For Immediate Release: September 11, 2011
Contact: David O'Brian (dobrian@binghamton.edu)
Phone: 607-777-6478

No. 11 Ohio State rallies to beat BU men's soccer 2-1
Keegan scores in fourth minute but Buckeyes net a pair of late goals

Box Score

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Chris Hengi and Sebastian Rivas each scored within the final 15 minutes of regulation, leading No. 11 Ohio State (3-1-1) to a 2-1 win over Binghamton (2-2-0) in a non-conference men's soccer game on Sunday afternoon at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The match marked the second time in two weeks that a nationally-ranked team had to rally to defeat the Bearcats.

As was the case a week earlier against then No. 12 West Virginia, junior forward Jake Keegan scored in the opening minutes of the game. His unassisted goal in the fourth minute marked his fourth goal in as many games, something no other BU player has accomplished during the program's 10-year NCAA Division I era.

Binghamton showed no signs of letting up after taking the lead, firing seven shots in the opening 26 minutes of the first half. Buckeye goalkeeper Matt Lampson had a pair of saves during that stretch.

Each team had eight shots on goal in the opening half but the host Buckeyes held an overwhelming 20-3 edge in the second half. Sophomore goalkeeper Anthony Sokalski, who finished the game with a career-high 10 saves, kept Ohio State off the scoreboard for the opening 29 minutes of the second half.

In the 74th minute, however, Hengi finally broke through to deadlock the game at 1-1. The assists were credited to Ben Killian and Adam Gorski. In the 85th minute, Rivas took a pass from Kenny Cunningham and fired the ball into the net from five yards outside the penalty box.

The Bearcats were unable to mount a game-tying shot during the final five minutes of regulation. The final shot margin was 28-11 and each team took five corner kicks during the match.

"I thought we came out great and were on top of the match," head coach Paul Marco said. "We needed to be able to compete a little bit more in the key moments of the second half. Ohio State is a great team and we are a young team that can be pretty good."

The 10 saves made by Sokalski is the most recorded by a BU player since Jason Stenta stopped 11 shots against Gonzaga on Sept. 18, 2009.

Up next for Binghamton is its home tournament this coming weekend. The Bearcats face Central Connecticut at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Rider at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. Albany, meanwhile, will also take part in the tournament. The Great Danes square off against Rider at 5 p.m. on Friday and Central Connecticut at noon on Sunday.

NOTE: Heading into the match, the Buckeyes were ranked No. 11 by Soccer America, No. 23 by College Soccer News and are the first team receiving votes in the NSCAA/adidas poll ... Keegan, who leads the Bearcats with four goals and 10 points, now has 14 career goals. He is in sixth place in the program's Division I era record book (since 2001). Bryan Arnault (2003-06) is in fifth place with 15 goals while Joey Neilson (2003-06) sits in fourth place with 16 goals ... through its first four contests, the Bearcats are averaging 2.25 goals per game. Keegan entered the match leading the America East in both goals and total points.