Looking to Build on Dramatic Win, Men's Soccer Hosts Mount St. Mary's Friday

Mount St. Mary's (2-2-0, 0-0-0 MAAC) at Bucknell (1-3-0, 0-0-0 Patriot League)
When: Friday, Sept. 9, 7 p.m. ET
Where: Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium, Lewisburg, Pa.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com
Happenings: North Union United Night

Bucknell at a Glance

Looking to build on a dramatic win in its season opener on Sunday, Bucknell is back on Emmitt Field on Friday night to take on Mount St. Mary's. The Bison began the season with road losses to Loyola Chicago, DePaul, and St. Bonaventure before rallying late in a 2-1 win over Saint Peter's.
The Bison saw almost all of the ball against Saint Peter's but found themselves trailing 1-0 into the late stages as the Peacocks scored on their only shot on frame all day. The Bison equalized in the 82nd minute on an own goal that was set up by some hard work along the right flank by Jordan Miller. He was able to turn the corner along the end line, and his centering feed was turned in by a backtracking Saint Peter's defender. Not even two minutes later the ball was in the back of the Peacocks' net again, this time courtesy of a sensational Mo Tall free kick from 28 yards out.
Bucknell outshot Saint Peter's 17-4, and the Bison won a game after trailing in the 80th minute or later for the first time in 12 years. In 2010, Brendan Burgdorf scored in the 89th minute and Josh Plump in the 101st to help Bucknell steal a 2-1 OT win from Drexel.
Tall's goal was the first of his career. A senior from Burkina Faso, Tall missed all of last season due to injury, and he was limited to just the five games in the COVID-modified 2021 spring season. He was named the Bison of the Week on Monday.
Sunday's win was also the first at Bucknell and the 355th all-time for head coach Dave Brandt.
Sophomore Michael Dempsey has Bucknell's other goal this season, coming at Loyola Chicago in the season opener. It was also the first career goal for Dempsey.
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 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.

Mount St. Mary's at a Glance

The Mountaineers are 2-2 to start the 2022 season and have been potent offensively. After falling at Delaware 2-0 on opening night, Mount St. Mary's has a 4-1 win over Radford, a 2-1 loss to Lafayette, and most recently a 2-1 win at George Washington on Monday. The go-ahead goal in the Lafayette game came with only 15 seconds remaining.
Ruben Kiers, a graduate student from the Netherlands in his first year in the program, scored twice for the Mount in that win at GW. Kiers also scored a 68th-minute equalizer against Radford, and Mount St. Mary's went on to score three more in an 18-minute stretch.
Mount St. Mary's has scored seven goals this season, and Jesus Salazar has scored one of them and assisted on five others. Salazar also had an assist in last year's game against Bucknell.
Marcus Lewis has a pair of goals, coming against Radford and Lafayette.
Mount St. Mary's seven goals have come on only 35 shot attempts. Mount opponents have made only 10 saves, while their own keeper Ethan Russell has 23 in four starts.
The Mountaineers have a new conference affiliation this year, as they move from the Northeast Conference to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. They were picked 11th in the MAAC preseason poll after finishing 3-15 last season.

The Bucknell-Mount St. Mary's Series

Bucknell is 5-7 all-time against Mount St. Mary's including 2-1 in recent years since the Mount brought back their men's soccer program in 2018.
The Bison won 2-1 in Emmitsburg last season, thanks to a brace from Jordan Miller. His 25th-minute tally gave Bucknell the early lead, but Alek Wroblewski brought the Mount to level terms just four minutes later. Miller won it in the 82nd minute, when Matthew Owusu's flick into the box was not handled by the goalkeeper, and Miller popped it into the gaping net.
Mount St. Mary's won 2-1 in its last trip to Lewisburg in 2019. Karamo Bah broke a 1-1 tie in the 78th minute.
Bucknell is 3-3 at home in a series that dates back to 1993.

Looking to Build on Dramatic Win, Men's Soccer Hosts Mount St. Mary's Friday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Michael Dempsey

MJ Kuczura

Chris Masur

Jordan Miller

Collin Murphy

Matthew Owusu

Eddie Perez-Pelaez

Mo Tall

Looking to Build on Dramatic Win, Men's Soccer Hosts Mount St. Mary's Friday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Michael Dempsey

MJ Kuczura

Chris Masur

Jordan Miller

Collin Murphy

Matthew Owusu

Eddie Perez-Pelaez

Mo Tall

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