Castleton Rallies Past Johnson 2-1

Noor Bulle scored his second goal of the year in the Badgers tough 2-1 loss to Castleton at home on Friday

JOHNSON, Vt. (October 8, 2010) - Johnson State men's soccer suffered a 2-1 defeat at home on Friday afternoon to North Atlantic Conference (NAC) foe Castleton State College on a very wet Minaert Field. Despite getting on the board first, the Badgers fall to 2-5-3 overall and 1-1-1 in the NAC while Castleton improves to 9-4 overall and 5-0 in the NAC.  The Spartans have now won six straight matches.

Johnson State got on the board first with just over 10 minutes remaining in the first half when Lucas Fitzgerald (Morrisville, Vt./Peoples) lofted a long pass up the middle of the field where Noor Bulle (Somalia/Burlington, Vt./Burlington) was able to out duel a pair of Castleton defenders and beat Castleton keeper Andy LaCroix (Jamaica, Vt./Leland & Gray) for a 1-0 Johnson lead.

With only :31 seconds left in the first half Ian Hunter (Ellington, Conn./Ellington) put just enough foot on a loose ball following a Spartan corner kick and tucked it inside the right post for the equalizer.

With darkness quickly approaching and a Johnson foul giving Castleton a free kick from just outside the right of the penalty box, Jacob Ferry (Warwick, R.I./Pilgrim) firmly struck an the free kick towards the far post where Nick Johnas (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) put a head on it sending it just under the crossbar and recorded the eventual game-winner.

Johnson's Sam Martin (Essex, Vt./Essex) made eight stops in the loss while LaCroix needed three saves to pick up the victory in net for Castleton.

Johnson State will travel to Maine for a set of matches next weekend at Maine-Farmington and Thomas while Castleton will move on to play Middlebury College at home on Wednesday, October 15.