Men's Soccer Visits Mount St. Mary's Friday; Home Opener Sunday vs. St. Bonaventure

Bucknell (0-3-0) at Mount St. Mary's (1-2-0)
When: Friday, Sept. 10, 7 p.m.
Where: Waldron Family Stadium, Emmitsburg, Md.
Streaming: NEC Front Row
Live Stats: MountAthletics.com

Bucknell (0-3-0) vs. St. Bonaventure (0-2-1)
When: Sunday, Sept. 12, 5 p.m.
Where: Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium, Lewisburg, Pa.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com

Bucknell at a Glance

The Bison will play a fourth straight away match – sixth, if you include two preseason scrimmages prior to the official season opener – on Friday night at Mount St. Mary's before finally opening the home slate on Sunday evening against St. Bonaventure.
Bucknell opened the season by playing two top-10 teams from the ACC, falling 7-0 at No. 4 North Carolina before playing much better in a 2-0 loss at No. 7 Wake Forest.
Last Saturday in Jersey City, the Bison suffered a tough loss at Saint Peter's, as the Saints scored in the 110th minute to win 2-1. Sophomore Jordan Miller came off the bench to score his first career goal. Miller received a nice ball over the top from Brennan Gac and calmly finished to give the Bison a 1-0 lead at intermission. But early in the second half the Peacocks equalized from the penalty spot, and then they won it on Matt Hoyt's goal with 40 seconds left before the final horn.
Bennett Schwartz made four saves at Saint Peter's and now has 17 in two-and-a-half games this season.
Eighteen Bison have started at least one game and 23 have seen action through three games.
Three freshmen have earned starts thus far. Aidan Lawlor and Gabe Dahlin have started all three games in the back four for interim head coach Matt Brown, and Jack Roberto earned a start against Wake Forest in the midfield.
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.
Schwartz (Chevy Chase), Gac (Kensington) and Matthew Owusu (Finksburg) will all be returning to their home state of Maryland on Friday night.

Mount St. Mary's at a Glance

The Mountaineers are off to a 1-2 start in 2021. After beating Saint Peter's 2-1 at home to start the season, Mount St. Mary's has suffered back-to-back road losses at Lafayette (3-0) and Rutgers (2-0).
The Mount's win over Saint Peter's came in overtime. After Juan Molina scored a second-half equalizer, Jesus Salazar scored four minutes into OT to win it. Salazar was named the Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week after scoring the golden goal.
Mount St. Mary's was picked eighth in the NEC Preseason poll after finishing 1-5-2 overall and 1-3-2 in league play in the spring 2021 campaign. Second Team All-NEC selection Gavin Watt is back this season, as is All-Rookie selection Alek Wroblewski.
Senior Adam Siviter has logged nine saves with six goals against in three starts in goal.

The Bucknell-Mount St. Mary's Series

Bucknell is 4-7-0 all-time against Mount St. Mary's. That ledger includes a run of five straight losses in the 1990s. The Bison have won 3 of 5 since then.
Bucknell's last trip to Emmitsburg resulted in a 2-0 season-opening win in 2018. That was the first meeting between the teams in 16 years. Tyler Peterson gave the Bison a 1-0 lead in the 29th minute, and just over a minute later the margin doubled thanks to a Mount St. Mary's own goal. That is Bucknell's only win in Emmitsburg (1-4).
The Mount returned the favor in the most recent clash in Lewisburg in 2019. Karamo Bah snapped a 1-1 tie with a 78th-minute tally. Matt Thorsheim had tied the game with a PK just 11 minutes prior. Boris Nana Tonzi also scored for Mount St. Mary's, coming with just one second left in the first half on a corner kick sequence.

St. Bonaventure at a Glance

There have been goals galore in each of the Bonnies' three completed contests this season. After its season opener at Saint Francis (Pa.) was abandoned after 36 minutes due to inclement weather, St. Bonaventure has posted a 2-1 loss at Binghamton, a 2-2 home draw with Canisius, and a 3-2 road loss to Cleveland State.
The Bonnies, who are idle until traveling to Lewisburg on Sunday, let halftime leads slip away in each of their last two games. They scored twice early against Canisius, only to see the Golden Griffins score twice in the final half-hour to grap a point. Most recently, Cleveland State erased a 2-1 halftime deficit with goals in the 47th and 82nd minutes.
Matthew Wrobel (3) and Joshua Pulla (2) have accounted for all five of St. Bonaventure's goals thus far. They also have one assist apiece, while Francesco Caorsi has a team-high two assists.
Justyn Sandhu has played all 290 minutes in goal and has 16 saves with seven goals against.
St. Bonaventure played a spring season in 2020-21 and finished 4-4-1 overall and 1-4-1 in the Atlantic 10. Nine starters and 23 rostered players have returned this fall. One of those if Fredrik Hansen, who led the team with three goals last spring.

The Bucknell-St. Bonaventure Series

Bucknell is 1-2-2 all-time against the Bonnies, with the last meeting a 1-0 overtime loss at home in 2017.
Bucknell's lone series win came in 2006 at home, as Nathan LaGrave scored twice and Alex Russo once in a 3-1 verdict.
The first series meeting came all the way back in 1965, a 2-2 draw in Lewisburg.
In that last matchup at Emmitt Field in 2017, the Bonnies prevailed 1-0 on Paul Afful's diving header off a free kick just 2:08 into overtime.

Next Up

The Bison head back out on the road to face Saint Francis (Pa.) on Wednesday at 4 p.m. before opening up Patriot League play at Lafayette on Saturday, Sept. 18.

Men's Soccer Visits Mount St. Mary's Friday; Home Opener Sunday vs. St. Bonaventure

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Alex Clarke

Gabe Dahlin

Brennan Gac

MJ Kuczura

Aidan Lawlor

Jordan Miller

Patrick O'Hara

Matthew Owusu

Jack Roberto

Bennett Schwartz

Matt Thorsheim

Men's Soccer Visits Mount St. Mary's Friday; Home Opener Sunday vs. St. Bonaventure

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Alex Clarke

Gabe Dahlin

Brennan Gac

MJ Kuczura

Aidan Lawlor

Jordan Miller

Patrick O'Hara

Matthew Owusu

Jack Roberto

Bennett Schwartz

Matt Thorsheim

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