 1-0 victory."

The next 20 minutes came and went with neither team taking advantage offensively.  After only 3:11 of overtime the Dukes were awarded a penalty kick after a Belmont defender fouled a Duquesne offensive player at the edge of the box.  Cory Bachstein gave the Dukes the 2-1 victory after putting away the penalty kick.

Duquesne finished with a large 25-5 shot advantage, while recording 12 corner kicks to Belmont's zero.  Sophomore goalkeeper Lou Manning (Southlake, Texas) saw his first action of the season, recording seven saves between the posts.

Belmont will next return to the Whitten Soccer Complex to host the first Atlantic Sun weekend of the season. The Bruins will welcome Stetson to campus on October 1 for a 3:00 p.m. match before playing host to Florida Gulf Coast on October 3 at 12:05 p.m.