Men's Soccer Travels to Seton Hall Tuesday, Navy Saturday as Busy Stretch Continues

Tuesday, September 19

South Orange, N.J.

6:56 p.m.

Bucknell University

Seton Hall

Photo by: Lianne Garrahan

Men's Soccer Travels to Seton Hall Tuesday, Navy Saturday as Busy Stretch Continues

9/18/2023 5:09:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Bucknell (1-4-1) at Seton Hall (3-2-1)
When: Tuesday, Sept. 19, 6:56 p.m.
Where: Owen T. Carroll Field, South Orange, N.J.
Streaming: FloSports
Live Stats: SHUPirates.com

Bucknell (1-4-1, 0-1-0 PL) at Navy (2-4-1, 0-0-1 PL)
When: Saturday, Sept. 23, 1 p.m.
Where: Glenn Warner Soccer Facility, Annapolis, Md.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: NavySports.com

Bucknell at a Glance

The Bison have two tough away fixtures on tap this week, with a non-league game at Seton Hall on Tuesday and a trip to Navy on Saturday.
The trip to Annapolis will mark a return for Bucknell head coach Dave Brandt, who spent seven seasons (2009-15) as Navy's head coach. Brandt compiled a 64-47-20 (.565) record at Navy, and he led the 2013 Midshipmen (16-4-2, 9-0-0 PL) to Patriot League regular-season and tournament tiles as well as a win over VCU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Bucknell has six New Jersey natives and four Marylanders who will be headed back to their home states this week.
The Bison have been playing some good soccer of late but have not been able to find the results to show for it. Last week Bucknell suffered one-goal losses to Saint Francis (1-0) and Army (2-1) despite a combined 23-14 shot advantage and a whopping 18-1 edge in corner kicks.
Bucknell outshot Army 18-6 on Saturday night, but the Black Knights scored on a terrific shot on an uncleared ball in the back just 30 seconds into the second half and then added a second on a penalty kick. Zane Domsohn scored his first goal of the season in the 77th minute to draw the Bison within a goal, but even with five corner kicks in the last several minutes, they could not find the equalizer.
Bucknell has limited its opponent to single-digit shot attempts in five of its six games. West Virginia recorded 16 shots in its 2-0 win on Aug. 28, but the other five foes have managed only 6.2 shots per game.
The Bison have scored five goals this season, all from the sophomore class. Charlie Holmes leads the way with two goals, along with one each from Domsohn, Aidan Kieffer, and Ben Sheffield.
Coach Brandt has gone deep into his bench throughout the campaign. The Bison have averaged 20.6 players per game this season, with a high of 23 against George Mason and Saint Francis.
It is a young group, as well. Of the 20 players who saw action against Army on Saturday, 15 were freshmen or sophomores and only one was a senior.
Bucknell went 3-12-2 in a rebuilding year in 2022 but played very well down the stretch. The Bison dropped a hard-fought 2-1 verdict at No. 4 Syracuse, the eventual national champion, then finished up with a 4-1 win over Holy Cross and draws with Colgate and Loyola, two of the Patriot League's better sides.
Bucknell was picked ninth in the Patriot League preseason poll. Defending champion Navy was chosen as the preseason favorite, just four points ahead of Boston University and five ahead of American.

Seton Hall at a Glance

The Pirates are off to a strong start at 3-2-1 and were receiving votes in last week's United Soccer Coaches national poll after ranking No. 23 the previous week. Seton Hall's only losses were to a top-10 Indiana team and a Georgetown side that was ranked just outside the top-25 at the time, both by 1-0 scorelines.
Seton Hall has beaten Rider (1-0), Air Force (3-0), and Ohio State (1-0) along with a 1-1 draw at Harvard.
Through six games, Seton Hall has scored six goals while conceding only three. The team's 0.50 goals-against average is sixth-best in the nation.
Andrea Borg and James Boote have two goals each, and Sam Bjork and Tim Strobeck have also tallied.
Borg, Bjork, and Jared Smith all have two assists.
Mats Roorda has played every game in goal and has 18 saves with just the three goals against. He ranks eighth nationally with an .857 save percentage and ninth with a 0.50 GAA. Bucknell has faced Roorda twice before when the Dutchman played at Binghamton. Cade McGrath scored against him last season, but the Bearcats came back to win the game 2-1. Roorda also played 65 minutes in goal against the Bison in 2019, when the two teams played to a 1-1 draw.
Seton Hall has played in the NCAA Tournament in two of the last three seasons. A year ago, the Pirates finished 7-4-7 overall and 4-1-5 in the Big East. They finished second in the Big East regular-season standings and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, where they fell 2-1 at New Hampshire in the first round.
Seton Hall was picked to finish fourth in the East Division in the Big East preseason poll, behind Georgetown, Providence, and St. John's. National power Akron joined the Big East as an affiliate member in men's soccer this season, and the 12-team conference split into two divisions. The two division winners and the next six best teams based on conference points qualify for the Big East Tournament.

The Bucknell-Seton Hall Series

These two teams have met just twice previously, with Bucknell winning both. The Bison took a 2-0 decision in South Orange in 2013 and a 4-0 verdict at home in 2015.
Jesse Klug scored both goals in Bucknell's 2013 road win, and goalkeeper Mike Lansing was outstanding with 11 saves. Bucknell went on to finish 13-6-1 that season and fell 1-0 to Dave Brandt's record-setting Navy team in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals.
The 2015 game at Emmitt Field was a runaway early, as the Bison scored four goals in the opening half-hour of the match. Sebastiaan Blickman scored two goals, and Klug and Chris Thorsheim scored once apiece. Lansing made eight saves on the way to the shutout.

Navy at a Glance

The Patriot League defending champs and 2023 preseason favorite tied Loyola 1-1 on the road in their conference opener on Saturday. After the Greyhounds scored on a penalty kick just seven minutes into the match, freshman Victor Saade equalized with 2:17 left until halftime for Navy. It was Saade's first career goal.
After posting back-to-back blowout wins over VMI (3-0) and Howard (6-0), Navy dropped three in a row to Liberty (2-1), Longwood (2-0), and George Mason (4-0) before drawing Loyola. The Midshipmen travel to Marist on Tuesday before hosting Bucknell.
David Jackson, the 2022 Patriot League Midfielder of the Year, leads the team with four goals and three assists for 11 points. Jackson scored twice against VMI and once each against UNC Asheville and Liberty, and he notched three assists against Howard.
A.J. Schuetz and Andrew Schug have two goals apiece on the season, while Saade, Jason Aoyoma, Zach Wagner, and Connor Walcott have one each.
Pierce Holbrook has started all seven games in goal and has 17 saves with 12 goals against. Holbrook led the league with eight shutouts last season, including three straight in the Patriot League Tournament against Lafayette, Boston University, and American to help Navy win the title.
Navy was 7-5-9 overall and 3-1-5 in the Patriot League last season. Schuetz's 83rd-minute goal against American in the tournament final sent the Mids into the NCAA Tournament, where they fell 2-0 at Georgetown in the first round.
Navy has nine starters from that team back this season. Baba Kallie and Zach Wagner joined Jackson on the Preseason All-Patriot League Team.
Navy's 2022 championship was its first since 2013 under current Bucknell head coach Dave Brandt. Tim O'Donohue succeeded Brandt as head coach in 2016 and now is in his eighth season in Annapolis.

The Bucknell-Navy Series

Bucknell and Navy first met all the way back in 1930 – Bucknell's second varsity season -- and the Midshipmen lead 30-15-4 in the all-time series.
Navy won the first 15 series meetings and went 18-0-1 in the first 19 before the Bison finally secured a 2-0 win in 1997.
The Bison had a 9-0-1 stretch from 2002-11.
Navy has won the last three meetings. Bucknell's last win was a 2-0 verdict in the 2019 Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals.
After playing four straight times in Annapolis, Navy traveled to Lewisburg last season came away with a 2-0 win. Baba Kallie scored in the 25th minute and David Jackson converted a penalty kick in the 84th minute for Navy. The Bison played the final 50 minutes with 10 men after Eddie Perez-Pelaez was sent off for denial of a clear goal-scoring opportunity.

Next Up

Bucknell has a third straight two-game week coming up next week, both Patriot League home affairs. The Bison host Loyola on Wednesday and American the following Saturday. Both matches are 7 p.m. stars at Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium.