Bucknell University Athletics
Joyner, Caso Honored as Bucknell Men's Soccer Remains Hot
11/2/2009 7:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 2, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. – More weekly awards poured in Monday for the Bucknell men's soccer team, which is nearing the end of a record-setting regular-season. Following the team's school-record 14th win of the year, sophomore midfielder Luke Joyner (Dallas, Texas/J.J. Pearce) was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week, and sophomore Tommy Caso (Phoenix, Md./McDonogh) was picked as the Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week. Joyner also earned a spot on the College Soccer News “Team of the Week.”
Bucknell won twice by shutout last week, with the headliner a key 1-0 win over Patriot League rival Lafayette in a match televised live on fox Soccer Channel. The victory was not only the record-setting 14th of the season, but coupled with American's loss to Holy Cross over the weekend, it moved the Bison into sole possession of first place in the Patriot League standings with one game remaining. Earlier in the week, Bucknell blanked NJIT 2-0 on the road.
Joyner was the offensive star in the two victories. Against NJIT he snapped a scoreless tie in the 57th minute, and just 3:26 later he assisted on Josh Plump's insurance goal.
The Lafayette game also remained scoreless deep into the second half, when Joyner scored with just 12:13 remaining in regulation. Just like the goal against NJIT, this one came on a header from a Conor O'Brien corner kick.
Joyner now has three goals and six assists for a career-high 12 points on the season. He ranks second on the team in assists and third in points. His assist total also ranks second in the Patriot League.
Each week College Soccer News selects its national “Team of the Week,” and this week Joyner was named to the squad. He joined Alex Dixon of North Carolina, Juan Hoyos of Northern Illiniois, Teal Bunbury of Akron, Chris Madsen of Marquette, Andre Akpan of Harvard, Tim Ritter of Providence, R.J. Allen of Monmouth, Michael Boxall of UC Santa Barbara, Kevin Mejia of Boston College and Tyler Picard of Dayton.
Caso got the night off against NJIT, as senior reserve Will Byrne earned his first start of the season and recorded the shutout of the Highlanders. Caso was back in the goal for the Lafayette match, however, and he presided over the team's ninth shutout of the season and his seventh. The seven shutouts in a season are tied for ninth-most in program history, three shy of the record shared by Mark Wrigley (1993) and Adam Edwards (2002).
This is Caso's league-high third goalkeeper of the week award this season. Caso lowered his season goals-against average to 0.90, the second-best mark in the Patriot League.
Bucknell's 14 victories are second-most in the nation, trailing only No. 1 Akron (16-0). The Patriot League record for wins in a regular season is 15, set by Lehigh in 2006, and the league mark for total wins in a season is 16 by Lafayette in 1998.
With a two-point lead over American atop the Patriot League standings, the Bison wrap up the 2009 regular season at home against Lehigh on Friday night at 7 p.m. Bucknell can finish no lower than second in the standings, and it can clinch the regular-season title with a win against the Mountain Hawks on Senior Night, as well as with a loss or tie by American against Colgate. If American wins and Bucknell ties, the Eagles win the tiebreaker based on their head-to-head win over the Bison earlier in the year.
