Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Soccer Travels to Navy Saturday with PL Tournament Berth on Line
11/4/2005 7:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 4, 2005
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell men's soccer team closes its regular season Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Navy's Glenn Warner Soccer Facility against the Mids with a Patriot League Tournament berth on the line. The Bison, Navy and Colgate are in a three-way tie for fourth place in the conference standings. The top four teams in the league qualify for the postseason.
Bucknell, Navy and Colgate have matching 3-3-0 conference records heading into play Saturday. The Raiders play at Holy Cross, which stands seventh in the Patriot League, Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. Lafayette and Lehigh, along with American and Army are the two other conference games Saturday.
If the Bison win, and the Lafayette-Lehigh game does not end in a tie, they will qualify for the Patriot League Tournament for the third consecutive year for the first time in program history. Bucknell can also earn a berth in the four-team field with a win and a Colgate loss or tie against Holy Cross. If the Bison tie with the Mids, they would need a Colgate loss and for Lafayette or Lehigh to earn the top seed in the tournament. American, Lafayette and Lehigh enter the weekend in a three-way tie for first place with identical 4-2-0 PL marks.
Bucknell (8-6-3), which has lost just once in its last five games, is coming off a 1-0 win over Princeton in which senior goalkeeper Adam Edwards (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown) posted his 27th career shutout to break the Patriot League record. Edwards, who broke the Bucknell career record of 24 shutouts that had stood since 1975 earlier this year, leads the Patriot League with nine blankings and is one shutout shy of tying his career high of 10 he recorded as a freshman. Edwards is also among the league leaders in saves with 70 and goals-against average with 0.87. He has stopped .833 percent of the shots he has faced.
The lone goal in the win over Princeton on Wednesday night came off the head of senior defender Tim Faneck (Shavertown, Pa./Dallas). He took a pass from Joe Mellott (Highland, Md./Mount St. Joseph) in the opening minutes of the game and headed the ball in for his second goal of the year. The co-captain has three goals and eight points in his career, and is tied for second on the team with freshman Mark Schmiegel (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) with five points.
Navy enters Saturday night's season-finale with an 8-6-1 overall mark, but has won just once in its last four outings. The Mids, who are coming off a 4-2 win over arch-rival Army last Friday, are second in the Patriot League in scoring with 25 goals this season. Eight different players have scored more than one goal with sophomore forward J.P. Murphy leading the way with four goals and four assists for a team-high 12 points.
Navy's defense is strong as well, yielding only 16 goals in 15 games. Three different goalies have seen time in net with senior Aric McElheny and sophomore Thomas Jenkins seeing the bulk of the duty. Each has posted a pair of shutouts. McElheny leads the team with a 0.76 goals-against average and has given up six goals while making 32 saves. Jenkins has allowed nine goals and made 24 saves.
Despite Bucknell winning four of the last five meetings, including the last three straight, Navy leads the all-time series between the two teams, 22-5-1. The Bison last gave up a goal to the Mids during a 2-1 loss in Annapolis, Md., in 2001 and defeated them 1-0 in Lewisburg last year.
The Patriot League Tournament commences with the semifinals Friday, Nov. 11, at the home field of the highest seed. American, Lafayette and Lehigh are still in the running for the top seed and the rights to host. The championship game is slated for Sunday, Nov. 13.
