Men's Soccer Preview: Bison Debut Friday at Mount St. Mary's

Friday, August 24

Emmitsburg, Md.

7 p.m.

Bucknell University

Mount St. Mary's - MD

Nick King

Men's Soccer Preview: Bison Debut Friday at Mount St. Mary's

8/23/2018 10:24:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Setting the Scene
Who: Bucknell (0-0) at Mount St. Mary's
When: Friday, Aug. 24, 7 p.m.
Where: Waldron Family Stadium, Emmitsburg, Md.
Live Webstream: NEC Front Row
Live Stats: MountAthletics.com

About the Bison

Bucknell opens its 89th season of men's soccer when the Bison travel to Mount St. Mary's for the 2018 season opener on Friday evening. The match will be streamed live on NEC Front Row from Waldron Family Stadium.
The Bison went 5-3-1 in Patriot League play (7-8-4 overall) last season. Bucknell tied for third place with Lehigh and was the No. 3 seed in the Patriot League Tournament, where the Bison fell 1-0 at home to Colgate in the quarterfinals. The Raiders not only went on to win the tournament, but they advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament.
Bucknell graduated only three players from last year's team. All of them were starters in outside back Dan Bank, defensive midfielder Jack Zollicoffer, and forward Ben Derleth. This season, the Bison return eight starters, 19 lettermen, and 15 of their 17 goals from last year.
All three of the team's 2017 All-Patriot League selections are back. Senior center back Tyler Peterson, junior midfielder Nick King, and sophomore Matt Thorsheim were all Third Team All-Patriot League picks. Thorsheim was a Preseason All-Patriot League selection this season after leading the team in scoring (5-4-14) a year ago).
In the Patriot League preseason poll, the Bison were picked sixth with 88 points, one behind fifth-place Army West Point. Loyola was tabbed as the preseason favorite, picking up the maximum 18 first-place votes and 162 points. Boston University garnered the remaining two first-place nods and was picked second with 129 points, just ahead of Colgate and Lehigh with 124 each. Holy Cross (71), American (55), Navy (30) and Lafayette (28) rounded out the poll.
Last March, the Bison spent their Spring Break training and competing in Denmark.

About Mount St. Mary's/Series History

Mount St. Mary's will also be making its 2018 debut on Friday night. In fact, this will be the Mountaineers' first game since the end of the 2012 season, as the program was discontinued and then brought back for this year.
Bryan Cunningham, formerly the head coach at Central Florida, is overseeing the rebuild of the Mount St. Mary's program. His team was picked to finish eighth out of nine teams in the Northeast Conference preseason poll.
Bucknell and Mount St. Mary's met nine times between 1993 and 2002, with the Mount holding a 6-3 series lead. The Bison captured the most recent meeting in Lewisburg in 2002, winning 1-0 on a Chris Beekman goal in the 25th minute. Adam Edwards earned the shutout in goal with four saves.

Up Next

Following the Mount St. Mary's game, the Bison won't play again for another nine days when they travel to Saint Francis (Pa.) on Sunday, Sept. 2. The home opener is slated for Friday, Sept. 7 against Canisius.

Season Preview

Below is a more in-depth look at the 2018 Bucknell men's soccer team.

Head coach Brendan Nash has made a career out of exceeding outsiders' expectations for his Bucknell men's soccer teams. Last fall was the latest example. The Bison were predicted for sixth in the Patriot League preseason poll before finishing in third place and earning a postseason home game. This year, even though the team brings back eight starters and 88 percent of its goals from a year ago, Bucknell was again picked for sixth place in the 10-team conference. And naturally Nash feels that his side has the depth and talent to brush aside that estimate and challenge for another league title.

"I really believe that we have the talent to compete with anyone in the Patriot League this year," said Nash, who is entering his 20th season as head coach of the Bison. "We are at least two deep at every position on the field, we have good leadership, and we have a nice group of freshmen ready to jump in and contribute."

Much of that veteran leadership is positioned in the back, where the Bison will start an experienced senior goalkeeper in Ryan Ott and a teriffic center back duo in senior Tyler Peterson and junior Quinn Bredin that has combined for 85 career starts.

"Defense is traditionally how we have built our team," said Nash. "With a healthy Ryan Ott we feel that we have one of the best goalkeepers in the Patriot League, and Tyler and Quinn are two very strong center backs who have developed great chemistry with each other."

The 6'5" Ott has battled some injuries throughout his career. After being limited to five games as a sophomore, he was Bucknell's No. 1 keeper last season until going down with a training injury late in the regular season. When the injury occurred, Ott was leading the league in save percentage (.806) and ranked No. 2 in goals-against average (0.97).

Nash also has the luxury of an experienced backup goalkeeper, as junior Emmett Witmer has 18 career appearances under his belt. Last season he went 2-2-1, including back-to-back shutouts of Boston University and Navy, and compiled a strong .808 save percentage (21 saves, 5 GA). Junior Jonathan Baxter also returns in a reserve role, and Nash calls him the "glue" of the team's goalkeeping trio.

Peterson will captain the team for a second straight year after earning Third Team All-Patriot League honors a year ago. He started every game and played more than 97 percent of the team's minutes for a defense that ranked second in the conference in goals against. Bredin, a native of Canada who spent three of his high school years studying and playing in England, played every minute of every game for the Bison last season. Both veteran center backs earned a Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week award in 2017.

Sophomores Eamon O'Connor and Kevin Gulizio provide good depth at center back. O'Connor made three starts as a rookie last season.

As the season-opener approaches, Nash remains unsure about his starters at the outside back positions, and he will likely try a few different looks there during non-conference play. Junior Bernie Wright is a top candidate, although Nash would prefer to utilize him as a wide midfielder, where he can use his strength and speed to create scoring opportunities. Wright saw time at both positions last season, and as a midfielder he logged three goals and two assists.

Sophomore Trevor Wiggins had a very good spring season after seeing action in four games last fall, and freshmen Adam Kulick and Stephen Schmitt are also pushing for consideration. Later in the season, senior Dany Teran could become yet another option there. Teran missed all of last season with an injury and has missed much of this preseason as well, but when healthy is a strong defender.

Nash is excited about his options in the midfield, where he has a nice blend of returning talent and eager newcomers.

"Midfield was an area of focus for us recruiting-wise," said Nash. "Now we are extremely versatile there. We have lots of options in terms of formations and styles of play."

Junior Nick King is the most-decorated of the returning group, having earned Third Team All-Patriot League honors in each of his first two seasons at Bucknell. Also an Academic All-Patriot League pick who majors in biomedical engineering, King logged four goals and two assists last season after collecting four and seven in 2016.

Junior Patrick Mahoney, who scored a memorable overtime goal against league-favorite Loyola last year, has played in all 40 games with 36 starts thus far in his career. Senior Stefan Krystman is a solid possession midfielder, and sophomores Stefan Gollisz, Daniel Hallowell, Jokubas Uznys and Cody Wax have made good strides from year one to year two,

New to the midfield unit are high-energy freshmen Alex Clarke and Jacob Mittman. Classmate C.J. Uche has been dealing with an injury in preseason, but he could also be a future option as a central midfielder.

At forward, sophomore Matt Thorsheim has shown signs of developing into one of the Patriot League's top scoring threats. A preseason All-Patriot League selection, Thorsheim earned Third Team All-Patriot League, United Soccer Coaches Third Team All-Northeast Region, and College Soccer News Freshman All-America accolades in 2017. He led the team with 14 points, coming on five goals and four assists, even though he missed the final three games with an eye injury.

"Matt is our go-to guy up front," said Nash. "He is very good on and off the ball, and we think he is going to have a big sophomore year."

Two freshmen forwards also figure to get opportunities. Nash describes Michael Pavick as big, strong and fast with a powerful shot, and he calls Patrick O'Hara a "Harry Kane-type player," in that he is constantly working and seems to pop up at the right place at the right time.

The Bison will take on Mount St. Mary's and Saint Francis (Pa.) on the road before welcoming a strong Canisius side for the home opener on Sept. 7. Stetson, Robert Morris and Saint Peter's also come to Emmitt Field before an away fixture at Drexel serves as a final tuneup before the Patriot League lidlifter against Lafayette on Sept. 22.

Nash has that home game against the Leopards circled on the calendar, as he feels given the strength of the Patriot League this season that it will be critical to get out to a good start in league play.

"We have to use the non-conference portion of the schedule to figure out the right combinations and formations to bring into the Lafayette game. We don't want to be in the situation where we get off to a slow Patriot League start, and then we are in desperation mode to qualify for the tournament.