Houghton, NY—Andrew Bussey (Leicester, England, Rosslyn Academy) had a goal and three assists, and four of his teammates collected a goal apiece as the Houghton College men's soccer team throttled the Lancaster Bible College Chargers, 5-0 on Tuesday night at Burke Field
 
With the win the Houghton moves to 8-6-2 overall, while Lancaster Bible falls to 11-4-3. 
 
The game pitted a rematch of last year's NCCAA East Region semifinal, in which the Highlanders defeated the Chargers 1-0 at LBC.
 
As the teams attempted to solve their opponents' defensive puzzle, the first 15 minutes were played primarily in the midfield.   The only one shot from either team came on an attempt by Chargers forward Edward Bills, which was blocked by a Houghton defender. 
 
Finally, in the 16^th minute Bussey drove a corner kick into the box where Tyler Ashley (Landisville, PA, Hempfield) flicked a header past the keeper into the far-post upper 90 netting for his first goal of the season.
 
The Highlanders struck on another corner 27 minutes later.  Bussey again drove the ball into the box, which deflected off a Charger defender to Mitch Beattie (Maitland, Ontario, St. Mary Catholic) at the top of the 18.  Beattie drove a low, hard left-footed shot through the defense into the left side-netting for his third goal in two games.
 
Bussey's assist extravaganza continued into the second half when he drove a long ball from the defensive third to Ben Lawrence (Marlborough, CT, RHAM High School) on the left flank.  Lawrence quickly settled the ball, took a touch to beat a defender into the box and ripped a shot far-post to beat the diving keeper.
 
Not to be outdone by his teammates, though, Bussey got in on the goal-scoring action himself in the 83^rd minute.  Landon Sheaffer (Richfield, PA, East Juniata) slid a ball through two defenders, which Bussey collected and calmly passed around the outstretched keeper to the inside of the far-post.
 
Only a minute later, Shaeffer would collect his own tally.  After Charger keeper Thiago Naque made a diving save from the top of the box, Tyler Groff (Millersville, PA, Penn Manor) corralled the deflection on the right side of the box and hit a cross back to Shaeffer who headed the ball in from the six for his first goal of the season.
 
"It was a good night all around," commented Houghton head coach Matthew Webb.  "We organized well at the back, played well defensively, and our attack seems to be coming together.  We scored some really impressive goals.  This was a big win for us, both to keep us in contention for the NCCAA playoffs and heading into this weekend's game against Utica."
 
Team captain Ashley concurred, "I thought we played really well tonight.  [Shaeffer] and [Bussey] both played incredibly well.  It was a big win for us."
 
With playoff implications on the line, the Highlanders take on Utica College at home on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. in their final regular season contest of the year. 
 
Houghton, Alfred University and Elmira College are all battling for seeds #3 and #4 in the Empire 8 conference tournament with one conference match-up left for each of team. 
 
The Highlanders will earn the #3 seed if:

• Houghton defeats Utica
• Houghton ties Utica, Elmira ties or loses vs. St. John Fisher, AND  Alfred ties or loses vs. Ithaca

 The Highlanders will earn the #4 seed if:

• Elmira wins AND Alfred and Houghton both lose
• Elmira ties AND Houghton and Alfred lose