Lyndonville, VT - The Lyndon State College men's soccer team saw its season come to an end on Saturday afternoon, as the Hornets dropped a 4-2 decison to Johnson State College on Varsity Field.  Lyndon conclused the 2017 campaign with a 5-9-1 overall record and a 1-7-1 mark in North Atlantic conference play.  Johnson improves to 7-10 and 2-7 in the NAC with one game remaining on their schedule, Monday at Norwich University.

The Badgers got on the board in the opening minutes of Saturday's contest, as Collin Campbell (Killington, VT) outran Lyndon's defenders to a long ball from Rob Buonanno (Wolcott, VT), and fired it past Hornet goalkeeper Matt LaClair (Beekmantown, NY).  In the 33rd minute, Johnson was called for a foul in the box, giving Lyndon's Abukar Hassan (Kenya) a chance to even things with a penalty kick.  However Badger goalkeeper Gerrit Lane (Moretown, VT) was able to dive and get a hand on Hassan's shot aimed for the lower right corner, and keep Johnson in the lead.

Lyndon was able to tie things up in the 43rd minute when Liam Kelleher (Manchester, VT) headed in a flip throw in from Joshua Thibault (Glover, VT).  A minute later, Lyndon took the lead on a nearly identical goal, as this time Devin Cowan (Saranac Lake, NY) headed home Thibault's flip throw.

Buoananno tallied twice, in the 60th minute and the 68th minute, to put Johnson back in front, 3-2.  From that point the Hornets pressed up, trying to get the equalizer.  Cowan had a golden opportunity to tie things in the 89th minute, but he was unable to get everything on his shot and Lane made the stop.  Johnson then added an insurance goal from Joseph Holloway (Essex County, England) with six seconds remaining.

The Hornets outshot Johnson 17-11 for the contest.  Lane made seven saves in goal for the Badgers, while LaClair was credited with two stops.

Saturday's game marked the final one in a Lyndon uniform for Thibault, Cowan, LaClair, Kelleher, and fellow seniors Jose Darias (Sudbury, MA), Nate Kolash (Dubois, PA), Dylan Jacobs (Braintree, VT), and Bradley Shumway (Bloomingdale, NY).  The players and their families were recognized and honored in a brief ceremony prior to the contest.