Men's Soccer Hosts Both Lehigh Valley Rivals this Week

Lehigh (2-4-1, 1-1-0 PL) at Bucknell (1-7-0, 0-2-0 PL)
When: Wednesday, Sept. 28, 7 p.m. ET
Where: Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium, Lewisburg, Pa.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com

Lafayette (6-2-1, 1-0-1 PL) at Bucknell (1-7-0, 0-2-0 PL)
When: Wednesday, Sept. 28, 7 p.m. ET
Where: Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium, Lewisburg, Pa.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com

Bucknell at a Glance

The Bison have a big week ahead with home games against Lehigh on Wednesday and Lafayette on Saturday. After dropping its first two Patriot League games, Bucknell is in need of points against the two Lehigh Valley sides in order to move up in the table.
While the Bison are off to an 0-2 start in Patriot League play, the league appears to be wide open this season. Through two PL matchdays, only one team has secured all six possible points. Army sits at the top of the standings after beating defending champion Loyola and Holy Cross. Lafayette, Colgate, and Navy all have four points from a win and a draw.
Bucknell let an opportunity slip on Saturday at American. Freshman Cade McGrath's first career goal gave the Bison the lead on the road 14 minutes into the match, but the Eagles drew level just before the half and won it on a Jack Green goal in the 74th minute.
The Bison have scored goals in four of their last five games but have struggled defensively, as opponents have scored multiple goals in every game this season.
Bucknell has outshot its opponents 89-87 and out-cornered the opposition 38-33 on the season but has been outscored 20-6.
Bucknell's goal-scorers this year are McGrath, Jordan Miller, Mo Tall, Michael Dempsey, and MJ Kuczura. Miller's seventh career goal came against Saint Francis, while the other four registered their first career goals. Tall also has a team-high two assists.
Tall's goal was the game-winner against Saint Peter's, coming on a 28-yard free kick in the 84th minute. 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.
The win over Saint Peter's was also the first at Bucknell and the 355th all-time for head coach Dave Brandt.
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.

Lehigh at a Glance

The Mountain Hawks are 2-4-1 overall and have split their first two Patriot League matches. Lehigh routed American 4-0 in Bethlehem on Sept. 16 then followed that up with a 1-0 non-league win over Delaware. Most recently, the Mountain Hawks dropped a 1-0 verdict at Loyola on Saturday, with the lone goal coming in the 79th minute.
Jack Sarkos was the star of the American game, as he recorded his second career hat trick. That came right on the heels of a brace in a 2-2 draw against La Salle, and Sarkos has five of the team's seven goals this season. Yoni Aidlberg and Jason Pynadath have the other two. Sarkos and Lafayette's Marcos Kitromilides share the Patriot League lead with five goals.
Ryan Gross has started five of the seven games in goal, including the last three. He has 13 saves with five goals against in 405 minutes.
Lehigh went 5-4 in Patriot League play last season and earned the No. 4 seed in the Patriot League Tournament. The Mountain Hawks fell 1-0 at home to fifth-seeded Navy in the quarterfinals.

The Bucknell-Lehigh Series

Bucknell is 28-30-10 against Lehigh in a series that dates back to 1960.
The Mountain Hawks have had the better of play in recent years. The Bison are 1-3-1 in the last five meetings and 2-5-2 in the last nine, but Bucknell did win 1-0 in overtime in Bethlehem last season.
Jordan Miller netted the golden goal in last year's match, with his league-leading sixth goal of the season coming in the 94th minute. Patrick O'Hara hustled to retrieve a ball on the end line, and his service was headed forward by Eddie Perez-Pelaez to Miller, who managed to poke home the shot with two defenders draped on either side.
Each of the last four and eight of the last 10 Bucknell-Lehigh games have been played in Bethlehem. Three of those away dates came in the Patriot League Tournament, but in a scheduling quirk, last year was the third straight regular-season meeting between the two teams on Lehigh's home field.
The last matchup at Emmitt Field came in 2018, a 1-0 Lehigh win.

Lafayette at a Glance

The Leopards are enjoying an outstanding season thus far with a 6-2-1 overall record and a 1-0-1 mark in the Patriot League. Lafayette opened league play with a 2-0 home win over Holy Cross before playing Boston University to a scoreless draw on the road on Saturday.
Lafayette hosts Navy on Wednesday before making the trip to Lewisburg.
Lafayette has been the league's top defensive team this season, allowing only six goals in nine games. The Leopards have outscored foes 14-6 with a 97-61 shot advantage.
Marcos Kitromilides leads the team with five goals, all coming as a substitute. He scored twice in a 3-1 win over Temple and also has goals in wins over Drexel, Holy Cross, and Saint Peter's. He is tied for the Patriot League goal-scoring lead with Lehigh's Jack Sarkos.
Lawrence Aydlett and Hale Lombard have tallied three goals apiece. Aydlett scored in three straight games early in the season against Mount St. Mary's, Drexel, and Temple, while Lombard tallied twice against Albany and once against St. Francis (N.Y.).
Will Echeverria leads the team with five assists, which are tied for the most in the league with Army's Cooper Warren.
Alex Sutton is in his fifth year as Lafayette's starting goalkeeper. He has made 16 saves with only five goals against in eight starts, and he has posted shutouts in half of his appearances this season. He enters the week with 69 career games under his belt.

Lafayette at a Glance

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 73 times, and the series is deadlocked at 32-32-9.
Bucknell has outscored Lafayette 102-92 all-time, but goals have been hard to come by in recent years. The Bison are 1-4-2 in their last seven 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. The Bison are scoreless in the last 390 minutes against Lafayette since that goal.
That 2018 game was the last time Lafayette played at Emmitt Field. The teams played scoreless draws in Easton in 2019 and 2021. The two teams also played at Penn College in Williamsport in the COVID-modified spring 2021 season, with the Leopards winning 1-0.
Bennett Schwartz made five saves in last year's 0-0 deadlock. Lafayette finished with a 15-6 shot advantage in the defensive struggle at Oaks Stadium.

Next Up

After the Lehigh and Lafayette games, Bucknell is home again on Tuesday for a non-league affair with Binghamton. The Bison will then play their next three on the road against Boston University, Army, and Syracuse.

Men's Soccer Hosts Both Lehigh Valley Rivals this Week

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Michael Dempsey

MJ Kuczura

Chris Masur

Cade McGrath

Jordan Miller

Collin Murphy

Patrick O'Hara

Eddie Perez-Pelaez

Bennett Schwartz

Mo Tall

Men's Soccer Hosts Both Lehigh Valley Rivals this Week

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Michael Dempsey

MJ Kuczura

Chris Masur

Cade McGrath

Jordan Miller

Collin Murphy

Patrick O'Hara

Eddie Perez-Pelaez

Bennett Schwartz

Mo Tall

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