BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - A goal from Robbie Bennett (Durban, South Africa / St. Benedict School) during the final minute of the match along with two scores from Adam Sharbaugh (Sarver, Pa. / Knoch) less than two mintues apart helped the Gannon men's soccer team earn a come-from-behind win over Bloomsburg on Tuesday.
After Bloomsburg took a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute, the Golden Knights out-scored the Husked 4-2 the rest of the way to earn their first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) win of the year.
Despite Gannon firing seven of the matches' first 10 shots, it was the Huskies who took the early lead on a shot from Bryce Shaffer. However, Sharbaugh exploded to score twice over the next one minute and 23 seconds to give Gannon a 2-1 lead. Marnix van der Donk (The Hague, Netherlands / Maerlant Lyceum) and Tyler Hollingsworth (Johannesburg, South Africa / St. David's Marist Inanda)assised on the first and second goal respectively.
The first-half scoring continued in the 36th minute as Bloomsburg evened up the score after Shaffer netted his second goal of the match. Off a corner kick, he fired the loose ball to the back of the net.
Gannon regained the lead before half time thanks to Faycal Benjelloun (Rabat, Morocco / Lycee Descartes). After entering the match just four minutes earlier, Benjelloun easily scored in the center of the net after the Bloomsburg goalie was caught out of the goal. Each time fired off one more shot before the half, but failed to score.
Gannon held a 15-7 edge in shots in the first half with the Bloomsburg goalie making five saves.
Holding a 3-2 lead, the Golden Knights had a chance to extend their lead 10 minutes into the second half. Off a corner kick from van der Donk, Sharbaugh's header appeard to be headed toward the goal, but a Bloomsburg defender stepped in front of the shot, preventing a hat trick for the junior.
A flurry of shots in the 83rd and 84th minutes eventually led to a match-tying goal for the Huskies. Jason Barbarino (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Plum Senior) stopped a shot from Shaffer at the 82:45 mark. Barbarino then made a save on a Nate Conrad shot a minute later, but the rebound came back to Fran Miller, who headed the ball to tie the score at three.
After the goal, Bloomsburg fired the next two shots with Barbarino recording a save on one and the other sailing high. After regaining possession of the ball, two shots from Sharbaugh missed before Bennett finally connected with exactly one minute remaining in the match. The freshman dribbled through two defenders and scored in the right corner of the goal. Neither team recorded a shot during the final minute, giving Gannon the 4-3 win.
Six different Golden Knights scored at least one point in the match, led by Sharbaugh's four. In total, Gannon out-shot the Huskies 24-16 and held a 5-3 edge in corner kicks. Barbarino made four saves in goal while Bloomsburg's two goalies combined for eight saves.
Gannon's first PSAC win moves them to 1-3 in conference while holding a 5-6-1 overall record. Bloomsburg fell to 3-5-1 overall with a 3-2-1 record in PSAC matches.
Gannon returns home on Saturday, October 8 to host East Stroudsburg at Gannon University Field. The men's match at 3:30 p.m. will follow the women's match at 1 p.m.
For a complete box score from today's Gannon-Bloomsburg men's soccer match, please click here.
