Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell, Lehigh Continue Hotly Contested Men's Soccer Rivalry Saturday Night in Bethlehem
9/20/2012 8:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 20, 2012
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell and Lehigh men's soccer teams are off to different starts in 2012, but coach Brendan Nash and the Bison certainly believe in the old adage about throwing all the records out the window when these two teams get together. That happens on Saturday, when the 4-1-2 Bison and the 0-6-0 Mountain Hawks open up Patriot League play Saturday night (7 p.m.) at the Ulrich Sports Complex in Bethlehem.
Bucknell is the league's hottest team, winning its last four matches by a combined margin of 14-1. Goals have been pouring in at a record pace. The Bison scored 11 of them in wins over Adelphi (7-0) and Albany (4-0) last weekend, giving them the team title at the Class of '98 Invitational. The seven goals against Adelphi were Bucknell's most in 20 years, and the 11 goals in back-to-back games were the most since 1973.
The Bison lead the Patriot League and rank 15th out of 201 Division I teams in goals per game at 2.43, but remarkably they do not have any player with more than two goals. Bucknell has received incredible scoring balance so far, as 12 different players have a goal and 17 have recorded a point. In fact, all 17 point-scorers have at least two points, with only four field players on the entire roster still looking for a goal or assist.
Brendan Burgdorf, the MVP of the Class of '98 Invitational and this week's Bison Athlete of the Week, leads the squad with six points on two goals and two assists. He tallied a goal in both games last weekend, including the opener five minutes into the Adelphi game. Mayowa Alli scored his first two goals of the season last time out against Albany, while Conor Keeley and Joe Meyer also have a pair of goals.
Freshman midfielder Chris Thorsheim leads the Patriot League and ranks eighth nationally with four assists.
Perhaps lost in all of the offensive fireworks is a 291:07 shutout streak for the defense. Bucknell has kept clean sheets in each of its last three games, with the last goal against coming in a 2-1 win at La Salle on Sept. 7.
The Bison received shutout performances from two different freshman goalkeepers last week. Clarke Fox made his collegiate debut against Adelphi and did not allow a goal, and then regular starter Mike Lansing returned from injury and blanked Albany on Sunday.
Lansing leads the Patriot League in saves per game (6.0), goals-against average (0.76) and save percentage (.878). He has 36 saves and only five goals allowed in six games this season. Lansing is a major reason why Bucknell has a +12 goal differential, despite a -41 shot differential.
Lehigh has found goals harder to come by this season. The Mountain Hawks have scored in just one game this season, a 3-2 overtime loss at St. Peter's on Sept. 4. Lehigh fell 1-0 at home to Brown in its most recent outing on Sunday.
Brian Suchoski has both of Lehigh's goals, with Ben Wysocki and Dilan Casanovas Mack collecting assists. Reigning Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year Ciaran Nugent, who ranked third nationally in GAA and save percentage last season, has 24 saves and nine goals allowed in 2012.
Nugent posted 11 shutouts last season, and one of them was a 107-minute clean sheet at Bucknell's Emmitt Field, the latest in a string of tremendous games between these two teams. In front of a standing-room-only crowd, Kevin Strunk scored on a header late in double overtime to give the Mountain Hawks a 1-0 victory, despite a 25-15 Bucknell shot advantage.
Two years ago in Bethlehem, Bucknell needed a win on the final day of the regular season to qualify for the Patriot League Tournament, and they got it the dramatic result on Alli's overtime goal, after CK Kumah had tied the game in the 76th minute. Not only did the win propel the Bison into the postseason, but they went on to win the Patriot League Tournament.
The year before that, 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 yet another dramatic win. Facing elimination from the postseason, the Bison rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2.
These two rivals have played 55 times since 1960, and Lehigh leads the tightly contested series 24-23-8. As Patriot League rivals, Lehigh leads 15-7-4, although the Bison are 4-3-2 in the last nine 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 steps away from Patriot League play momentarily to host Saint Joseph's on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Emmitt Field. Then the Bison visit American the following Saturday.
