Men's Soccer Hosts Boston for First Home Patriot League Match

Boston (4-3, 1-1 PL) at Bucknell (5-1-2, 1-0-1 PL)
When: Saturday, Sep. 27, 1 p.m.
Where: Lewisburg, Pa. | Emmitt Field
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com

The Bucknell men's soccer hosts its first Patriot League match at Emmitt field on Saturday as Boston University comes to town for showdown between the top-two preseason favorites in the league.
Bucknell is coming off a 4-2 win over Saint Francis where the Bison scored four unanswered goals to complete its fourth comeback win of the season. Boston is coming off of a 2-1 loss where Boston College scored twice in under a minute to win the match.
Bucknell came in at No. 24 in the United Soccer Coaches polls, marking the first time since 1974 that the Bison have entered the coaches polls.
The Bison are 2-0 at Emmitt Field this season and 3-1-2 on the road.

Last Time Out for the Bison

Center back Jackson Sullivan's header in the 62nd minute went down as the match-winner, leaping above everybody on a corner to guide his effort into the right corner.
Forward Drew Roskos scored two goals for his second and third of the season, and assisted the tying goal. Roskos cut the deficit in half with a beautifully taken goal from a tight angle. Goalkeeper Freddie Lapworth earned his second assist in three matches, playing a dangerous ball from his own box to connect with Roskos. Roskos then scored in the 89th minute to put the match to rest.
Saint Francis' first two goals came in the 9th and 19th minutes with the second goal coming on an own goal to take a 2-0 advantage.
Roskos' first goal came in the 29th minute to halve the deficit. Lapworth created something out of nothing with a massive ball beyond the back line for Roskos to chase. The sophomore remained calm on the opportunity and volleyed in a bouncing ball over the head of the keeper into the side netting on a tight angle.
Jakub Samelko netted the tying goal early in the second half. Roskos was involved again, playing a key pass through the defense to a charging Samelko. Samelko brilliantly curled his effort in around the keeper to level the score in the 52nd minute.
Sullivan made amends for the own goal with the match-winner in the 62nd minute. Sullivan headed in a corner from David Krumov. Roskos then capped off the match with an 89th minute tap-in goal. Cade Whitmire won possession in the midfield and carried into the attacking third. He played the three-on-two situation into Zane Domsohn who intelligently passed across goal to Roskos for an easy finish.
The Bison out-shot the Red Flash 13-7 with 10 shots on target. Saint Francis' goalkeeper Diego Garciarena made six saves.

Bucknell at a Glance

Bucknell is ranked No. 1 in the Atlantic Region in the most recent United Soccer Coaches Division I rankings for the fifth consecutive week.
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 six of its eight matches and scored a goal in the final five minutes in three of its matches. The Bison have trailed in six matches, coming from behind in each to erase the deficit. The Bison are 5-1 in matches they have trailed in, losing to only George Mason on a last minute goal.
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-winner 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 13 shots, including nine shots on target.
Bucknell has 19 goals thus far from eight different goal-scorers to rank first in the PL. Forwards Drew Roskos, Zane Domsohn and Jakub Samelko each have three goals this season. Roskos and Domsohn each have an assist for seven points. Jackson Sullivan has four points this season on two goals.
Winston Oziri, Ben Sheffield and Jacob Thomas all have a goal this season.
Cade Whitmire has three assists in the last four matches and has three points on the season. David Krumov and Nate Coughlin both have two assists, and goalkeeper Freddie Lapworth has tallied two assists in the last three matches.
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 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 ranks first in the Patriot League and 20th in the nation with 19 goals. The Bison are averaging 2.38 goals per game to rank 15th in the nation.
Bucknell ranks first with 12.75 shots per game and ranks first with 55 shots on goal and 6.88 shots on goal per game. The 6.88 shots on goal per game rank 23rd in the nation.
Lucas leads the league with four goals, nine points and two game-winning goals. He ranks ninth with 16 shots and ranks fourth with 10 shots on target.
Roskos, Domsohn and Samelko have the second-most goals scored with three goals apiece. Roskos ranks fifth with 18 shots and ranks sixth with eight shots on goal. Samelko ranks ninth with six shots on target. Whitmire ranks third with three assists.

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.

Boston at a Glance

Boston is 4-3 this season and 1-1 in the Patriot League. In the PL, Boston fell to Army 1-0 but bounced back with a 1-0 win against Navy.
Boston also took down New Hampshire, Charleston and Brown this season. The Terriers took on the defending National Champions in Vermont, falling 4-0.
Lapo Romieri leads the Terriers with six points and two assists. Andrea Di Blasio has two goals and one assist. Austin Mobray, Pharis Petrica, Alex Bonnington, Ethan Gill, Anthony Harper, and Sebastian Otero all have a goal. Di Blasio, Mobray, Bonnington and Otero all have a game-winning goal.
Mobray, Petrica and Dylan Williams each have two assists.
Di Blasio led the Terriers in points last season with nine points on four goals and one assist. He score three game-winners last season.

History/Facts

Bucknell and Boston are even in the series at 3-3-6. The Bison have not beaten the Terriers since 2019 and are 1-3-1 in the last five matches.
Last season, the Terriers delivered Bucknell's only league loss in a 1-0 result at Boston. Boston's Andrea Di Blasio scored the match's only goal in the 71st minute.

Next Up

The Bison are back in action on Tuesday for a non-conference matchup at Mount St. Mary's at 7 p.m.
Bucknell is 7-8 all-time against Mount St. Mary's and have won each of the last two matchups.

Men's Soccer Hosts Boston for First Home Patriot League Match

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Players Mentioned

Nate Coughlin

Zane Domsohn

Zain Elder

David Krumov

Freddie Lapworth

Jack Lucas

Gavin Newcombe

Winston Oziri

Jimmy Pombor

Drew Roskos

Jakub Samelko

Ben Sheffield

Jackson Sullivan

Jacob Thomas

Cade Whitmire

Thomas Yerbury

Men's Soccer Hosts Boston for First Home Patriot League Match

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Nate Coughlin

Zane Domsohn

Zain Elder

David Krumov

Freddie Lapworth

Jack Lucas

Gavin Newcombe

Winston Oziri

Jimmy Pombor

Drew Roskos

Jakub Samelko

Ben Sheffield

Jackson Sullivan

Jacob Thomas

Cade Whitmire

Thomas Yerbury

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