Men's Soccer Carries Win Streak into Two Road Fixtures this Week

Bucknell (2-3-0) at Saint Francis (Pa.) (1-2-0)
When: Wednesday, Sept. 15, 4 p.m.
Where: Stokes SoccerPlex, Loretto, Pa.
Streaming: NEC Front Row
Live Stats: SFUAthletics.com

Bucknell (2-3-0) at Lafayette (2-3-0)
When: Saturday, Sept. 18, 5 p.m.
Where: Oaks Stadium, Easton, Pa.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoLeopards.com

Bucknell at a Glance

The Bison look to ride the momentum of two wins in a 48-hour span last weekend into a pair of road matches this week. The Bison wrap up their "saints" tour on Wednesday afternoon at Saint Francis (Pa.) – the previous three games came against Saint Peter's, Mount St. Mary's and St. Bonaventure – and then Patriot League play gets underway on Saturday at Lafayette.
Bucknell posted matching 2-1 wins at Mount St. Mary's on Friday and home against St. Bonaventure on Sunday. The Bison netted late go-ahead goals in both contests. Jordan Miller's second goal of the day came in the 82nd minute to snap a 1-1 deadlock at Mount St. Mary's, and Eddie Perez-Pelaez headed home a corner kick in the 85th minute to beat St. Bonaventure.
Miller has surged into the Patriot League goal-scoring lead with four in his last three games, and the sophomore was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week on Monday. Miller, who came to Bucknell as a defender before moving up top, had never scored a collegiate goal until this recent outburst. Coming on as a substitute, he scored the game's opening goal in the first half in each of the last three games.
Miller is the first Bison to score a goal in three straight games since Matt Thorsheim in 2019 against Saint Francis (Pa.), Colgate and George Mason. The last Bucknell player to score in four straight was Jesse Klug in 2015.
Miller accounted for Bucknell's first four goals of the season, until Perez-Pelaez snapped that streak with his late game-winner against St. Bonaventure. It was the fourth career goal for the junior from New York City, and his first since 2019.
Bucknell attempted the game's first 15 shots against St. Bonaventure before finishing with a 21-5 shot advantage. The Bison have a 34-12 shot edge in their two wins this season, and they have been outshot 62-16 in the three losses, although two of those setbacks came against top-10 teams in North Carolina and Wake Forest.
By the end of this week, Bucknell will have played six of its seven games on the road this season.
Eighteen Bison have started at least one game and 23 have seen action through five games.
Three freshmen have earned starts thus far. Aidan Lawlor and Gabe Dahlin have started all five games in the back four for interim head coach Matt Brown, and Jack Roberto earned a start against Wake Forest in the midfield. Dahlin (459) and Lawlor (454) are the top two Bison in minutes played.
Bucknell has one of its youngest squads in recent memory. The 28-man roster is comprised of four seniors, six juniors, eight sophomores and 10 freshmen. The eight sophomores could really be classified as rookies, as they also went through a full August preseason training camp for the first time.
Bucknell has three captains for the 2021 season: seniors Alex Clarke and Patrick O'Hara, and sophomore MJ Kuczura. Kuczura, an outside back from Chester Springs, Pa., is the first sophomore captain in team history.

Saint Francis (Pa.) at a Glance

The Red Flash are 1-2 following a 3-0 road loss at William & Mary on Friday.
Saint Francis debuted against St. Bonaventure at home on Aug. 26, but that game was halted after 36 scoreless minutes due to inclement weather. The Red Flash's first completed game was a wild 4-3 overtime loss at Duquesne five days later. Maximus Rigby scored with three seconds left in regulation for Saint Francis, but Zach Mowka won it for the Dukes four minutes into extra time.
The Red Flash's lone victory came on Sept. 5, a 1-0 verdict at Rider. Jeff Thielman scored the game's only goal in the 51st minute.
Thielman leads the team with two goals this season, while Rigby and Piet Wesling have one each.
Jonas Dieseler has played every minute in goal for Saint Francis and has 12 saves with seven goals against in three outings.
Saint Francis was picked to finish third in the Northeast Conference preseason poll, behind St. Francis Brooklyn and LIU. The Red Flash did not compete at all last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but they finished 10-5-1 overall and 7-2-0 in the NEC in 2019. They were the No. 1 seed for the NEC Tournament but were upset by Fairleigh Dickinson in penalty kicks in the semifinals.

The Bucknell-Saint Francis Series

Bucknell is 12-8-2 in 22 previous meetings with the Red Flash. That includes a 4-6-1 mark in games played in Loretto.
In the last meeting in 2019 at Emmitt Field, the Bison scored three times in the final half-hour to swipe a 3-0 victory. Nick King, Trevor Wiggins and Matt Thorsheim scored the goals, with King and Thorsheim also adding assists. Patrick O'Hara assisted on King's go-ahead goal in the 65th minute.
Bucknell's last trip to Loretto came in 2018, and Saint Francis won 2-0 with a pair of goals in the final 10 minutes of the first half. The Red Flash amassed a 19-5 shot advantage in that game.
Senior Alex Clarke is the only active Bison who played in that 2018 game, so everyone else who takes the field on Wednesday will be playing at the Stokes SoccerPlex for the first time.

Lafayette at a Glance

Lafayette takes a 2-3 record into a Tuesday night home fixture with St. Francis Brooklyn. The Leopards will then be off until hosting Bucknell on Saturday.
The Leopards are 2-0 at home and 0-3 on the road this season.
Lafayette opened the season with a 1-0 loss at UNC Wilmington. The Leopards then won two straight at home over Drexel (2-1) and Mount St. Mary's (3-0) before losing on the road to Fairleigh Dickinson (3-0) and Albany (1-0).
Senior Marcos Kitromilides has been the team's top playmaker thus far. He scored both goals in the 2-1 win over Drexel, and he assisted on two of the three goals in the 3-0 win over Mount St. Mary's. Kitromilides is a three-time all-conference selection. He earned Second Team All-Big South honors at Presbyterian in 2019, and he has made the All-Patriot League squad in each of his two seasons at Lafayette. He has six career goals as a Leopard, including three with five assists in 2019.
Carter Houlihan, Yiannis Panayides and Jack Borden scored the goals against The Mount.
Alex Sutton has played all 450 minutes in goal for Lafayette. He has 12 saves with six goals against in five starts.
Senior defender Nick Hazel was a Preseason All-Patriot League selection. He was the PL Co-Defender of the Year and a First Team All-PL selection in the spring 2021 season.
Veteran coach Dennis Bohn's squad went 7-0-1 in the abbreviated spring 2021 campaign. The Leopards hosted the Patriot League Tournament as the top seed, but after beating Holy Cross 2-1 in the semifinals, they lost to American 2-1 in double overtime in the championship match.

The Bucknell-Lafayette Series

Bucknell and Lafayette first met all the way back in 1931, and the series could not be any closer. The Bison and Leopards have clashed 72 times, and the series is deadlocked at 32-32-8.
Bucknell has outscored Lafayette 102-92 all-time, but goals have been hard to come by in recent years. The Bison are 1-4-1 in their last six games with the Leopards and have scored just one goal in that span.
That goal came from Michael Pavick just 9:24 into the match in Bucknell's 1-0 home victory in 2018.
Since then, the teams played to a scoreless draw in the most recent fixture in Easton in 2019, and last spring Lafayette won 1-0 in a game played at Penn College in Williamsport. Martin Ssessanga scored the only goal in the 54th minute.

Men's Soccer Carries Win Streak into Two Road Fixtures this Week

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Alex Clarke

Gabe Dahlin

MJ Kuczura

Aidan Lawlor

Jordan Miller

Patrick O'Hara

Eddie Perez-Pelaez

Jack Roberto

Matt Thorsheim

Trevor Wiggins

Men's Soccer Carries Win Streak into Two Road Fixtures this Week

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Alex Clarke

Gabe Dahlin

MJ Kuczura

Aidan Lawlor

Jordan Miller

Patrick O'Hara

Eddie Perez-Pelaez

Jack Roberto

Matt Thorsheim

Trevor Wiggins

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