Men's Soccer Fighting for Playoff Home Game in Season Finale at Boston U.

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- With one round of Patriot League men's soccer competition remaining, eight of the 10 teams are still alive in the chase for the postseason, and four have already clinched their berths. Bucknell is one of the four already in, and when the Bison travel to Boston University for a 2 p.m. start on Saturday (live on Patriot League Network), both teams will have a lot riding on the match. Bucknell will be playing for the right to host a quarterfinal game, while the Terriers must win to get one of the six tourney spots.

Navy and Army have sewn up the top two seeds and will have byes into the semifinals. Holy Cross enters the weekend in third place with 15 points, and the Bison are fourth with 13. Bucknell can move up to third with a win and Holy Cross loss or tie at Lehigh. But the Bison could also be caught from behind by fifth-place American (11 points). The Eagles visit Colgate Saturday at 4 p.m.

Colgate is currently in sixth place on 10 points. Boston University (9 points) and defending-champion Lafayette (8 points) are both on the outside looking in. The Terriers control their own desitiny, meaning a victory gets them into the tournament, but Lafayette needs to win at Loyola and get help.

Bucknell travels to Boston for its first-ever game with the Terriers playing very good soccer. The Bison have won three straight games, including back-to-back league wins over Lafayette and Holy Cross and a 1-0 non-conference win at Hartwick on Tuesday. Bucknell is now 11-5-1 on the season, incuding a 7-0-1 mark on the road. The Bison have outscored foes 14-1 away from home and 26-13 overall.

Bucknell is the second-highest-scoring team in the Patriot League, trailing only first-place Navy, which has 29 goals. Sophomore striker Jesse Klug leads the league in shot attempts with 70, and he ranks second in goals (9) and points (21). Classmate Chris Thorsheim scored his sixth goal of the season in Tuesday's win over Hartwick. That is the fourth-highest total in the league.

Senior Mayowa Alli centers a stout Bison defense, and he has also chipped in three goals, including the game-winner against Holy Cross last week that clinched a tournament berth for the team. Senior Joe Meyer, junior Mark Leibensperger and sophmore Connor Willings round out a back four that have conceded only one goal in the last 270 minutes.

The Bison have posted nine shutouts this season while only being blanked twice. Mike Lansing has seven clean sheets in his 14 starts, and that does not include his 87 scoreless minutes in the 3-1 win over Holy Cross on Senior Day. Clarke Fox has made three starts and is 3-0 with two shutouts and a miniscule 0.32 goals-against average.

Boston University is 6-9-1 overall and 3-5-0 in its first season as a member of the Patriot League. The Terriers, who will be celebrating Senior Day on Saturday, are coming off a 3-1 loss at American. Prior to that, they won back-to-back games over Loyola and Colgate to get back into the postseason race.

The Terriers are 5-3-0 and are outscoring foes 10-6 at home this season. Dominique Badji, a junior from Senegal, leads the team with six goals. Lucas McBride has scored four times, and Anthony Ciccone ranks second in the Patriot League with seven assists. Goalkeeper Matt Gilbert has a 1.06 goals-against average.

Bucknell's 11 wins are tied for sixth-most in program history. A win on Saturday would move the 2013 Bison into a tie for third with the 1974, 1982 and 1990 teams. The program record is 17 wins, set in 2009.

The Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals will be held Tuesday night on the campuses of the higher-seeded teams. The No. 3 seed will host the No. 6, while the No. 4 will host No. 5.