Men's Soccer Looks to Stay Unbeaten at Maryland

Bucknell (2-0) at Maryland (1-0)
When: Friday, Aug. 29, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Ludwig Field, College Park, Md.
Streaming: B1G+
Live Stats: UMTerps.com

Bucknell at a Glance

Bucknell and Maryland both look to stay unbeaten in the early going as both sides took down a ranked opponent in the first match of the season. The Bison took down No. 23 Hofstra on the road in the season opener before defeating St. Bonaventure on Sunday night. Maryland knocked off No. 25 Georgetown in its season opener after its match with No. 6 Wake Forest was cancelled due to weather. In the most recent release of the United Soccer Coaches Division I rankings, Maryland received two votes and Bucknell received one vote.
Bucknell is off to a great start, and won both of its matches in style with late goals. This is the second consecutive year that the Bison have started 2-0. Before last season, the Bison had not started a season 2-0 since 2002.
In the season opener on Thursday against three-time defending CAA champions and No. 23 Hofstra, junior Jack Lucas scored a 75th-minute match-winning goal to send the Bison home with a 2-1 victory. Lucas settled down a headed clearance just outside of the box, and he quickly fired in a strike off of a bounce into the top right corner.
The Bison went down 1-0 midway through the first half on a headed goal from Daniel Burko. Bucknell responded quickly, equalizing the match through freshman Jacob Thomas' first collegiate tally. Thomas, a center back, stepped into the midfield to win back possession. He spun between two defenders with the ball and found himself with acres of space towards goal. Thomas fired away from 25 yards out, short-hopping the keeper and deflecting into the goal to make it 1-1.
Bucknell then pulled out a 3-2 victory over St. Bonaventure in its home-opener on Sunday night as junior Jakub Samelko scored an 88th-minute winner for his first career goal. Freshman Nate Coughlin earned his first career point on the goal. The wing back played in a beautiful cross that bounced to the back post where Samelko pounced on the opportunity and forced it into the back of the net.
It was a hectic match that saw both teams score in the first two minutes of the first half, and the first eight minutes of the second half. Senior Zane Domsohn opened his season account with an incredible goal just 30 seconds into the match. Pressing right after the kick off, the forward made a great challenge to steal possession before firing in a hard strike from 20 yards out. The Bonnies quickly equalized 81 seconds later on a smashing free kick by Seth Hammond.
Bucknell went down 2-1 in the 48th-minute on Ricardo Rittersberger Galan's headed goal. The Bison answered within six minutes as Jack Lucas came up big again with a brilliant free kick from 25 yards out.
Lucas' two big goals for the Bison earned the wing-backer the Patriot League (PL) Offensive Player of the Week award, his second PL weekly award after earning a Midfielder of the Week honor last season. 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 six shots, including four shots on target.
Bucknell has been on the attacking front in its first two matches, scoring four of its five goals from outside the 18-yard box. Bucknell is outshooting opponents 33-25 through the first two matches with 13 shots on target.
Senior goalkeeper Freddie Lapworth was named the Preseason Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year after being named the 2024 PL Goalkeeper of the Year. Lapworth is primed for another big year after keeping eight clean sheets last season. 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 every match since his arrival and was a First Team All-PL selection in 2024.
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 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.

Maryland at a Glance

Maryland enters the match with a 1-0 win over No. 25 Georgetown on Monday night. Senior forward Sadam Masareka scored the game's only goal in the 65th minute.
The Terps finished with a 9-6-5 overall record with a 5-3-2 mark in the Big Ten last season. Maryland was bounced in the Big Ten Tournament with a 6-0 loss to UCLA, but earned an at-large big to the NCAA tournament.
Maryland was paired in the same bracket as Bucknell in the NCAA tournament, where they bounced back with a 5-2 thrashing of Long Island in the first round. The Terps went on to fall to No. 8 Wake Forest in the second round, 2-1.
Junior midfielder Leon Koehl returns as Maryland's leading goal-scorer from 2024. Koehl racked up seven goals that was tied for fourth among Big Ten foes. Koehl also added two assists and was the team's second-leading point-scorer last year.
Senior forwards Colin Griffith and Masareka were also on the scoresheet plenty of times in 2024. Griffith was second don the team with six goals, also providing an assist. Masareka scored four times with two assists to his name.
Senior midfielder Albi Ndrenika and senior defender Luka Costabile return as two of Maryland's assist leaders. Costabile picked up five assists and Ndrenika picked up four assists in 2024.
The match against Bucknell is set to be Maryland's 2025 home opener at Ludwig Field

History/Facts

This is the fifth meeting between the Bison and the Terps, dating back to 2002. All four matchups between the two sides took place from 2002-2006, where Maryland holds a 3-1 record over Bucknell.
In 2003, Bucknell took down No. 2 Maryland 1-0 in what still remains as Bucknell's highest ranked victory over an opponent. Bucknell's Scott Visnic '06 scored 90 seconds into the match, and the Bison held on to the 1-0 result over the remaining 89 minutes. Visnic was the PL Player of the Year in 2003 as a sophomore.
Maryland took the other three matches by scores of 1-0 (2002), 2-0 (2004) and 4-1 (2006).
Maryland head coach Sasho Cirovsky is one of the most esteemed coaches in college soccer history, now entering his 33rd season leading the Terps.
Cirovsky's daughter, Karli Cirovsky '18, was a First Team All-Patriot League player for Bucknell as a defender. Cirovsky started 61 games for the Bison, notching two goals and 13 assists in her career. She was a First Team All-PL and First Team All-Region selection in 2016, and was a Second Team All-PL Player in 2017. Bucknell won Patriot League championships in her junior and senior seasons.

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Players Mentioned

Nate Coughlin

Zane Domsohn

Zain Elder

David Krumov

Freddie Lapworth

Jack Lucas

Gavin Newcombe

Jimmy Pombor

Drew Roskos

Jakub Samelko

Jacob Thomas

Cade Whitmire

Thomas Yerbury