Men's Soccer Starts Patriot League Play Saturday at Home vs. Navy

Saturday, September 14

Lewisburg, Pa.

1 p.m.

Bucknell University

Navy

Photo by: Ben Popko

Men's Soccer Starts Patriot League Play Saturday at Home vs. Navy

9/11/2024 5:10:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Navy (1-3-2, 0-0 PL) at Bucknell (2-2, 0-0 PL)
When: Saturday, Sept. 14, 1 p.m.
Where: Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium, Lewisburg, Pa.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com

Bucknell at a Glance

All 10 Patriot League teams open conference play on Saturday, and the Bison host Navy to kick off the 2024 PL slate.
The Bison have played four tuneup matches, which is their fewest prior to the start of league action since 2002. After opening the season with back-to-back 2-0 wins over Robert Morris and Mount St. Mary's, Bucknell has dropped its two most recent fixtures at George Mason (1-0) and at home against Saint Francis (3-0).
After outplaying each of their first three opponents, Saturday's game against the Red Flash was a tough one for the Bison, who conceded goals in the 20th, 40th, and 77th minutes. The highlight of the weekend was the honoring of nearly two dozen alumni from the great 1970s-era teams. This is the 50-year anniversary of the 1974 squad, which went unbeaten all the way into the second round of the NCAA Tournament. After defeating La Salle in the East Coast Conference championship game, the Bison upset Penn State 1-0 on the road for their first-ever NCAA win. A heartbreaking double-overtime loss to Philadelphia Textile ended the run, but not before the team finished 12-1-2 with only five goals allowed all season and a final national ranking of 14.
The Bison have scored four goals in four games from four different players this season. Jack Lucas, Cade McGrath, Drew Roskos, and Ben Sheffield have the goals. Lucas and David Krumov both have two assists.
Lucas has four points from his goal and two assists, and he is one of four Patriot League players averaging 1.0 points per game. The others are Navy's Wyatt Stevens and Lafayette's Beaux Lizewski and Roy Biegon.
Freddie Lapworth has played every minute in goal thus far and has 12 saves with four goals against. Lapworth ranks second in the Patriot League with a 1.00 goals-against average, and he is tied for the league lead with two shutouts.
The 2024 Bison have plenty of new faces with seven freshmen and four transfers on the roster. The freshman Roskos and transfers Cohen Weaver (Penn State), Jimmy Pombor (Lock Haven), and Winston Oziri (Northumbria in U.K.) all began the year in the starting lineup. Transfer Cade Whitmire (Tulsa) and freshmen Gianluca Marroni, Matt McLeod, and Noah Handzel have seen action off the bench.
Bucknell's most experience comes in the back, where the junior Lapworth backs up a defensive trio of senior Aidan Lawlor and juniors Ben Sheffield and Jackson Sullivan. McGrath, a junior, and sophomore Jack Lucas bring experience to the two wing back positions, and seniors Jack Roberto and Nick Prime are also veterans in the defensive third.
The Bison finished 2-10-4 last season, when they seemed to be punished for every little mistake in the back. There were a number of games where Bucknell controlled the bulk of the possession, only to fall a goal short. The Bison held the opposition to single-digit shot attempts nine times but went just 1-5-3 in those games. Seven of the 10 losses came by one goal, including heartbreakers against Patriot League rivals Navy, Holy Cross, and Boston University where the deciding tally came in the 87th minute or later.
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.

Navy at a Glance

The Midshipmen are 1-3-2 on the season, with the win a 3-0 blanking of Niagara at home on Sept. 2. Navy also has draws with Stonehill (1-1) and FDU (0-0), and losses to George Mason (2-0), Longwood (2-1), and George Washington (1-0).
Navy did have a mid-week game, which was the 1-0 loss to GW in Annapolis. The only goal came from Louis Crofts in the 21st minute.
Freshman Wyatt Stevens is off to a hot start with three goals in six games. He scored against Stonehill, Niagara, and Longwood.
Wasswa Robbins and Tommy Lockhart have the team's other two tallies.
Senior Pierce Holbrook is in his third year as Navy's starting goalkeeper. He played the most minutes in the Patriot League last season and recorded seven shutouts. He has 27 saves with six goals against and a pair of clean sheets in 2024.
The Mids have posted winning Patriot League records in each of the last five seasons. They won the PL title in 2022, and last year they fell 2-0 at Colgate in the quarterfinals to finish the season 6-8-5 overall (3-2-4 PL).
The 2022 championship was the team's first since claiming the 2013 crown under current Bucknell head coach Dave Brandt. Tim O'Donohue succeeded Brandt in 2016 and is now in his ninth 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 31-15-4 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 four meetings. Bucknell's last win was a 2-0 verdict in the 2019 Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals.
Last year's game in Annapolis resulted in a harsh 1-0 defeat for the Bison. Bucknell controlled play for most of the match, but with 3:30 remaining David Jackson lofted a cross into the box that somehow sailed over the reach of goalkeeper Freddie Lapworth and just inside the back post.

Next Up

Following the Navy game, the Bison have a quick turnaround before traveling to Cornell on Tuesday night, and then it's back to league play at home on Saturday, Sept. 21 against Holy Cross.