Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Soccer Opens Patriot League Play Saturday at Home vs. Lehigh
9/22/2011 8:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 22, 2011
**NOTE: Saturday's game will be an ORANGE OUT game. The first 150 fans through the gates will receive a free Bucknell Soccer tee shirt.**
LEWISBURG, Pa. --The Bucknell men's soccer team has been heating up of late with three straight shutout victories, but the stakes get raised considerably on Saturday at 4 p.m. when Lehigh comes to town to kick off Patriot League play. The Bison (5-3) and Mountain Hawks (3-1-3) have both fared well against tough non-conference schedules, and both figure to be contenders for the PL regular-season and tournament titles.
Both teams received multiple first-place votes in the Patriot League preseason poll, where Bucknell was picked second and Lehigh fourth. In this week's NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Region Poll, Lehigh is ranked fourth and the Bison fifth.
Both teams have results against nationally ranked teams thus far. After suffering a pair of tough one-goal losses to No. 10 Indiana and No. 17 Notre Dame, the Bison came back last weekend and won 2-0 at No. 24 Monmouth, giving the Hawks just their fourth home loss in the last four years. Meanwhile, Lehigh earned a 1-1 draw with No. 22 California and a 1-0 win at Stanford two weeks ago at the CAL Legacy Classic.
Lehigh also has wins over Yale and Saint Peter's and scoreless draws with Stony Brook and La Salle. The Mountain Hawks have been ultra-tight defensively, conceding only two goals all season, one to Cal and the other in a 1-0 loss at Fordham.
Joe Puleo leads Lehigh with two goals and five points, while James Meyerkord, Neal Melchionni and Daniel Odenwelder also have goals. Ciaran Nugent has been strong in goal, with 34 saves and only two goals allowed for a .944 save percentage.
While Bucknell features the reigning Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year in Brendan Burgdorf and the current league goal-scoring leader in Mayowa Alli, Lehigh has last year's PL Defensive Player of the Year in Kevin Strunk.
And while Lehigh already has five shutouts in seven games this season, the Bison have scored in every game in 2011, and in 82 of their last 86 contests dating back to 2007.
The Bison have been no slouches defensively of late, either. Bucknell stretched its scoreless string to 288 minutes -- all on the road -- with Wednesday's 1-0 blanking of Drexel. Over the weekend, the Bison won 1-0 at Saint Joseph's and 2-0 at Monmouth, and in those three shutouts they allowed only 26 total shots and only 10 on goal. Senior keeper Tommy Casostopped all 10 of those, and he is now 5-2 on the season with a .714 save percentage and 1.09 goals-against average.
Alli has been the league's hottest goal-scorer of late. The left back comes forward on set pieces and has been deadly at times, netting a league-high six goals in eight games. He scored both goals in the win at Monmouth and then tallied again with seven minutes to play to give Bucknell the 1-0 win over Drexel on Wednesday.
Alli, the 2010 Patriot League Rookie of the Year, has twice been named the PL Offensive Player of the Week this season, even though he starts in the back four.
Burgdorf and Luke Joyner both have six points on two goals and two assists, while Joe Meyerleads the team with three assists.
Bucknell and Lehigh have played some classic games in recent years. Last season they met in the final game of the regular season in Bethlehem, and Bucknell had to have a victory to qualify for the Patriot League Tournament. The Bison trailed 1-0 late in the game, but CK Kumahtied it in the 76th minute, setting the stage for Alli's winning goal in overtime. Bucknell not only earned the fourth tournament spot, but it then went on to win the championship.
Two years ago at Emmitt Field, it was Lehigh scoring in overtime to clinch a postseason berth on the last day of the season. Adam Welch had the golden goal in that one, spoiling Burgdorf's equalizer with 10 minutes to play. That was a rare loss for the Bison in what ended up being a school-record 17-win season.
In 2008, Bucknell scored an even more dramatic win. Facing elimination from the postseason, the Bison rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2.
These two rivals have played 54 times since 1960, and the tightly contested series is all even at 23-23-8. As Patriot League rivals, Lehigh leads 14-7-4, although the Bison are 4-2-2 in the last eight meetings.
Bucknell and Lehigh have met four times in the Patriot League Tournament. Lehigh won 1-0 in 2000 and 2-0 in 2003. In 2004 and 2006 the two teams were tied after 110 minutes and went to penalty kicks. Lehigh prevailed in PKs in 2004, but the Bison upset the then-14th-ranked and top-seeded Mountain Hawks in the semifinals two years later.
Following the Lehigh game, Bucknell will have a week off before hosting American in another key league showdown on Oct. 1 at 7 p.m.
