Bucknell Men's Soccer Team Aims for Second Consecutive Patriot League Title in 2004
8/26/2004 8:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Aug. 26, 2004
LEWISBURG, Pa. - After not winning 10 games in a season since the 1993 campaign, Bucknell accomplished the feat for the second consecutive year in 2003. The Bison will try to make it three years in a row in 2004. With eight starters and four of his top five scoring leaders back, sixth-year head coach Brendan Nash hopes to repeat last year's Patriot League regular-season championship.
The Bison open their 75th season next Saturday, Sept. 4, at Hartwick. The match is slated for a 7 p.m. kickoff. Bucknell's first home contest will take place Sunday, Sept. 19, against James Madison.
Nash, who was honored as Patriot League Coach of the Year for the second time, will look toward junior Scott Visnic to lead the Bison offensively. After tallying three goals and two assists as a freshman, Visnic exploded for a Patriot League-most 12 goals and three assists to lead the league with 27 points as a sophomore. In becoming the first Bucknell player since 1993 to net 12 goals, Visnic was honored with the conference's Offensive Player of the Year award. Six of Visnic's goals were of the game-winning variety, including the lone goal in a 1-0 upset of No. 2 Maryland, the biggest victory in school history.
"Scott is our top option offensively," stated Nash. "We think Eric (Brunton), Jonathan (Hemmert) and Ori (Adrabi) are all gifted offensive players who we have high expectations for. We hope they can help lessen Scott's burden."
Brunton is a classmate of Visnic's and was third on the team with four goals last year. He also added six assists, second on the squad. He landed on the All-Patriot League second team, one of seven Bison to be honored with postseason recognition.
Adrabi, a co-captain this year, and Hemmert each tallied double-figure points as juniors and return for their senior campaigns with a combined 105 games played and 74 starts between them. Their experience and 39 career points will be useful in taking some of the offensive load off Visnic. Adrabi joined Visnic on the all-league first team, while Hemmert was the Patriot League Men's Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2003.
On the defensive side of the ball, two-time co-captain Michael Lookingland will attempt to defend his Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year award. Having never missed a start in his career, Lookingland is the key to the defense that allowed just 1.10 goals per game.
"Lookingland is a solid leader," said Nash. "This program depends on his leadership and stability in the backfield."
Along with Lookingland, junior Tim Faneck and senior Otto Tancraitor will be counted on to stop the opposition. Faneck has made 33 starts in two seasons and scored one goal this past season. He also added an assist.
"Faneck had a great spring and a better preseason," commented Nash. "He should have an outstanding year from his defensive position."
Tancraitor, who appeared in just one game a year ago before suffering an injury, appeared in 13 games as a sophomore and brings even more experience to a veteran defensive unit.
"We have eight starters returning, but if you count Otto it is actually nine," explained Nash. "He should come back from his injury and have a strong senior season."
Anchoring the back of the defense will be junior goalkeeper Adam Edwards, a first-team all-league selection last year after being named Rookie of the Year in 2002. In seven conference tilts, Edwards allowed just three goals for a league-best 0.34 goals against average. His eight shutouts brought his career total to 18, third on Bucknell's career list and eighth on the Patriot League's all-time list.
"Adam has set the bar high," said Nash. "We hope he can raise it even higher. With consistency he will be able to prove he is the best goalie in the Patriot League."
After bringing in four freshmen last year, Nash has a class of seven newcomers on the roster this year, however, with 17 letterwinners and eight starters returning he can bring the rookies along slowly and give them time to acclimate to the college game.
"We aren't asking for significant contributions from the freshmen," commented Nash. "Corey Curnutte, Joe Mellott and Justin Wolf seem to be the freshmen most ready to play. The outside midfield position is our only place with question marks right now, so hopefully someone can step up and fill the hole."
After winning the Patriot League regular-season title last year, the Bison fell in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament, held at West Fields, to Lehigh. The end of the season was a disappointment to everyone around the program, but it could lead to even more success this year.
"I haven't set a goal for this season, but the team has," said Nash. "They have set a Patriot League championship as their goal. They learned a hard lesson last year and want to win it this time around."
Nash has made sure Bucknell will be ready for the difficult Patriot League schedule by lining up a heavyweight schedule that features games at South Carolina, Maryland and Penn State, three teams that were among the nation's leaders in attendance last year.
"All three are tough environments to play in," said Nash. "We want to put the team in difficult circumstances so they are prepared for Patriot League play."
Despite the lofty goals, Nash doesn't think his team is at the level it needs to be at yet. He says only hard work will get them there and that they need to continue to learn from last year's disappointing finish. With the season-ending loss to Lehigh on the minds of so many veteran players, it is unlikely a postseason hiccup will occur again.
Following the Hartwick match, Bucknell returns to the field Sept. 10 against College of Charleston in Columbia, S.C.