Men's Soccer Hits Road for Mayor's Cup

9/3/2015 11:37:00 AM | Men's Soccer

By: TBD

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- After a couple of strong performances at home last weekend, the Bison men's soccer team hits the road for the first time in the 2015 regular season when it faces Hartwick on Friday (7:30 p.m.) and Northern Kentucky on Sunday (noon) at the Mayor's Cup in Oneonta, New York.

The Mayor's Cup consists of four-team tournaments for Division I men and Division III men and women, taking place all weekend long at both the Hartwick campus and at the Wright National Soccer Campus at the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Bucknell, Hartwick, Northern Kentucky and Saint Francis (Pa.) make up the men's Division I field. The Bison previously appeared in this tournament in 2009, and they won the title after posting 1-0 victories over Hartwick and Syracuse.

Bucknell is off to a 1-1 start after a 4-2 victory over La Salle and a 1-0 overtime loss to No. 15 Syracuse last weekend at Emmitt Field. Sebastiaan Blickman and Chris Thorsheim both registered a goal and an assist, and reserves Ben Derleth and Adam Bradshaw scored big second-half goals in the victory over the Explorers. The Bison then generated a number of quality chances against Syracuse but could not find the back of the net, and then Kenny Lassiter won it for the Orange 4:28 into overtime.

Derleth, a sophomore midfielder who had scored against Syracuse last season, and freshman center back Tyler Peterson made their first career starts on Sunday. Head coach Brendan Nash gave each of his senior goalkeepers a game last weekend, and both performed well. Clarke Fox made three saves in the victory over La Salle, while Mike Lansing had nine stops in the Syracuse match.

Bucknell is now ranked No. 7 in the Northeast Region by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).

Hartwick also played twice last week, opening with a 2-1 loss at New Hampshire followed by a 1-0 home victory over St. Bonaventure on Monday. Wyatt Scott had the game-winning goal 10 minutes into the second half against the Bonnies. Ross MacKinnon scored a second-half goal at UNH after the Hawks fell behind 2-0 after 39 minutes. Freshman Lenny Wilson started both games in goal and has six total saves.

Bucknell has a 3-2-2 lead in the all-time series with Hartwick, including wins in each of the last two seasons. A year ago at Emmitt Field, Patrick Figgie scored 2:49 into the match and Jonathan Grad added a second-half penalty kick for a 2-0 Bison victory. Fox picked up the shutout with four saves. In 2013, Bucknell topped the Hawks 1-0 in Oneonta on a Thorsheim penalty kick.

Bucknell and Northern Kentucky will be meeting for the first time in men's soccer. The Norse were a Division II power under coach John Basalyga until reclassifying as a Division I program and joining the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2012. Northern Kentucky won the D-II national championship in 2010 and carried a No. 1 national ranking for parts of four straight seasons. The Norse finished 9-4-6 in their second season at the Division I level, and last year they finished 6-10-4 and advanced to the A-Sun Tournament semifinals.

This season, Northern Kentucky is 1-1 after a 3-2 loss at Cincinnati and a 1-0 victory over Memphis. Calvin Murphy had the game-winner in the 64th minute against Memphis, and Kobie Qualah and Johannes Jansen scored in the second half to erase a 2-0 deficit against Cincinnati. Goalkeeper A.J. Fleak had eight saves in the shutout of Memphis.

Following the trip to the Mayor's Cup, the Bison will be home for two matches next weekend. They will face Saint Francis (Pa.) on Friday at 7 p.m. and Seton Hall on Sunday at 2 p.m. The Friday game will mark the back end of a doubleheader with the Bison women's soccer team, which will host Iona at 4 p.m.