Men's Soccer Set for Patriot League Action with Match at Lafayette on Saturday

Bucknell (3-1-1) at Lafayette (2-3-1)
When: Saturday, Sep. 13, 1 p.m.
Where: Easton, Pa.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoLeopards.com

The Bucknell men's soccer team heads to Lafayette to open up Patriot League play on Saturday with a 1 p.m. kickoff at Gummeson Grounds: Home of Mike Bourger '44 Field at Oaks Stadium.
Bucknell bounced back from its first loss of the season at No. 22 George Mason early last week with a dominant 4-2 win over a strong Old Dominion side on Sunday.

Last Time Out for the Bison

It was a nervy opening at Emmitt Field as Old Dominion caught the Bison out defensively for the opening goal just 64 seconds into the match. The Bison dominated the rest of the match, scoring four consecutive goals.
Bucknell leveled the match in the 22nd minute on an own goal set up by senior wing back Cade McGrath. McGrath received the ball on the top of the box and took a big touch past the defender to the end line. He put in a dangerous cross, and the attempted headed clearance snuck into the near post.
Jakub Samelko, Cade Whitmire and Kasper Piela got on the score sheet as the trio of juniors linked up for a beautiful goal to put the Bison in front 2-1. Piela made a sliding challenge to win a 50-50 ball and find the feet of Whitmire. Whitmire lifted his pass over the back line to a darting Samelko, who calmly put away his shot into the bottom right corner.
The Bison continued to put on the pressure in the second half, extending the advantage to 3-1 just seven minutes into the half. Senior Jimmy Pombor was a defensive force in the midfield and was key in transition for the Bison.
Pombor intercepted an errant pass in the attacking third and carried the ball into the box. Pombor took hard contact and went down in the box to earn a penalty. Lucas stepped up to take the penalty, getting his attempt saved before putting away the rebound.
Junior Winston Oziri capped off Bucknell's scoring with a sweet finish in the 81st minute. Freshman Nate Coughlin deserved a lot of credit, winning the ball in his defensive half before carrying the ball all the way into the attacking third. Coughlin slipped his ball through to a great run by Oziri, and the junior still had work to do to beat a charging keeper.

Bucknell at a Glance

Bucknell is ranked No. 1 in the Atlantic Region and received 10 votes in the national rankings of the most recent United Soccer Coaches Division I rankings.
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 each of its first five matches and scored a goal in the final five minutes in two of its matches. The Bison have trailed in all five matches to start the season, coming from behind in each to erase the deficit.
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 before scoring four consecutive goals.
Lucas has been on the score sheet in each of Bucknell's first five matches with four goals and one assist.
Lucas leads the Patriot League with nine points, four goals and two match-winning goals. Lucas is this week's Patriot League (PL) Offensive Player of the Week after scoring twice last week; his second weekly award of the season. His goal against George Mason equalized the match and his goal against Old Dominion became the match-winning goal.
His two big goals for the Bison in the first week earned the wing-backer the PL Offensive Player of the Week award; his second career 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 12 shots, including eight shots on target.
Bucknell has 13 goals thus far from seven different goal-scorers. Senior Forward Zane Domsohn netted a goal against St. Bonaventure just 30 seconds into the match and has two goals on the season. Freshman center back Jacob Thomas scored his first career goal against Hofstra, equalizing the match 1-1 with a goal from 25 yards out. Oziri netted his first career goal against Old Dominion
Lucas, junior center back Kiko Hidalgo, senior midfielder Cohen Weaver, junior midfielder David Krumov, and freshman wing back Nate Coughlin have all tallied an assist. Coughlin provided the assist on a beautiful cross on Samelko's winning goal against St. Bonaventure and assisted Oziri's goal. Whitmire and Piela each notched their first assist of the season against Old Dominion.
Senior goalkeeper Freddie 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.
The Bison are still looking for its first clean sheet after keeping eight last season. Despite conceding 10 goals, Lapworth has made 23 saves and made important stops to keep the Bison from conceding more. Lapworth has come up with several big stops on breakaways, and saved a penalty against Maryland that was key in getting the result.
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.

Lafayette at a Glance

Lafayette is 2-3-1 to start the season, going unbeaten in its last two matches. The Leopards picked up wins in against Le Moyne and Fairfield.
The Leopards were 8-6-4 last season with a 3-4-2 mark in the Patriot League, finishing eighth in the standings.
Junior midfielder Samir Dishnica has scored two of Lafayette's three goals this season. He has been a threat on the attack with 20 shots and 10 shots on target. Nicholas Papadopoulos scored the only other goal for the Leopards.
Cole Duschang and Riley Martin have each picked up an assist.
The Leopards have only given up five goals thus far, with goalkeeper Eric Axtman keeping an .808 save percentage. He has made 21 saves and posted two shutouts to start the year.
Roy Bigeon led the team last year with six goals and 14 points. Bigeon also added two assists. Beaux Lizewski was third on the squad last season with nine points on two goals and five assists.
Nicholas Liebich and Max Fujimori each had two goals and one assist in 2024.

History/Facts

Bucknell is looking to level the all-time series as Lafayette leads the series 33-32-11 all time dating back to 1931. Bucknell won the very first matchup 3-1.
The Bison are 0-2-3 in its last five matchups with the Leopards and have not beaten Lafayette since a 1-0 win back in 2018.
The Bison fought to a 1-1 draw at home with Lafayette last season as Jack Lucas scored a 65th minute equalizer to help the Bison clinch a top two seed in the Patriot League tournament. Beaux Lizewski also scored in the match.

Men's Soccer Set for Patriot League Action with Match at Lafayette on Saturday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Nate Coughlin

Zane Domsohn

Zain Elder

Kiko Hidalgo

David Krumov

Freddie Lapworth

Jack Lucas

Cade McGrath

Gavin Newcombe

Winston Oziri

Kasper Piela

Jimmy Pombor

Drew Roskos

Jakub Samelko

Ben Sheffield

Jackson Sullivan

Jacob Thomas

Cohen Weaver

Cade Whitmire

Thomas Yerbury

Men's Soccer Set for Patriot League Action with Match at Lafayette on Saturday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Nate Coughlin

Zane Domsohn

Zain Elder

Kiko Hidalgo

David Krumov

Freddie Lapworth

Jack Lucas

Cade McGrath

Gavin Newcombe

Winston Oziri

Kasper Piela

Jimmy Pombor

Drew Roskos

Jakub Samelko

Ben Sheffield

Jackson Sullivan

Jacob Thomas

Cohen Weaver

Cade Whitmire

Thomas Yerbury

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