Men's Soccer Travels to Army for Friday Night Match

Bucknell (2-10-0, 1-4-0 PL) at Army West Point (6-3-3, 3-1-1 PL)
When: Friday, Oct. 14, 6 p.m. ET
Where: Malek Stadium at Clinton Field, West Point, N.Y.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoArmyWestPoint.com

Bucknell at a Glance

The Bison look to get back in the win column on Friday night at Patriot League co-leader Army West Point.
Entering the sixth of nine rounds of Patriot League play, Army and American sit atop the table with 10 points from 3-1-1 league records (American has a head-to-head win over Army). Colgate, Navy, and Loyola are all on eight points at 2-1-2, and Lafayette and Lehigh have seven points at 2-2-1. The Bison are currently ninth on three points as a result of a 2-1 win over Lehigh on Sept. 28.
Bucknell has been idle since last Saturday, when it fell 2-0 at Boston University. The Terriers scored twice in a span of 3:27 in the first half and made those two goals hold up.
An 84th-minute goal from Sebastian Paz helped deliver the 2-1 win over Lehigh. Mo Tall in the 22nd minute scored on a direct free kick for the second time this season, but Lehigh equalized early in the second half. Paz gave the Bison all three points with a first-touch finish off a nicely threaded through ball from Cade McGrath. Bucknell outshot Lehigh 22-9 in the match.
Freshman goalkeeper Freddie Lapworth made his Bucknell debut with a win in the Lehigh game. He has a .727 save percentage in four starts.
Tall leads the team in goals (2) and points (6). Both of his tallies are on perfectly placed free kicks, and both came in Bucknell victories. A senior from Burkina Faso, Tall missed all of last season due to injury, and he was limited to just five games in the COVID-modified 2021 spring season.
Bucknell has outshot its opponents 153-132 and out-cornered the opposition 57-55 on the season but has been outscored 26-9.
Bucknell's other goal-scorers this year are McGrath, Jordan Miller, Michael Dempsey, and MJ Kuczura. Miller's seventh career goal came against Saint Francis, while the other four registered their first career goals.
Dave Brandt is Bucknell's 14th full-time head coach and just the third dating back to 1967. Brandt, who was hired in December after interim head coach Matt Brown guided the squad last season, brought with him a remarkable career record of 354-86-40 in stints at Messiah, Navy, and Hope. His .779 winning percentage was 20th-best in NCAA men's soccer history among coaches from all divisions with a minimum of 10 years. Brandt won six Division III national championships at Messiah and led Navy to the 2013 Patriot League title and an NCAA Tournament first-round win.
Brandt's first Bucknell squad is a young one, with 16 of the 27 players on the roster in their freshman or sophomore year. The Bison returned 14 players who saw game action last year, including leading scorer Jordan Miller.
The Bison have four captains in 2022: seniors Eddie Perez-Pelaez and Chris Masur, and juniors MJ Kuczura and Collin Murphy. Kuczura is in his second year as a captain. A year ago he became the first sophomore captain in team history.

Army at a Glance

Army has won two straight, including a 2-0 victory over service academy rival Navy last Friday at Subaru Park, home of Philadelphia Union of MLS. Gage Guerra and Brandon Bryant scored second-half goals in that match, which was played in front of a crowd of 8,526.
The Black Knights most recently defeated Albany 1-0 on the road on Tuesday, despite playing the last 75 minutes with 10 men. Sam Epitime's penalty kick in the 66th minute was the difference.
Guerra, a sophomore forward, is tied for the Patriot League lead with seven goals on the season. Lehigh's Jack Sarkos and Lafayette's Marcos Kitromilides also have seven. Guerra had back-to-back braces against Holy Cross and Boston University in September, and six of his seven goals have come in Patriot League play. Guerra also has two assists and leads the league with 16 points.
Nick Atkinson has three goals, while Bryant and Justin McStay have two each.
Cooper Warren ranks second in the Patriot League with six assists.
With 18 goals in 12 games, Army is the league's highest-scoring team. The Black Knights have conceded 14, which puts them sixth in the league defensively.

The Bucknell-Army Series

Bucknell is 17-22-1 all-time against Army. That includes eight straight losses to start the series between 1931-43, and then the two teams did not square off again until the formation of the Patriot League in 1990.
Bucknell had won four straight and 15 of 19 before Army came up with two wins and a draw in the last three meetings.
Army prevailed 2-1 at Emmitt Field last season. Andrew Guerra and Colman Kim scored early in the second half to give the Black Knights a 2-0 lead. Patrick O'Hara pulled one back in the 69th minute off an assist from Eddie Perez-Pelaez, but Army held on to take the three points. The shot board was even at 14 apiece.
These two sides have met only once in the postseason, and it was a 4-2 overtime win for Army in the 1993 Patriot League championship match.

Next Up

Following the Army game, Bucknell has its final non-conference tilt of the season on Tuesday at fifth-ranked Syracuse. The Orange are 10-2-1 on the season and 4-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, including a 2-1 road win over then-No. 1 Clemson on Sept. 16. They travel to Louisville on Friday before hosting the Bison.
Bucknell will then have three Patriot League matches remaining, including home games on consecutive Saturdays against Colgate (Oct. 22) and Holy Cross (Oct. 29).

Men's Soccer Travels to Army for Friday Night Match

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Michael Dempsey

MJ Kuczura

Freddie Lapworth

Chris Masur

Cade McGrath

Jordan Miller

Collin Murphy

Patrick O'Hara

Sebastian Paz

Eddie Perez-Pelaez

Mo Tall

Men's Soccer Travels to Army for Friday Night Match

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Michael Dempsey

MJ Kuczura

Freddie Lapworth

Chris Masur

Cade McGrath

Jordan Miller

Collin Murphy

Patrick O'Hara

Sebastian Paz

Eddie Perez-Pelaez

Mo Tall

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