Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Soccer Hosts Penn State Wednesday, Game to Air on Bison Vision
10/20/2009 8:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 20, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell men's soccer team hauls a six-game winning streak into Wednesday's highly anticipated home date with 22nd-ranked Penn State. Game time is 7 p.m., and admission is free at Emmitt Field.
Last week the Bison defeated Marquette and Army on the road to improve to 11-3 on the season. Bucknell has the ninth-best winning percentage in Division I soccer, and its 11 wins are third-most.
Penn State is also enjoying a strong 2009 season. The Nittany Lions had a five-game unbeaten streak snapped Sunday at No. 20 Ohio State, but Penn State is still 8-4-2 and ranked in the College Soccer News Top 25.
Bucknell snapped a 25-game losing streak to Penn State with a 2-0 victory in State College last season.
BISON MEN'S SOCCER NOTEBOOK
Coverage
- Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
- Click HERE to watch Bucknell-Penn State live video Webcast on Bison Vision (suscription required).
- Click HERE to follow Bucknell-Penn State live stats on GameTracker.
Bucknell vs. Penn State
The Bison have not enjoyed much success against Penn State through the years, although they wiped out about three decades of frustration against the Nittany Lions last season when they won 2-0 in State College. The two teams first met in 1930, and since then, the Nittany Lions have a 57-7-3 record in the series. Penn State had won 25 head-to-head meetings in a row prior to Bucknell's win last Sept. 7 at the Penn State Classic. Bucknell's last win prior to 2008 was a 2-0 decision in Lewisburg on Oct. 14, 1975.
Bucknell vs. The Big Ten
Besides Penn State, Bucknell has gone 0-1-1 all-time against the other current members of the Big Ten, with all three of those matches coming in the last three seasons. In 2007 in Evanston, Ill., the Bison dropped a 2-1 overtime decision at Northwestern. Then last season, in a 48-hour span, Bucknell played No. 10 Ohio State to a 1-1 tie and defeated Penn State 2-0 to win a share of the title at the Penn State Classic.
Bucknell vs. Penn State Last Season
Mark Schmiegel and Chris Hennings scored second-half goals and Tommy Caso made five saves in Bucknell's 2-0 win last year in State College. The victory gave Bucknell a share of the Penn State Classic title with Ohio State. Penn State outshot the Bison 21-7, but in the first minute of the second half Conor O'Brien made a great pass to Schmiegel for the go-ahead goal.
Strong Start
-- Bucknell is 11-3 on the season, its best record after 14 games since the 1974 team started 12-0-2. That 1974 team finished 12-1-2, with the only loss coming to Philadelphia Textile in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
-- Bucknell has reached double figures in the victory column for the 11th time in program history.
-- Only the 2002 (13), 1974 (12), 1982 (12) and 1990 (12) teams have won more than 11 games.
-- The current six-game winning streak is the team's longest since 1983. The last time the Bison won seven in a row was 1976.
Brendan Nash Nets 100th Win
Bison head coach Brendan Nash is in his 11th season at Bucknell, and on Saturday he recorded his 100th career victory with a 3-0 result at Army. Nash is currently 100-79-28, and he ranks No. 2 on Bucknell's all-time wins list , trailing only Craig Reynolds (238). Nash was the Patriot League Coach of the Year in 2000 and 2003, and he led the Bison to the 2006 Patriot League title.
Coaching Stability
Bucknell has had only two head coaches since 1967. Craig Reynolds had the reins from 1967-98, and when Reynolds retired following the 1998 season, he turned the playbook over to his assistant coach Brendan Nash, who has manned the Bison sideline ever since.
Turning 1,000
The Oct. 10 1-0 win over Holy Cross came in the 1,000th game in program history. The Bison are now 440-467-95 all-time, dating back to the program's inception in 1929.
In the Patriot League
Bucknell is 3-1 in Patriot League play so far. The Bison opened league play with a 3-1 home loss to American on Sept. 26, but since then they have posted shutout wins over Navy (1-0), Holy Cross (1-0) and Army (3-0). Bucknell is in sole possession of second place, three points back of American.
Last Week
-- Last Tuesday, Bucknell faced Marquette for the first time and came home with a 2-1 victory, thanks to a golden goal from freshman CK Kumah. Bucknell took a 1-0 lead in the 64th minute when Kumah assisted on Brendan Burgdorf's goal. The Golden Eagles tied it with 3:56 left in regulation, but with just 2:00 left in the second overtime period, Kumah outworked two defenders on the end line to the left of the goal and sent a tough-angle shot in off the right post.
-- On Saturday, Bucknell handed Army its 11th straight loss with a 3-0 blanking at West Point's Clinton Field. Conor O'Brien got the Bison going with his 10th goal of the season in the 39th minute, and Burgdorf and Tommy McCabe tacked on second-half goals. Bucknell outshot Army 25-5, including 10-1 in the second half.
Pair of Freshmen Honored this Week
In something of a rarity, Bucknell had two freshmen earn Patriot League weekly honors on Monday. Brendan Burgdorf was named the PL Offensive Player of the Week after producing two goals and an assist in the two wins last week. CK Kumah earned rookie of the week honors based on his three-point game against Marquette that included the OT goal.
Bison Rarely Blanked
On Oct. 28, 2008, Bucknell suffered a 1-0 loss to eventual Patriot League champion Colgate. That ended a run of 28 straight games with a goal, the longest such streak in Division I soccer at the time. The Bison immediately started a new national-best streak. Since that Colgate game, they have scored in 19 games in a row, including all 14 this season. That is tied with Winthrop for the longest active streak in the nation. The Bison have scored at least once in 47 of their last 48 games dating back to the 2007 season.
Most Consecutive Games with a Goal, Division I: 1. Bucknell 19 Winthrop 19 3. Green Bay 16 San Diego 16 5. UC Santa Barbara 15 6. Akron 13 7. UAB 12 8. St. Bonaventure 11 9. Fordham 10 UIC 10 Tulsa 10
Score Once and Win
Bucknell has seven shutouts in 2009, the first six of which came by 1-0 scores. That trend ended on Saturday when the Bison scored three times in a clean sheet against Army. Nine of the team's 11 victories this season have come by one goal.
Bison No. 1 in Both Offense and Defense
Bucknell leads the Patriot League in both scoring offense (1.71 goals per game) and goals-against average (0.85). Bucknell's seven shutouts are tied for the most in the league.
Same Captains in 2009
Bucknell's 2009 co-captains — senior midfielder/forward Conor O'Brien and senior defender Patrick Selwood — were also co-captains as juniors in 2008.
Freshman Influence
Over the summer, Bucknell's 2009 freshman class was ranked No. 30 in the nation by College Soccer News, and a number of those newcomers have already played prominent roles. The most visible freshman has been forward Brendan Burgdorf, who has started every game at forward and has six goals and two assists for 14 points. His goal and point totals are tops among Patriot League freshmen. Accra, Ghana native CK Kumah has also started every game, and he recently scored game-winning goals in back-to-back wins over Holy Cross and Marquetter. Jermaine Jarrett missed three games due to illness, but otherwise has been a regular on the back line. Last year's New Jersey Player of the Year Josh Plump has started two games up front, and has been a prominent sub in all other games. He has three assists thus far.
Selwood a Rock on “D”
Senior co-captain Patrick Selwood has developed into one of the Patriot League's steadiest defenders and should be a candidate for the league's defensive player of the year award this season. Some of Selwood's career highlights:
-- 2008 Second Team All-Patriot League.
-- 2008 Days' Inn Classic MVP.
-- 2008 ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District and NSCAA Scholar All-East Team.
-- Has 56 career starts, including all 33 since the start of last season.
Keep an Eye on O'Brien
Bucknell senior Conor O'Brien was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year in 2008, and he has designs on winning it again this year. Here are some season and career highlights for O'Brien:
O'Brien in 2009:
-- Named to the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy Watch List prior to the season. It was his second straight year on the Watch List.
-- Leads the Patriot League in goals (10) and points (24). Ranks 15th nationally in goals per game and 19th in points per game.
-- Has a league-high six game-winning goals. Scored the lone goal in three of Bucknell's six 1-0 wins.
-- Has two-goal games against La Salle and St. Peter's and a two-assist game against Vermont.
-- Had his school-record points streak snapped at 11 games on Sept. 23 against Saint Francis (Pa.). Currently has a point in 16 of his last 19 games.
-- Patriot League Offensive Player of Week on Sept. 6.
O'Brien in his career:
-- 2008 Patriot League Offensive Player of Year.
-- 2008 First Team All-Patriot League; 2007 Second Team All-Patriot League.
-- 2007 and 2008 Second Team NSCAA/adidas All-Mid-Atlantic Team.
-- On Bucknell's career lists ranks ninth in goals (25), tied for third in assists (20) and tied for seventh in points (70).
Tournament Success
Backed by 1-0 wins over Hartwick and Syracuse, Bucknell won the Mayor's Cup earlier this season in Oneonta, N.Y. That was the team's third tournament title in the last two seasons. A year ago, the Bison defeated Penn State (2-0) and tied No. 10 Ohio State (1-1) to claim the Penn State Classic, and they also won their own Days Inn Bison Classic with a win over Cornell (3-0) and a draw with Hartwick (2-2).
Getting it Done on Time
Last season, Bucknell broke a school record by playing eight overtime games (2-3-3). This season, however, the Bison have played just one overtime contest, that coming at Marquette last week.
Owning the Second Half
Bucknell has outscored opponents 15-6 in the second half of games this season, including 13-1 in its 11 victories.
First-Time Starters on Defense
Bucknell has three first-year starters on defense, and all three have been rock solid. On the outside, junior Travis Rand and sophomore Andrew Powell have been starters since day one (Rand missed one game due to injury). Running alongside senior co-captain Patrick Selwood at center back has been freshman Jermaine Jarrett, a native of Kingston, Jamaica. The emergence of the three new starters has allowed coach Brendan Nash to move talented junior Ross Liberati up into the midfield, although Liberati does still play some on the back line.
Strong in the Air
Sophomore defender Andrew Powell has provided a strong presence in the air for the Bison, and it's easy to see why when you see what he does after the soccer season ends. Powell moonlights as a high jumper and decathlete for the Bucknell track and field team. Last season he placed third in both the high jump and heptathlon at the Patriot League Indoor Championships, and outdoors he was third in the high jump and fourth in the decathlon. His top high jump of 6-8 1/4 ranks No. 8 in program history.
Strong in the Air, Part II
Junior Ross Liberati has five career goals, all of them coming on headers. This season, one of Liberati's two assists came when he headed the ball to Andrew Powell, who headed it into the net for the game-winning goal in a 1-0 win over Saint Francis (Pa.).
Caso in Cage
Sophomore Tommy Caso is a two-time Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week in 2009. Earlier in the year Caso was named the Garth Stam Defensive Most Valuable Player at the Mayor's Cup. Caso has five shutouts this season and has given up only 11 goals in 13 games for a 0.88 goals-against average, the second-best mark in the Patriot League.
Last Time in the NCAAs
Bucknell's last NCAA Tournament appearance came in 2006. After winning twice in penalty kicks in the Patriot League Tournament, the Bison traveled to George Mason for the first round of the NCAAs and won 1-0 in overtime on Mark Schmiegel's golden goal. Bucknell was eliminated by No. 4 Virginia, 4-0, in the second round.
Bison Get it Done in the Classroom Too
In the spring 2009 semester, the Bucknell men's soccer team combined for a 3.32 grade-point average. Last season, three Bison — Patrick Selwood, Chris Hennings and Jason Soto — were named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District Team. Hennings went on to make the national Academic All-America Team, while Soto won an Arthur Ashe Sports Scholar Award.
Bucknell-Lafayette Game on Fox Soccer Channel
Bucknell's Oct. 30 home game against Lafayette is the NSCAA/Fox Soccer Channel Game of the Week. It will be the second time in three years that a Bucknell home game has been slotted for FSC broadcast. In 2007, the Bison defeated Lehigh 3-1 on FSC.
Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium
Bucknell plays its home soccer games at Emmitt Field, a natural-grass, soccer-only facility on campus. The Kentucky Bluegrass pitch has been in use now for five seasons, and in 2007 the Holmes Stadium facility was completed. Holmes Stadium features a covered grandstand with chairback seating, locker room facilities, press box and VIP suites and concessions and merchandise shops.
On the Horizon
After Wednesday night's game against Penn State, the Bison travel to Colgate for a key Patriot League contest Saturday night at 7 p.m. in Hamilton, N.Y. Colgate, the defending league champion, defeated Bucknell 1-0 in Lewisburg last season. That is the only time the Bison have been shut out in their last 48 games.
Bison Briefs
-- Tommy McCabe scored his first goal of the season on Saturday at Army.
-- The Marquette win was Bucknell's first road overtime victory since the 2006 NCAA Tournament win at George Mason.
-- Conor O'Brien and Brendan Burgdorf rank 1-2 in the Patriot League in both goals and points.
-- Josh Plump attempted a game-high seven shots against Army, two of which struck a post.
-- Bucknell received one vote in the NSCAA national poll this week.
-- The Bison have now doubled their opponents scoring totals on the year, 24-12.
