Men's Soccer Back on Road Sunday to Face Army West Point

Bucknell (4-6-3, 2-1-2 PL) at Army West Point (4-8-1, 1-4 PL)
When: Sunday, Oct. 20, 1 p.m.
Where: Malek Stadium at Clinton Field, West Point, N.Y.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoArmyWestPoint.com

Bucknell at a Glance

The Bison enter Patriot League Match Day No. 6 in a tie for second place in the jam-packed table, and they have nothing but league games from here on out as they look to make a return to the postseason. Next up is a suddenly resurgent Army side that is coming off back-to-back impressive wins over arch-rival Navy and Princeton.
The Patriot League standings are a complete mess, with only three points separating first place from eighth. Lehigh (3-1-1) has moved to the top of the table with 10 points. Bucknell, Boston University, and Colgate are all tied for second on eight points with 2-1-2 records, and then American, Loyola, Navy, and Lafayette are all 2-2-1 for seven points.
Bucknell has beaten Navy and American, tied Holy Cross and Lehigh, and fallen to Boston University in league play. Last Saturday's 1-0 loss in Boston dropped the Bison out of first place. The Terriers scored the game's only goal in the 71st minute.
Bucknell's final non-conference game of the season resulted in a 4-1 away loss at St. Bonaventure on Tuesday night. Sophomore Mason Lillis scored his first career goal, but the Bison conceded a season-high four at the other end.
Bucknell had been the top-ranked defensive team in the Patriot League, but it dropped to second behind Lafayette after conceding five times in the last two games. The Bison have now allowed 1.31 goals per game, just behind Lafayette's 1.23. Junior goalkeeper Freddie Lapworth has been a steadying presence in the box, as the Bison have seen some flux in the back line throughout the season. Lapworth has played every minute in goal and leads the league with four shutouts. Lapworth is now fourth in the league in save percentage (.750) and GAA (1.31).
Ben Sheffield, a junior defender, was named Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 7. He leads all Bison field players in minutes played with 1,071 of a possible 1,170. Sheffield, Lapworth, and Jimmy Pombor are the only Bison to have started all 13 games this season. All told, 19 different Bucknell players have made at least one start.
Bucknell's 11 goals this season have come from nine different players. Drew Roskos and Sheffield have two each, and Lillis, Jack Lucas, Zane Domsohn, David Krumov, Cade Whitmire, Cohen Weaver, and Cade McGrath have one apiece.
Dave Brandt is Bucknell's 14th full-time head coach and just the third dating back to 1967. Brandt, who is now in his third season at Bucknell, brought with him a remarkable career record of 354-86-40 in stints at Messiah, Navy, and Hope. 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.

Army West Point at a Glance

After going 0-6 in the month of September, October has been a different story for the Black Knights. They snapped their six-game losing streak with a 2-0 home win over Rider, fell 2-1 to American, and then in the last week have wins over Navy (2-1) and Princeton (1-0). The Black Knights swept their service academy rivals, as they also downed Air Force 2-1 in Colorado Springs in August.
The Navy game was played at Subaru Park in Chester, Pa., home of the MLS Philadelphia Union, and Army won it on a Gage Lyons goal in the 84th minute. Ronald Zhai scored in the seventh minute before Navy equalized through Jalen Grant early in the second half.
Zhai's penalty kick in the 70th minute was the difference in Tuesday's road win at Princeton. The Black Knights were outshot 21-6 but got seven saves from the goalkeeper tandem of Blair Camargo and Keanu Likewise.
Army has been outscored 19-16 in 13 games this season. Lyons (5) and Zhai (4) have combined for nine of those 16, and Jubril Bamgbala and Jack Kryger have two each.
Camargo has seen the bulk of the goalkeeping action with 10 starts, with Likewise picking up the other three. Camargo has 31 saves and 16 goals against, while Likewise has stopped 17 shots with only three conceded.

The Bucknell-Army Series

Bucknell is 17-24-1 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 four wins and a draw in the last five meetings.
Last year's game at Emmitt Field resulted in a frustrating 2-1 loss for the Bison, who piled up an 18-6 shot advantage and a 10-1 edge in corner kicks. D'Anthony Brown and Cooper Warren scored for Army, the latter on a PK, before Zane Domsohn got the Bison on the board in 77th minute. Bucknell generated five corner kicks after the Domsohn goal but could not find the equalizer.
In the last meeting at West Point in 2022, Army scored the final four goals in its 4-1 win at Clinton Field. Mo Tall scored from the penalty spot in the 16th minute, but two goals from Nick Atkinson and one each from Dylan Mitchiner and Joey Hickson helped Army pull away from 10-man Bucknell.
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

After the Sunday fixture at West Point, the Bison will have almost a full week to prepare for its Senior Day home game against Colgate. That will be a 1 p.m. start at Emmitt Field on Saturday, Oct. 26.

Men's Soccer Back on Road Sunday to Face Army West Point

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Zane Domsohn

David Krumov

Freddie Lapworth

Mason Lillis

Jack Lucas

Cade McGrath

Jimmy Pombor

Drew Roskos

Ben Sheffield

Mo Tall

Cohen Weaver

Cade Whitmire

Men's Soccer Back on Road Sunday to Face Army West Point

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Zane Domsohn

David Krumov

Freddie Lapworth

Mason Lillis

Jack Lucas

Cade McGrath

Jimmy Pombor

Drew Roskos

Ben Sheffield

Mo Tall

Cohen Weaver

Cade Whitmire

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