Men's Soccer Set for Wednesday Night Clash at Lehigh

LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell University men's soccer team will fight for a chance to extend its season at Patriot League-leading Lehigh on Wednesday evening in Bethlehem.

Setting the Scene
What: Bucknell (5-6-6, 2-2-4 PL) at Lehigh (11-4-2, 6-0-2 PL)
When: Wednesday, Nov. 6, 7 p.m.
Where: Bethlehem, Pa./Ulrich Sports Complex
Watch: Patriot League Network
Live Stats: Lehighsports.com

About the Bison

Bucknell will head into the regular-season finale with a berth in the Patriot League Tournament potentially on the line. The Bison can clinch one of the six postseason berths with a win at Lehigh. A tie or loss would put Bucknell at the mercy of the other Patriot League games, which will all have simultaneous 7 p.m. kickoffs on Wednesday evening.
The Bison are tied for fifth place with American and Colgate on 10 points, with four teams overall still in contention for the last two spots.
Lehigh (20 points) and Loyola Maryland (18) have both clinched byes and home semifinal matchups, with the No. 1 seed still up for grabs between the two schools.
Lafayette (14), and Navy (13) have also clinched playoff berths.
Bucknell (10), can climb no higher than the five seed after Wednesday's games have taken place.
The Bison, with a win, will lock up a postseason berth due to holding a potential tiebreaker against American, even if Colgate, American, and Boston U all win.
Bucknell would drop a potential tiebreaker to Colgate due to the Raiders' win over Navy, but would edge American in a multi-team tie with Bucknell earning two points in the three games against the other three schools to American's one. Boston U would also not be able to catch the Bison even if the Terriers won.
In a potential four-way tie at 13 points with Navy, Colgate, Bucknell, and American, the Bison would claim the sixth seed behind Navy and Colgate due to accumulating two points (0-1-2) against the three other schools involved in the tie, one point ahead of American (0-2-1).
Bucknell would also claim the sixth seed in a three-way tie at 13 points with American and Colgate.
Bucknell could make the field as the sixth seed even with a loss in the event of a four-way tie on 10 points between Boston U, Colgate, American, and the Bison.
Boston U, Colgate, and American could all pass Bucknell with wins if the Bison lose or draw against the Mountain Hawks.
Wednesday's game will also be critical for Lehigh, which will look to wrap up its first Patriot League regular season title since 2006 with a win over the Bison.
Luke Smith, who earned his second straight clean sheet in Saturday's 0-0 draw at Lafayette, made two saves as the Bison defense held firm for the third straight conference game.
Smith will enter Wednesday's game as the second-ranked goalkeeper in the Patriot League in goals allowed average at 0.62.
Third on that list is Smith's brother Will, a senior who who has been the starting goalkeeper for Lehigh since the second half of his freshman season. The elder Smith leads the Patriot League in save percentage, total saves, and shutouts.
Trevor Wiggins, who cleared a ball off the line against Holy Cross earlier this year, saved a potential opening goal for the Leopards on Saturday after alertly heading a shot off the line.
Quinn Bredin, Bernie Wright, and Stefan Gollisz also contributed to Bucknell's clean sheet on Saturday at Lafayette as part of the back line.
Bucknell has earned three clean sheets in its three Patriot League games. The Bison are currently in the midst of a 354-minute shutout streak in conference games, last allowing a goal in the 55^th minute against Holy Cross on Oct. 13. .
The Bison have qualified for the Patriot League Tournament in six of the past seven seasons.

About Lehigh/Series History

Bucknell is 27-28-9 against the Mountain Hawks all time, falling 1-0 at home in 2018.
The Bison have lost three out of the past four matchups against Lehigh, but won the last encounter in Bethlehem in 2017, a 2-1 win in which Matt Thorsheim scored a brace to lead the Bison.
Stefan Gollisz assisted Thorsheim's opening goal at the 2:39 mark, before scoring his second just over 11 minutes into the game.
Lehigh owns the second-ranked defense in the Patriot League, with Bucknell ranked third. The Mountain Hawks have allowed 15 goals in 17 encounters this season while picking up eight shutouts.
The Mountain Hawks are led by the Patriot League's leading goalscorer Josh Luchini, who has scored 11 times this season.
Lehigh is currently on a four-game unbeaten streak.