Men's Soccer Heads to American Saturday for Another Key Patriot League Match

10/11/2013 1:52:00 PM | Men's Soccer

By: TBD

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Coming off back-to-back shutout wins over Lehigh and Loyola, the Bucknell men's soccer team will play its third Patriot League match of the week on Saturday at American. The contest is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Reeves Field in Washington, D.C., and the matchup pits two regionally ranked teams that are tied for second place in the league standings.

A hard-fought 2-0 win over Loyola on Wednesday kept the Bison three points behind first-place Army in the Patriot League standings. Now 7-3 overall and 2-1 in the conference, the Bison have won seven of their last eight games, with six of the wins coming by shutout.

Army has nine points on a 3-0 league record, but Navy (2-0), Bucknell (2-1), American (2-1) and Holy Cross (2-1) are all just one win off the pace. Army travels to Loyola (0-2-1) on Saturday, while Navy hosts Colgate (1-1-1) and Holy Cross hosts Lafayette (1-1). Lehigh (0-3) and Boston University (0-3) also square off.

Joe Meyer and Jesse Klug were the goal scorers in Bucknell's victory over Loyola. Meyer opened the scoring with a sensational left-footed strike just seven minutes into the game, and then his pass set up Klug for the insurance tally in the 80th minute. Klug's goal was his team-leading sixth of the season, the second-highest total in the Patriot League.

Chris Thorsheim is just behind Klug with five goals, while Meyer, Josh Butzke, Connor Willings and Mayowa Alli have one each. Defensively, the Bison have allowed only seven goals in 10 games this season, and three of those came in a season-opening 3-2 loss to Canisius. Since then, they have conceded only four goals in the last 815 minutes.

Goalkeeper Mike Lansing has terrific numbers, with a .872 save percentage and a 0.66 goals-against average in nine games. He ranks eighth nationally in save percentage and is one of four Patriot League keepers ranked in the top 15.

American has also been solid defensively this season, conceding just nine goals in 11 games. The Eagles are 4-5-2 overall, and on Wednesday they suffered their first Patriot League regular-season defeat since 2011 with a 1-0 home loss to Navy.

A pair of freshmen pace the Eagles in scoring. Dale Ludwig has two goals and three assists for a team-high seven points, while Joe Iraola leads the way with three goals. Patrick Mehlert, Colin Seigfreid and Cristobal Soto have two goals apiece.

Billy Knutsen has played every minute in goal and has an .847 save percentage, a 0.79 goals-against average and four shutouts. Soto is the reigning Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year.

American has played in the last four Patriot League championship games, including losses to the Bison in 2009 and 2010. The Eagles were 5-0-2 in league play last season and then handed Bucknell a 1-0 defeat in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals at Reeves Field. American then fell to Lafayette in the championship game.

Bucknell also played on American's home field in the regular season a year ago, and the Eagles also prevailed 1-0 despite Bucknell's 13-4 shot advantage. The Bison hit the goalpost three times that day and also failed to convert a breakaway.

The Bison are 5-11 all-time against American, with 15 of the 16 meetings coming since AU joined the Patriot League in 2001. The Bison are just 1-7 against the Eagles in Washington, D.C., however they are a perfect 4-0 on the road this season.

In the NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Region rankings, Bucknell is No. 8 and American No. 10.

Following Saturday's game, Bucknell will travel to Piscataway, N.J., to face Rutgers in a non-league match on Tuesday night.