Friday, October 31
Annapolis, Md.
7 p.m.
Bucknell University
at
Navy
Photo by: Steve Schoenfelder
Men's Soccer Looks to Clinch Playoff Berth in Friday Night Action at Navy
10/29/2025 2:34:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Bucknell (8-3-4, 3-2-2 PL) at Navy (3-6-7, 0-4-3 PL)
When: Friday, Oct. 31, 7 p.m.
Where: Annapolis, Md.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: NavySports.com
When: Friday, Oct. 31, 7 p.m.
Where: Annapolis, Md.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: NavySports.com
- The Bucknell men's soccer team travels to Navy on Friday for a big Patriot League matchup at 7 p.m. at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.
- With a win, the Bison can clinch a berth to the Patriot League playoffs. The Bison can also clinch with a tie against Navy and a Loyola loss or draw against Army.
- Bucknell is coming off of a 0-0 draw against the league-leaders American and Navy is coming off of a 1-1 draw with Loyola.
- The Bison sit in fourth place at 11 points, just ahead of Army at 10 points and Lafayette at nine points. American and Lehigh lead the league with 16 points and Boston is in third with 12 points.
- Freddie Lapworth made six saves in goal for Bucknell as the men's soccer team earned one point in a scoreless, hard-fought draw with league-leaders American on Saturday night at Emmitt Field on Senior Day.
- Lapworth's biggest moment of the match came in the 58th minute of play as Mustapha Sowe broke beyond the back line on a great through ball. Sowe had only Lapworth to beat, but the senior goalkeeper was quick off his line to close down the space and save the shot.
- Sowe was a constant threat in the match, taking six shots with three on target. He forced a save from Lapworth in the first few minutes of each half, and hit the crossbar in the 49th minute.
- Cohen Weaver hit a post of his own, hitting the left upright in the first half for Bucknell's best chance of the match. A ball was played into the box, and Drew Roskos showed strength to win a fifty-fifty ball at the edge of the box. He played a square ball to Weaver, and his shot was inches away from giving the Bison the lead.
- Lapworth made six saves in the match, including four in the second half. This was his fourth clean sheet of the season, and it was Bucknell's fifth. American out-shot Bucknell 10-9, and the Bison had two shots on target compared to the Eagles' four.
- Bucknell and American both earned a point, and the Bison take sole possession of fourth at 11 points after Army moved to 10 points with a win over Lafayette.
- Bucknell has had some impressive results at the beginning of the season, including a season-opening win at No. 23 Hofstra, a 2-2 draw at Maryland and a 3-2 win over St. Bonaventure.
- Bucknell has scored in the final 16 minutes in eight of its 15 matches and scored a goal in the final five minutes in five matches. The Bison are 4-3-1 in matches they have trailed in, losing to George Mason, Lehigh and Boston.
- At Hofstra, the Bison erased a 1-0 deficit before Jack Lucas scored the match-winner in the 75th minute. Against St. Bonaventure, the Bison trailed 2-1 early in the second half before Lucas equalized and junior Jakub Samelko won the match in the 88th minute.
- At Maryland, the Bison erased a 2-0 deficit with goals from two of its senior center backs. Jackson Sullivan converted a penalty kick and Ben Sheffield leveled the match with an 86th-minute goal. The Bison erased another 2-0 deficit, equalizing the match against George Mason 2-2 before the Patriots scored its late goal to win the match.
- Bucknell then trailed 1-0 to Old Dominion and 2-0 to Saint Francis before scoring four unanswered goals in each of the two matches.
- Lucas was on the score sheet in the first five matches with four goals and one assist. Lucas has earned two (PL) Offensive Player of the Week awards thus far. He has two match-winning goals against Old Dominion and Hofstra.
- Lucas was Bucknell's top point-scorer and goal-scorer in 2024, tallying three goals and four assists in the campaign. This season, Lucas has five goals and three assists for 13 points.
- Bucknell has 27 goals thus far from 11 different goal-scorers to rank first in the PL in goals scored. Forward Drew Roskos leads the squad with six goals, followed by Lucas with five goals. Both Roskos and Lucas have 13 points.
- Forward Zane Domsohn has nine points on four goals and an assist and forward Jakub Samelko has three goals for six points. Center back Jackson Sullivan has five points this season on two goals and one assist.
- Forward Winston Oziri, midfielder Kasper Piela, midfielder Jimmy Pombor, center back Ben Sheffield, center back Collin Sullivan and center back Jacob Thomas all have a goal this season.
- Cade Whitmire has four assists on the season for four points and Kasper Piela and David Krumov each have three assists. Nate Coughlin, Cohen Weaver and goalkeeper Freddie Lapworth all have two assists. Kiko Hidalgo, Noah Handzel, Zain Elder and Collin Sullivan all have one assist.
- Bucknell has been scored on 18 times this season. Lapworth has a .700 save percentage and six shutouts this season. He has made 36 saves in 13 games thus far. Junior Rex Alphen made one start against Saint Joseph's, making for saves for his first career 90-minute clean sheet. He has previously played in 54 minutes before Tuesday's start.
- In league matches, the Bison have allowed five goals in seven matches and five of their six shutouts have come in league action.
- Lapworth is the Preseason Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year after being named the 2024 PL Goalkeeper of the Year. Lapworth was a First Team All-PL and a First Team All-Region honoree in 2024. Lapworth was named one of nine goalkeepers to the United Soccer Coaches Goalkeepers to Watch List and one of 29 players named to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List.
- Senior midfielder Jimmy Pombor was named to the Preseason All-PL squad. Pombor, a holding midfielder, had an excellent debut season in Orange and Blue after transferring from Lock Haven. Pombor has started in all but two matches since his arrival.
- Bucknell has 23 returning players on the 2025 squad, including 17 upperclassmen. Bucknell's freshman class includes center backs Jacob Thomas and Gavin Newcombe, wing back Nate Coughlin, holding midfielder Zain Elder and goalkeeper Thomas Yerbury.
- Dave Brandt is Bucknell's 14th full-time head coach and just the third dating back to 1967. Brandt, who is now in his fourth 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.
- Bucknell leads the Patriot League and ranks 36th in the nation with 27 goals scored. The Bison are averaging 1.80 goals per game to rank 43rd in the nation.
- Bucknell ranks first in the PL with 13.27 shots per game and ranks first with 99 shots on goal and 6.60 shots on goal per game. The 6.60 shots on goal per game ranks 19th in the nation and Bucknell's .497 shot accuracy ranks ninth.
- The Bison rank third in the PL with 26 assists
- Roskos is tied with Archie Hatcher of Holy Cross and Thomas Robertson of Lehigh for a league-high six goals. Lucas has the second-most goals scored with five goals. Roskos and Lucas have the second-most points in the league with 13.
- Roskos ranks third in the PL with 40 shots and ranks second with 19 shots on target. Lucas ranks 10th with 29 shots and ranks sixth with 14 shots on target.
- Domsohn has the third-most goals scored in the PL with four goals.
- The Bison rank 43rd in the nation with 80 total points.
- Bucknell completed an incredible turnaround in 2024, winning its first Patriot League Championship since 2014. The Bison went from last place with a 2-10-1 (1-6-1 PL) record in 2023 to a 7-7-6 (4-1-4 PL) record in 2024 with a PL regular-season co-championship with Boston University. Bucknell defeated American in penalties in the semifinal match before a 3-0 rout of Colgate in the championship match. The only other team to make a last-to-first finish in their conference last season was North Florida Atlantic Sun Conference.
- Bucknell was one of the top defensive sides in the PL last season, allowing just five goals in nine league matches. The Bison only allowed multiple goals in five of its matches on the season, including a 2-1 loss in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Providence.
- The Bison allowed 21 goals in 20 games, allowing 1.038 goals per game that ranked 39th in the nation. Bucknell's eight clean sheets ranked ninth in nation and the Bison ranked 36th with a .400 shutout percentage. Freddie Lapworth led the PL with a .774 save percentage that also ranked 29th in the nation.
- On the attack, Bucknell's .950 goals per game average ranked last in the Patriot League despite ranking first in the Patriot League with 210 shots and ranking third with 82 shots on goal. Bucknell had 12 different goal scorers and 13 different players with an assist.
- Sophomore Drew Roskos had a great debut season for the Bison, netting three goals with three assists to rank second on the team with nine points. Juniors Cade Whitmire and David Krumov each had a team-high four assists.
- Navy comes into Friday's match looking to play spoiler for its first league win of the season. Navy has three points in the league on three draws, tying Holy Cross, Lafayette and Loyola.
- The Mids have 16 goals from 10 different goal-scorers and have allowed 22 goals this season.
- Andrew Shug leads the team with four goals and nine points, also notching one assist this season. Duncan Sullivan has three goals and two assists for eight points and Nick Gallucci has a pair of goals with an assist.
- Keane Brown leads the team with three assists. JP Torres, Jalen Grant and Stephen Nelson all have a pair of assists.
- Goalkeeper Robert Eaton has a .787 save percentage that ranks third in the PL. He's allowed 19 goals in 14 matches with two shutouts. He ranks second in the PL with 70 saves.
- Goalkeeper Dylan Carmody has played in three matches with two starts, allowing three goals.
- Navy has gotten the better of Bucknell over the all-time series as the Mids lead 31-16-4 dating back to 1930. Bucknell is 1-5 in the last five matches with its only win in that span coming last season.
- In 2024, the Bison earned a 2-1 victory at Emmitt Field. Cade Whitmire and Cohen Weaver both had a goal and an assist in the match, and Weaver's goal in the 21st minute went down as the match-winner. Andrew Shug scored Navy's lone goal in the 87th minute.
- The Bison have one more regular season match at home against Loyola at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, November 4.
Players Mentioned
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