ANNVILLE, Pa. – Lebanon Valley outlasted Commonwealth Conference opponent Widener on Wednesday evening, Oct. 22, knocking off the visitors 2-1 in a thrilling defensive struggle at Herbert Field. Goals by freshman
Austin Freeman and Pride own goal set up by sophomore
John McHale proved to be enough to top Widener in a competitive contest in which chances were few and far between.
After a 30 minute opening stretch that saw the Flying Dutchmen get off just two shots on goal, Freeman converted a chance in front off a perfectly placed pass from senior
Kevin Doty from the right side of the Widener box. Freeman's second score of the year put the home team out in front in the 31st minute.
LVC's lead held at the break but the Pride were able to take advantage of a two-on-one breakaway run in the 60th minute. Widener's Eric Taylor broke into the Lebanon Valley half with Eric Bihlear in tow and created enough space to get around his LVC defender and fire his shot into the lower right corner of the net to even things up.
It didn't take long for the Dutchmen to respond, however, as McHale gathered a ball in close in the left half of the Pride box and ripped a shot off Widener goalkeeper Dave Sousa. The redirected attempt deflected off a Widener player and across the goal line, giving the home team a 2-1 advantage it wouldn't relinquish in the 66th minute.
The Dutchmen got strong play from their back line and midfielders as seniors
Connor McDonald,
Kyle Fronk, and Doty, juniors
Joe Gallagher and
Jake Herron, McHale, and freshmen
Nate Gibbons and
Matt Prince limited the Pride to four total shots on goal. Freshman goalkeeper
Cam Avery was strong between the posts as well, making three saves including an acrobatic stop during a flurry of Widener close range attempts early in the first half.
The late season victory improved Lebanon Valley to 6-7-2 on the year and 2-2-1 in conference play. The win also gave the Dutchmen an edge on a league foe ranked ahead of them entering the day's outing. LVC will look to continue climbing the Commonwealth ranks as the league's postseason tournament nears when they travel to Arcadia for another conference matchup on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 25. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.
