Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Soccer Faces Host American in Patriot League Tournament Semifinals Friday Morning
11/8/2012 7:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 7, 2012
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LEWISBURG, Pa. --After a one-year absence the Bison men's soccer team returns to the Patriot League Tournament this weekend. Bucknell found a way into the four-team playoff as the No. 4 seed, and the Bison will take on host American in the first semifinal match on Friday at 11 a.m. at Reeves Field in Washington, D.C. No. 2 Lafayette and No. 3 Colgate will meet in the other semifinal, with the winners moving on to the championship game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Bucknell enters the postseason with a 7-7-5 overall record, 2-3-2 in the Patriot League. The Bison finished in a tie for fourth place with Holy Cross and prevailed in the tiebreaker based on their victory over third-place Colgate. Bucknell had some nervous moments on the final night of the season, as it needed both a tie in the Army-Lehigh game and a Colgate win or tie at Navy. Both of those matches had dramatic finishes, but the Bison got the results they needed to stay alive.
Bucknell is 4-4-5 all-time in Patriot League Tournament matches, and the Bison won the title in each of their last two postseason appearances in 2009 and 2010. In both of those championship seasons, Bucknell defeated American in the final, 1-0 in 2009 and 2-0 in 2010. Bucknell also won the tournament in 2006. In both 2006 and 2009, the Bison went on to post victories in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
American was the only team in a balanced Patriot League to go unbeaten in league play in 2012. The Eagles finished 5-0-2 for 17 points, five ahead of Lafayette and Colgate. American enters the tourney on a four-game winning streak, and it is 6-1-1 in its last eight matches.
The Eagles entered the final weekend with a postseason berth already clinched, but they defeated Holy Cross 1-0 anyway, a result that Bucknell would end up needing.
Bucknell and American met back on Sept. 29 at Reeves Field, and the Eagles came away with a 1-0 victory on a Dale McDonald goal just before halftime. Bucknell outshot American 13-4 but struck the post three times and missed a breakaway.
In 2009 and 2010, Bucknell also lost to American in the regular season before rebounding to defeat the Eagles in the Patriot League championship game.
The stat sheet would indicate that Friday's match could be another low-scoring affair. Bucknell and American are the top two defensive teams in the conference, in fact they are the only two that allow less than a goal per game. The Bison lead the Patriot League with a 0.84 team goals-against average, while the Eagles are just behind at 0.91.
American placed a league-high six players on the All-Patriot League Team earlier this week, including Defensive Player of the Year Cristobal Soto. Colin Seigfreid (5-7-17) is the league's points leader, and McDonald (5-3-13) and Alassane Kane (6-1-13) are also top scorers.
All-Patriot League goalkeeper Billy Knutsen has an .832 save percentage, a 0.92 GAA and six shutouts. American has outscored foes 27-16 on the season despite being outshot 226-197.
Bucknell's goal differential (26-17) is almost identical to American's. Six of the team's seven victories have been by shutout, with five of those being credited to freshman goalkeeper Mike Lansing, who leads the league in save percentage (.847), GAA (0.85) and total saves (83).
The Bison have gotten balanced scoring this season, with 15 different players registering a goal and 19 collecting a point. Brendan Burgdorf (3-5-11) and Jesse Klug (3-4-10) are the top point-producers.
Burgdorf, midfielder Chris Thorsheim and defender Collin Costello all earned All-Patriot League honors earlier this week.
