Men's Soccer Hits the Road to Take on Holy Cross on Saturday

Bucknell (6-2-3, 2-1-1 PL) at Holy Cross (3-5-4, 0-2-2 PL)
When: Saturday, Oct. 11, 4 p.m.
Where: Worcester, Mass.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoHolyCross.com

The Bucknell men's soccer team heads to Holy Cross for a Patriot League matchup at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Linda Johnson Smith Soccer Stadium.
Bucknell is coming off of a 1-0 win over Army where Jimmy Pombor scored in the final 30 seconds of the game to win the match on Saturday. Holy Cross is most recently coming off of a 3-1 loss on the road at Lehigh.
Bucknell played nearly 60 minutes against Binghamton on Tuesday, but the match was declared a "no contest" due to pitch conditions from the rain.
Bucknell is 3-1-3 on the road with its only road loss coming at the hands of George Mason.
Bucknell sits in fourth in the league with seven points and Holy Cross is in ninth with two points. Lehigh leads the league with 10 points, and Boston and American both have nine points.

Last Time Out for the Bison

Jimmy Pombor's finish in a chaotic scene won the match in the dying seconds as the Bucknell men's soccer team pulled out a 1-0 result over Army West Point.
Bucknell won a corner late in the match with one final opportunity to find the back of the net after 89 scoreless minutes. Kasper Piela's original ball into the box was cleared only to David Krumov, who quickly sent the ball back out wide.
Piela served in another ball, and Collin Sullivan leaped into action to get a touch. The ball fell right to Pombor who slotted in his first goal of the season.
Bucknell dominated the majority of the second half as Army had just a couple opportunities on the attack. The Black Knights' biggest moment came in 69th minute through Ronald Zhai. Zhai found space at the edge of the box, but his left footed shot that was destined for the corner was pushed aside by a diving Freddie Lapworth.
Lapworth made two saves in the second half for his only two saves of the night. Lapworth was tested from distance later on, but the senior made a comfortable save in the end.
Army had no shots on target in the first half, but had two of its best opportunities to score. Army looked to have scored but the goal was ruled offsides just 11 minutes in. Later in the half, a miscue by the Bison set up a great opportunity, but the shot was put over the bar.
Bucknell peppered the Army goal with 18 shots in the match, nine of which were on target. Drew Roskos caused chaos to the Army back line all night, and was unlucky not to score as the forward had seven shots and four shots on target.

Bucknell at a Glance

Bucknell is ranked No. 3 in the Atlantic Region in the most recent United Soccer Coaches Division I rankings. Bucknell was ranked No. 1 through the first five weeks until Boston took over for the top spot after the 3-2 win a week ago.
Bucknell's impressive start includes a season-opening win at No. 23 Hofstra, a 2-2 draw at Maryland and a 3-2 win over St. Bonaventure.
Bucknell's loss to George Mason came on a last-minute goal from the Patriots to take the match 3-2.
Bucknell has scored in the final 16 minutes in seven of its 11 matches and scored a goal in the final five minutes in four matches. The Bison are 5-2 in matches they have trailed in, losing to only George Mason 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 leads the Patriot League with five goals and two assists for 12 points. He has 23 shots, including 13 shots on target.
Bucknell has 23 goals thus far from nine different goal-scorers to rank first in the PL in goals scored. Forwards Drew Roskos and Zane Domsohn each have four goals this season. Forward Jakub Samelko has three goals. Roskos and Domsohn each have an assist for nine points. Center back Jackson Sullivan has five points this season on two goals and one assist.
Winston Oziri, Jimmy Pombor, Ben Sheffield and Jacob Thomas all have a goal this season.
Cade Whitmire has four assists on the season for four points. David Krumov, Nate Coughlin, Kasper Piela, Cohen Weaver and goalkeeper Freddie Lapworth all have two assists. Kiko Hidalgo and Collin Sullivan each have an assist.
Bucknell has been scored on 16 times this season. Lapworth has a .667 save percentage and three shutouts this season. He has made 32 saves in 11 games thus far.
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.

Rankings

Bucknell leads the Patriot League and ranks 23rd in the nation with 23 goals. The Bison are averaging 2.09 goals per game to rank 29th in the nation.
Bucknell ranks first in the PL with 14.18 shots per game and ranks first with 82 shots on goal and 7.45 shots on goal per game. The 7.45 shots on goal per game ranks 6th in the nation and Bucknell's .526 shot accuracy ranks eighth.
Lucas leads the league with five goals and 12 points. His two game-winning goals are second-most in the league. He ranks eighth with 23 shots and ranks third with 13 shots on target.
Roskos and Domsohn have the second-most goals scored in the PL with four goals apiece. Roskos ranks third with 29 shots and ranks second with 14 shots on goal. Samelko ranks fifth with three goals and ranks ninth with 10 shots on goal on only 11 total shots. Whitmire's four assists are second-most in the league.
The Bison rank 33rd in the nation with 62 total points.

Bucknell in 2024

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.

Binghamton at a Glance

Holy Cross is 3-5-4 this season with an 0-2-2 start in the Patriot League. The Crusaders' win came against Anna Maria, Stonehill and Rhode Island. They opened Patriot League play with draws against Navy and Lafayette before falling to Loyola and Lehigh.
The Crusaders have scored 13 goals and have allowed 15 goals. The 13 goals rank fourth among the Patriot League and their 146 shots rank second.
Archie Hatcher leads the team with eight points on three goals and two assists. His 10 points rank eighth in the league. He ranks sixth with 23 shots and fourth with 13 shots on target.
Thomas Mancuso has seven points on three goals and an assist. Cayden Walton has also notched three goals this season.
Kevin cull has six points on one goal and four assists. His four assists are second-most in the league.
Jack Fiedler and Liam Heneghan each have a goal. Kyle Martell and Luke Myers each have two assists.
The Crusaders finished the 2024 season with a 4-9-5 record with a 3-3-3 mark in the league.

History/Facts

Bucknell is 15-12-7 all-time against the Crusaders dating back to 1990, and they played a scoreless draw last season. The teams are 2-2-1 in the last five matches.
Zane Domsohn scored in this matchup back in 2023, but Holy Cross won the match 2-1.

Next Up

The Bison have two more games on the road before returning to Emmitt Field. The Bison travel to Lehigh next Saturday before traveling to Saint Joseph's on Tuesday, October 21.

Men's Soccer Hits the Road to Take on Holy Cross on Saturday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Nate Coughlin

Zane Domsohn

Zain Elder

Kiko Hidalgo

David Krumov

Freddie Lapworth

Jack Lucas

Gavin Newcombe

Winston Oziri

Kasper Piela

Jimmy Pombor

Drew Roskos

Jakub Samelko

Ben Sheffield

Collin Sullivan

Jackson Sullivan

Jacob Thomas

Cohen Weaver

Cade Whitmire

Thomas Yerbury

Men's Soccer Hits the Road to Take on Holy Cross on Saturday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Nate Coughlin

Zane Domsohn

Zain Elder

Kiko Hidalgo

David Krumov

Freddie Lapworth

Jack Lucas

Gavin Newcombe

Winston Oziri

Kasper Piela

Jimmy Pombor

Drew Roskos

Jakub Samelko

Ben Sheffield

Collin Sullivan

Jackson Sullivan

Jacob Thomas

Cohen Weaver

Cade Whitmire

Thomas Yerbury

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