Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Soccer Begins Quest for 3-Peat Friday at Home vs. Binghamton
8/25/2011 8:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Aug. 25, 2011
LEWISBURG, Pa. --The Bucknell men's soccer team, in the midst of one of its most successful periods in program history, kicks off its 2011 campaign against Binghamton on Friday night at 7 p.m. at Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium. As a special season-opening promotion, the first 250 fans in attendance will receive tee shirts courtesy of Susquehanna Valley Hearing Professionals.
The Bison have captured two straight and three of the last five Patriot League titles. They are only the second team in league history to win as many as three championships in a five-year period. With plenty of talent returning, including Preseason Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year Brendan Burgdorf, Bucknell has high hopes again this fall. Earlier this week, Bucknell was picked second behind Colgate in the Patriot League preseason poll.
Bucknell begins the season with three straight home matches, starting Friday night against a traditionally strong Binghamton team that has developed a bit of a rivalry with the Bison over the last decade. The two teams first met in 2001 (a 4-0 Bucknell win), and the Bison have a 4-3-1 series edge, including a 3-1-0 mark at home.
Last year these two teams met in a late-season midweek affair in Binghamton, and the Bearcats prevailed in a wild 3-2 encounter. The two teams combined for four goal in the first 23 minutes before Jake Keegan snapped a 2-2 deadlock in the 57th minute. Luke Joyner and Andrew Powell scored Bucknell's goals that night.
The Bearcats, who were ranked No. 19 nationally when Bucknell beat them in 2005, have a young squad this year with 11 freshman and just eight upperclassmen. Binghamton was picked to finish fifth in the preseason America East poll. Keegan, a junior forward with 10 goals over the last two seasons, and two-time all-conference midfielder Ryan Walter are key players to watch for the Bearcats.
Following the Binghamton game, Bucknell will be at home against Saint Francis (Pa.) on Sept. 1 and La Salle on Sept. 4 before heading off to South Bend, Ind., to face nationally ranked Indiana and Notre Dame at the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament Sept. 9 and 11.
Below is a more detailed season preview of the 2011 Bison:
Bucknell head men's soccer coach Brendan Nash enters the 2011 season with a full arsenal at his disposal. Coming off back-to-back Patriot League championships, the Bison boast a little bit of everything heading into the new year: depth, size, speed, technical skill and plenty of experience in big games. Still, Nash's squad has plenty to work out as it dives headfirst into a very daunting schedule.
In 2009 the Bison won a school-record 17 matches and captured the Patriot League title as the No. 1 seed and prohibitive favorite in the tournament. After losing All-America midfielder Conor O'Brien to graduation, Bucknell took a more circuitous route to the championship last season, staging a remarkable late-season rally to qualify for the postseason, and then winning the Patriot League Tournament on the road as the No. 4 seed.
Last year's championship squad featured only three seniors –- all of them starters in Ross Liberati, Tommy McCabe and Travis Rand -– meaning that most of Bucknell's roster has been on the field for critical games. In fact, in 2011 there will be 15 players in the Patriot League who have played on the winning side in a championship game, and Bucknell has 13 of them.
Garnering most of the offseason headlines for Bucknell has been 6'4” forward Brendan Burgdorf, who won the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year award as a sophomore last season. In August, Burgdorf was one of two Patriot League players named to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch list, and the league's coaches and sports information directors tabbed him as the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. Burgdorf logged a team-best six goals last season, including a 77th-minute game-winner against No. 15 Penn State.
While Burgdorf has drawn the clippings, and the keen attention of opposing defenses, Bucknell should have quality at all 11 positions with depth to spare. The Bison have been a goal-scoring machine in recent years, producing at least one goal in 74 of their last 78 contests dating back to 2007. But they can also defend. Bucknell set a school record with 12 shutouts in 2009, and after some early struggles last season won two 1-0 decisions in the Patriot League Tournament. Since falling 1-0 in overtime to Penn in the NCAA Tournament, the Bison have gone through an entire spring schedule and two fall exhibition matches without conceding a goal.
“We have the tools to be an attacking team or a defensive team,” said Nash, who is entering his 13th season as head coach. “It is tough to be both at the same time, so we are going to have to form an identity early in the season. Once that happens, we can go. A big part of how we play is going to depend on how we think we can beat that day's opponent. We want to be proactive in our scouting and force our opponent to adjust to us.”
Bucknell appears to be two deep at just about every position, and that includes goalkeeper, where seniors Tommy Caso and Marc Hartmann both have considerable game experience. Caso won the starting job as a freshman, and in 2009 earned Second Team All-Patriot League honors while breaking school records for wins (15) and shutouts (10) in a season. He began last season as the starter, but Hartmann began to emerge midway through the year and was in the cage for Bucknell's postseason run. Hartmann last season finished 7-4-1 with four shutouts. So Bucknell enters 2011 with the rare luxury of having two keepers who have each started in a Patriot League championship game and in an NCAA Tournament game. Sophomore Orman Kimbrough is the understudy to both Caso and Hartmann.
“Tommy is the most athletic of our three keepers, and we are looking for him to rebound and find the form he had his sophomore year,” said Nash. “Marc Hartmann is a very good vocal leader from the back. Last year he gained a tremendous amount of confidence playing in big games, and that confidence has carried over to this year. We have two very good keepers, and we feel very good about both of them.”
In front of the Caso/Hartmann tandem is a potentially dominant back four. Seniors Andrew Powell and Nader Sawtarie, junior Jermaine Jarrett and sophomore Mayowa Alli are all at least six feet tall, and all have terrific speed and athleticism.
Powell may just be the best athlete in the Patriot League -– in any sport. In addition to being a two-time All-Patriot League selection in soccer, Powell has won league titles in both the decathlon and heptathlon as a member of the Bison track and field team. Just as important, he has helped both teams to multiple league championships. On the soccer field, he can play center back or center midfield and possesses a powerful shot and terrific leaping ability. Powell has four career goals, and three of them are second-half game-winners, including a memorable strike from nearly 50 yards out in a 2-1 home win over Army last season.
Sawtarie has battled injuries throughout his career and has bounced around at a few different positions. But he enters 2011 completely healthy and determined to have a big senior year. Sawtarie has great speed and perhaps the hardest shot on the team. Nash also has high hopes for Jarrett, who came up through the Jamaican national team system. Jarrett was a starter as a freshman but also battled some injuries last season. After a productive summer of training, Jarrett is fit and looking sharp in the preseason.
Alli emerged as one of the Patriot League's top newcomers last season and was rewarded with the league's Rookie of the Year Award. Not only did he bring stability to the important left back position, but he also showed the ability to attack forward and scored some big goals down the stretch. He scored twice on headers on set pieces in the 86th minute to erase a 3-1 deficit against Colgate, and he scored the overtime game-winner at Lehigh on the final day of the regular season to propel the Bison to a postseason berth.
Nash calls Alli “one of the strongest tacklers we've ever had in the program,” and he also possesses a powerful throw that adds yet another dimension to the Bucknell attack.
Juniors Vinny Cinotti and Collin Costello bring added experience to the defensive ranks. Cinotti played in 17 games last season, although much of that action came in the offensive half. He used the opportunity to show off the grit and toughness that make him a tough 1v1 defender. Costello has yet to see much game action in a Bison uniform, but Nash says that he is right on the cusp at center back. Costello has good size at 6'3” and has really matured as a player over the last two-plus years. Freshmen John Miller and Rafael Enriquez-Hesles are a pair of promising young backs who have the luxury of a year to learn as part of a veteran unit. Miller is already among the fastest players on the team and could also see some time at outside midfield once he learns some of the nuances of the college game. Enriquez-Hesles is a natural left back with good quickness and technical ability.
Seniors Luke Joyner and Ryan Sappington are the leaders of a quality midfield unit. Joyner has been an impact player from day one, using his 6'4” frame to score big goals both in the air and with his feet. He enters his senior year with eight goals and 13 assists in his career, and he brings all the intangibles to be successful. Sappington is the ultimate “glue” player who has played all over the field during his Bucknell career. He is a smart player who is willing to do all the work.
Junior CK Kumah and sophomore Joe Meyer bring tremendous speed to the outside midfield positions. Nash says Kumah is completely healthy for the first time since his freshman season, and when 100 percent he is a creative and dynamic offensive player. Meyer came on strong at the end of last season and is a candidate for a breakout season in 2011. Meyer had a terrific spring for Bucknell and then won a U-19 national championship with the Baltimore Bays over the summer.
Sophomore Josh Butzke also has some experience after starting 11 games last season, while classmate Aidan Hoolachan is a hard-working, sparkplug-type player who can go at a number of positions.
Among the freshman midfielders, Brian Ward could have the most immediate impact as a holding center mid. Nash says that Ward loves to do the dirty work at this somewhat thankless position that has been played so well by recent graduates Rand and Sean King. Jonathan Grad, who has shown creativity and a nose for the goal at center midfield, and lefty Mark Leibensperger are other newcomers vying for time at the position.
Up front, the junior tandem of Burgdorf and Josh Plump have the potential to pour in plenty of goals. While Burgdorf led the way with six tallies last season, Plump was next with five even though he only started 10 of the 21 games. Plump is the fastest player on the squad, and he sent Bucknell to the Patriot League title match last season by scoring the lone goal in a 1-0 win over top-seeded Colgate in the semifinals.
Freshmen Pat Plourde, a big, physical forward gives Nash a much different look in contrast to Plump if needed, while newcomer Conor Keeley has also shown promise in the preseason.
“I think this team expects to be successful, that we can build off of last year,” said Nash. “We have better depth, where we think we can get to the point where we don't have to hide somebody playing out of position.”
From a leadership perspective, for the first time in Nash's tenure the team will enter a season without permanent captains. The captain's armband will rotate among a number of the veterans in the junior and senior classes, as Nash looks to promote a shared leadership.
“Sometimes having one or two captains can create a big burden,” Nash said. “With this group everyone seems to pick each other up, and we are going to need different leaders in different situations. The team chemistry is awesome at this point.”
