Men's Soccer Visits Saint Francis (Pa.) Sunday

Sunday, September 2

Loretto, Pa.

1 p.m.

Bucknell University

Saint Francis (PA)

Photo by: Marc Hagemeier

8/30/2018 10:08:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Setting the Scene
Who: Bucknell (1-0) at Saint Francis (Pa.) (1-1)
When: Sunday, Sept. 2, 1 p.m.
Where: Stokes Soccerplex, Loretto, Pa.
Live Webstream: NEC Front Row
Live Stats: SFUAthletics.com

About the Bison

Bucknell goes for a 2-0 start when it travels to Saint Francis (Pa.) on Sunday. The contest will be the opener in a Bison-Red Flash twin bill, as the Bucknell women will follow against Saint Francis at 4 p.m. Both games can be seen online at NECFrontRow.com.
Bucknell will be playing a Northeast Conference opponent on the road for the second time in as many games to start the season. Last Friday, the Bison opened the season with a 2-0 win over Mount St. Mary's.
The Bison scored both goals in the first half against Mount St. Mary's. Senior captain Tyler Peterson knocked in the first goal of the season off a corner kick in the 29th minute. Just 1:40 later it was 2-0 thanks to a Mount own goal. Freshman Jacob Mittman, who had just come on the field for the first shift of his career, beat a defender down the left flank to the end line, and his centering feed looking for Michael Pavick deflected in off a Mountaineers player.
The Bison were strong defensively in the opener, limiting Mount St. Mary's to nine total shots and just two on target. Ryan Ott made two saves en route to the shutout.
Midfielder Alex Clarke was the lone freshman in the starting lineup, but four others came on as reserves: Mittman, Pavick, Adam Kulick and Patrick O'Hara.
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 Saint Francis/Series History

The Red Flash opened their 2018 season by splitting two games in Texas last weekend. They opened with a 1-0 win at Texas-Rio Grande Valley, then fell 1-0 in overtime to Houston Baptist.
Mario Mastrangelo, who led the NEC with 13 goals last season, scored the lone goal against UTRGV. Goalkeeper Alex Morgret has been called upon for only three saves in two full games thus far.
Saint Francis has recorded at least 10 wins in each of the last five seasons. Last year it was 10-8 overall and 3-4 in the NEC. This season the Red Flash were picked to finish in fourth place in the NEC preseason poll, behind St. Francis Brooklyn, LIU Brooklyn, and Fairleigh Dickinson.
Bucknell leads the all-time series 11-7-2 dating back to 1997.
The Bison prevailed 1-0 last season on a Nick King goal in the 64th minute, assisted by Matt Thorsheim and Ben Derleth. Bucknell was outshot 17-6 in the game, but Ryan Ott made nine saves.
Last year's win snapped a two-game series losing streak, including a 3-0 Red Flash win in the most recent meeting in Loretto in 2016. The Bison are 4-5-1 all-time on Saint Francis's home field.