Men's Soccer Travels to St. Bonaventure Friday, Welcomes Saint Peter's for Home Opener Sunday

Bucknell (0-2-0, 0-0-0 PL) at St. Bonaventure (0-2-0, 0-0-0 A-10)
When: Friday, Sept. 2, 7 p.m.
Where: Marra Athletic Fields Complex, Olean, N.Y.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoBonnies.com

Saint Peter's (0-1-1, 0-0-0 MAAC) at Bucknell (0-0-0, 0-0-0 Patriot League)
When: Sunday, Sept. 4, 5 p.m. ET
Where: Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium, Lewisburg, Pa.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com

Bucknell at a Glance

After dropping a pair of games against quality sides in Chicago last weekend, the Bison begin the "all saints" portion of the schedule. Bucknell visits St. Bonaventure on Friday night before making their home debut on Sunday evening against Saint Peter's. That weekend set will be followed by home fixtures against Mount St. Mary's and Saint Francis (Pa.).
Bucknell's 2022 debut came at Loyola Chicago last Friday, and a Ramblers team that is now receiving votes in the national poll prevailed 4-1. Loyola followed up the Bucknell win with a 1-0 victory over No. 25 Bowling Green, which advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season.
Sophomore Michael Dempsey recorded his first collegiate goal in that game, coming on a well-struck first-time volley off a long throw-in by freshman Jackson Sullivan.
Freshmen Marco Valentic and Charlie Holmes earned starting spots on opening night at Loyola. Waldemar Kattrup, a sophomore transfer from St. John's also started in his Bucknell debut. Freshmen Sullivan, Cade McGrath, and Ben Sheffield all came on as reserves.
First-year head coach Dave Brandt made two changes in the starting lineup for the DePaul game on Sunday. Sheffield was inserted on the back line, and Sebastian Paz started in an attacking role.
Bennett Schwartz played the full 90 minutes in goal in both games and totaled eight saves.
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, has a remarkable career record of 354-86-40 in stints at Messiah, Navy, and Hope. His .779 winning percentage is 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 return 14 players who saw game action last year, including leading scorer Jordan Miller.
Miller had a breakout 2021 season after moving to forward from center back. He tallied six of the team's 12 goals on the season, including five in a four-game span in September, and earned Third Team All-Patriot League honors.
The Bison have four captains in 2022: seniors Perez-Pelaez and 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.

St. Bonaventure at a Glance

Bucknell visits an Atlantic 10 team for the second time in three games to start the season. Loyola Chicago is in its first season in the A-10 after moving from the Missouri Valley Conference.
The Bonnies are 0-2 on the young season after dropping a pair of 1-0 verdicts to Saint Francis (Pa.) and Central Connecticut State. St. Bonaventure has been solid defensively thus far but has generated only 13 shots of its own.
St. Bonaventure finished 4-10-1 overall and 3-5 in the Atlantic 10 last season.
St. Bonaventure has 16 new players on its 31-man roster, but the Bonnies have returned two of its top forwards from last season in Matthew Wrobel and Umechi Akuazaoku, who scored five and three goals, respectively. Wrobel was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team.

The Bucknell-St. Bonaventure Series

The Bison and Bonnies have split six all-time meetings, with both teams winning twice along with a pair of draws.
The two teams first met in 1965, a 2-2 draw in Lewisburg.
Bucknell's two victories came 15 years apart, 3-1 at home in 2006 and 2-1 at home last season.
Eddie Perez-Pelaez delivered a victory for his team with an 85th-minute game-winner at Emmitt Field a year ago. Jordan Miller gave the Bison a 1-0 lead in the 32nd minute, but the Bonnies equalized through Joshua Pulla in the 55th. Perez-Pelaez scored on a clean header off Chris Masur's corner kick to rescue a deserved win for the Bison, who finished with a 21-5 shot advantage.
St. Bonaventure's last series win was a 1-0 overtime verdict at Emmitt Field in 2017.

Saint Peter's at a Glance

The Peacocks opened the season with a 2-2 home draw against VMI last Thursday, and then on Monday they dropped a 4-1 decision at Stony Brook.
Mikkel Fodstad's 77th-minute goal salvaged the tie against VMI. The Keydets took a 1-0 lead on a penalty kick in the 29th minute, but just eight minutes later Reiss Skeen tied it with a PK of his own.
Tom Climpson scored off a Skeen assist in the Stony Brook game. That match was tied at 1-1 at halftime, but the Seawolves struck three times in the second half.
Saint Peter's is coming off a strong 2021 season in which it posted an 8-9-1 overall record and a 6-3-1 mark in the MAAC. The Peacocks earned the No. 2 seed in the MAAC Tournament but were upset by No. 7 Monmouth 1-0 in the quarterfinal round.
The Peacocks were picked seventh in the MAAC preseason poll. Climpson was named to the Preseason All-MAAC Team after scoring four goals as a defender last season.

The Bucknell-Saint Peter's Series

Bucknell is 10-3-2 all-time against Saint Peter's but is 0-1-2 in the last three meetings.
The teams first met in 1994 in Lewisburg. That was a 2-2 draw, and then Bucknell won the next seven in a row and 10 of 12.
The Bison and Peacocks seemed headed for a tie last season, but 40 seconds from full time Matt Hoyt scored the golden goal for Saint Peter's. Jordan Miller tallied Bucknell's goal – the first of his career – in the 36th minute off a long ball over the top from Brennan Gac. But the Bison conceded a penalty kick in the 55th minute and then the Hoyt goal deep into the second overtime period.
Saint Peter's will be making its first trip to Lewisburg since 2018. Tyler Peterson's 68th-minute penalty kick helped the Bison gain a 1-1 draw in that one.

Men's Soccer Travels to St. Bonaventure Friday, Welcomes Saint Peter's for Home Opener Sunday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Michael Dempsey

Brennan Gac

Charlie Holmes

Waldemar Kattrup

MJ Kuczura

Chris Masur

Cade McGrath

Jordan Miller

Collin Murphy

Sebastian Paz

Eddie Perez-Pelaez

Bennett Schwartz

Ben Sheffield

Jackson Sullivan

Marco Valentic

Men's Soccer Travels to St. Bonaventure Friday, Welcomes Saint Peter's for Home Opener Sunday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Michael Dempsey

Brennan Gac

Charlie Holmes

Waldemar Kattrup

MJ Kuczura

Chris Masur

Cade McGrath

Jordan Miller

Collin Murphy

Sebastian Paz

Eddie Perez-Pelaez

Bennett Schwartz

Ben Sheffield

Jackson Sullivan

Marco Valentic

Related Videos