Bucknell University Athletics
An Underrated Bison
9/22/2008 8:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
By Jon Terry, Bucknell Athletic Communications
This is the story of a Bucknell student-athlete who once made a dramatic, game-winning shot in an NCAA Tournament contest. And no, this is not the story of Chris McNaughton.
While McNaughton's name will forever be etched in Bucknell lore for his now-famous hook shot that sent the men's basketball team on the way to a 64-63 victory over Kansas in the 2005 "Big Dance," this Bison hero had his magic moment on the soccer pitch a little over a year later. And since it occurred far away from the bright lights of CBS, his accomplishment has not been as widely noticed.
For Mark Schmiegel, the 5'9" dynamo of a left halfback who has started every game since walking on to the Bucknell campus four years ago, playing under the radar screen suits him just fine, and it befits his standing as one of the Patriot League's most underrated talents.
The most memorable day of Schmiegel's soccer life occurred on November 11, 2006 in Fairfax, Virginia. The Bison had just prevailed in an incredible Patriot League Tournament, beating heavily favored Lehigh and Lafayette, both coming in penalty kicks. Now, on an unseasonably warm afternoon, Bucknell was in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1976. The opponent was a very good George Mason team, and for the third straight time in the postseason, 90 minutes was not enough to determine a winner.
Still scoreless after regulation, the Bucknell coaches implored their team to amp up the pressure on George Mason. Walking back onto the field for overtime, assistant coach Cam Ormsby grabbed Schmiegel by the shirt and said, "You're going to score."
Only five minutes later, Ormsby's prediction came true. Bucknell's Chris Hennings knocked the ball to Justin Wolf in the middle. Open on the wide side of the field, Schmiegel screamed to his teammate, and Wolf found him on the left flank. Schmiegel took a one-touch and launched a shot over the goalkeeper that was ticketed for the far lower corner of the goal. A George Mason defender tried to clear it away but the ball deflected off his body into the cage, and Bucknell's first NCAA win in 32 years was in the books.
The run ended four days later with a 4-0 loss to No. 4 Virginia, which would later advance to the Final Four, but for Schmiegel and his teammates, the memories will last a lifetime.
"That was just an amazing experience," Schmiegel remembers. "I really didn't know the significance of the game until a few days later when I made the national team of the week. Then I looked at the history and realized that we hadn't won an NCAA game in a really long time. Going back to winning the Patriot League tournament, everything just came at us so fast. A few days later we were playing Virginia, and that was a reality check.
"After the goal, everyone went crazy. I ran down the line, but I only made it about five yards and the whole team came off the bench and jumped on me. [2006 graduate] Eric Brunton was at the game and he ran out and jumped on me. The fans started chanting `Ray Bucknell. The feeling was indescribable."
Schmiegel's moment in the sun was hardly a matter of chance. One of the hardest-working and fittest players in the Patriot League, the Toms River, New Jersey native has earned every one of his nine career goals. Entering last Friday night's road game at Binghamton, Schmiegel had started all 66 of Bucknell's games over the last three-plus years, making him the Iron Man of the program.
"I actually haven't missed a game since high school," Schmiegel says while knocking on a wooden desktop. "I am proud of my fitness level. I really work hard in the offseason running and lifting. I try to outwork everyone I play against, especially in the Patriot League. The league is just so tough. There are a lot of kids who are at my fitness level. Before we play the Patriot League teams I try to get my fitness level even higher. In practice I just keep running. I try to outplay everyone on my own team."
Schmiegel credits his roommate and best friend Anthony Ferraro for pushing him to work harder off the field.
"Ferraro is actually the most fit guy on the team, not me. Ferraro and I are best friends, we live together. He is probably the hardest-working player on the team. He makes me a better player because he makes me work harder to keep up with him. The whole team is made up of really good workers. We all push each other every day in practice."
After the terrific postseason run in 2006, Bucknell lost to Colgate in penalty kicks in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals last season, ending a very good year at 9-5-5. The 2007 squad featured seven seniors, including another of the '06 postseason heroes in goalkeeper Joey Kuterbach, along with "glue" players such as Wolf, Corey Curnutte, Joe Mellot and Kevin Holmes.
Given the key losses, most people associated with the program did not know what to expect coming into 2008. Role players would be asked to step in as starters, and guys like Schmiegel and his fellow co-captains Conor O'Brien and Patrick Selwood would no longer be able to grind in anonymity. They would be needed to step in for the Kuertbachs and the Curnuttes as the vocal and emotional leaders of the team.
"Last year we had a lot of good leaders, but I had a few good years watching them and learning from them," Schmiegel offers. "From watching them, I think I have become a good leader also. I'm trying to do what Kuterbach used to do, talking to my teammates and giving them a lot of positive emotions. I think it's working out pretty well so far."
After a shaky defensive showing during the opening weekend of the season, the Bison have been unbeatable ever since. Two weeks ago they played No. 10 Ohio State to a 1-1 tie and blanked Penn State 2-0 for their first win over the Nittany Lions since 1975. Last weekend they beat Cornell for the first time ever and tied a good Hartwick side despite playing a man down for the final 68 minutes.
"We've surprised each other each game, and we really don't know what kind of team we're going to be yet," says Schmiegel. "We lost seven seniors from last season, and five of them were starters. But after the start we've gotten off to, we really believe we can play with any team, whether it is Penn State or Ohio State or any team in the Patriot League. But there are still some unanswered questions that we're searching for every day in practice."
Schmiegel says the team's hot start was rooted in the summer, even before the start of preseason training camp. The upperclassmen with off-campus housing made provisions for the rest of the team to come back to campus a week prior to their official reporting date.
"With so many new faces, it was important for us to get to know each other, get to know the freshman, and just hang out and have some team bonding," the co-captain recalls. "We played pick-up games every day with each other. That week was big, because by the start of preseason we all knew each other so we could get down to business right away. In the last few years we have had some poor starts, but this year we've gotten off to a much better start."
The week of team building also allowed Schmiegel to share his memories of the 2006 postseason with the rookies.
"This summer I showed them a DVD of highlights from that season," says Schmiegel. "I wanted them to see what it's going to feel like for them when their time comes. I showed them my ring and everything. I could see in their eyes that they all want one too."
The fifth of Thomas and Karen Schmiegel's six children - his siblings range in age from 20 to 42 - Schmiegel is a Jersey Shore boy, just like Bison head coach Brendan Nash. (Nash's parents actually saw him play in high school before Brendan did. They passed along a good recommendation to their son.)
But despite the geographic connections, Schmiegel's recruitment to Bucknell was no slam dunk. His choice narrowed to Bucknell, Hofstra, Villanova and Albany, Schmiegel's initial preference was his father's alma mater, Hofstra. Adding to the soap opera was the fact that the Hofstra coach recruiting him was Nash's former assistant, Brian Suskiewicz, who had also seen Schmiegel at summer camp.
"Initially I told Hofstra I was 90 percent sure I was going there," remembers Schmiegel. "But Coach Nash pushed hard and I had a great recruiting visit with Mike Lookingland. He was somebody that I really looked up to since he was going pro. Ultimately when I put everything together -- the academics, the soccer, the new stadium - Bucknell came out on top. I had to call Hofstra back, and that was very uncomfortable. They were not pleased with me, but I've since become friends with Brian working at some camps with him. I'm very happy now, but it was a confusing process. I was looking at four schools and I loved them all."
A member of the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll, Schmiegel is majoring in economics with minors in sociology and women's studies. After graduation he has some tryouts lined up in Scotland and England, and he hopes to continue to play overseas. He has also taken several finance courses at Bucknell, and when his soccer days are over, a career in the business world beckons.
When Bucknell honors its seniors at the Colgate game on Oct. 18, Schmiegel's family will be easy to recognize, simply based on its numbers. He is especially looking forward to playing in front of older brother Kevin (40), a lieutenant colonel in the Marines who is expected to be home from a tour in Israel by then. Oldest brother Tommy was also a college athlete, competing in gymnastics at Georgia Tech. He also has two older sisters - Kirsten, who has four kids and is married to a sheriff, and Amy, who will soon be starting a family of her own - and a younger brother, John, who is currently in barber school.
"I enjoy the relationships with my siblings," says Schmiegel No. 5. "My two older brothers are almost like father figures to me. I look up to all of them and try to make them proud. But they are all accomplished, so I try to live up to them. We are all very competitive, and sports has always played a big role. Whenever we have a family meeting we play soccer or football, and sometimes it gets heated.
"It was cool that they got to see me score a goal on TV [in this year's Penn State game, which was broadcast on the Big Ten Network]. I'm not a big publicity person. Guys like Conor get most of the attraction, and I'm just underneath the radar just working hard. But it was kind of nice scoring a goal in a big game like that on television."
For an underrated talent like Schmiegel, moments like those mean more than you can imagine.
