Men's Soccer Returns to Emmitt Field to Take on Old Dominion

Old Dominion (1-1-2) at Bucknell (2-1-1)
When: Sunday, Sep. 7, 2 p.m.
Where: Emmitt Field | Lewisburg, Pa.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com

Bucknell at a Glance

Bucknell looks to bounce back from its first loss of the season after falling to No. 22 George Mason on Tuesday night in a wild 3-2 match that ended with a 90th-minute match-winning goal by the Patriots.
The Bison took down No. 23 Hofstra on the road in the season opener before defeating St. Bonaventure to start 2-0. Bucknell then drew with a tough Maryland side before falling to George Mason. In the most recent release of the United Soccer Coaches Division I rankings, Bucknell received nine votes and is ranked first in the Atlantic Regional Poll.
The Bison erased a 2-0 deficit for the second consecutive game after drawing Maryland 2-2. Senior Zane Domsohn capped off a beautiful sequence of passes with a composed finish and junior Jack Lucas scored 13 minutes later with another stunning goal to level the score 2-2. George Mason's Brent Fields won the match in the final minute, pouncing on a rebound for an easy finish.
In the 2-2 draw with Maryland, two senior center backs got involved as Jackson Sullivan scored his first career goal on a penalty in the first half and Ben Sheffield equalized with an 86th-minute header.
Bucknell has scored in the final 16 minutes in each of its first four matches and scored a goal in the final five minutes in two of its matches. The Bison have trailed in all four matches to start the season, coming from behind in each to erase the deficit.
In the season opener against No. 23 Hofstra, junior wing back Jack Lucas put the Bison in front 2-1 with a stunning goal from outside the box in the 75th minute.
In the home opener against St. Bonaventure, junior forward Jakub Samelko scored his first career goal in the 88th minute to complete a second half comeback and win the match 3-2.
Lucas has been on the score sheet in each of Bucknell's first four matches, including the match winner in the season opener. Against St. Bonaventure, Lucas equalized the match 2-2 with a beautiful free kick from 25 yards out.
Lucas leads the Bison with seven points through the first three games. His two big goals for the Bison in the first week 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 10 shots, including six shots on target.
Bucknell has nine goals thus far from six 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.
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.
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 year. Despite conceding eight goals, Lapworth has made 20 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.

Old Dominion at a Glance

Old Dominion is 1-1-2 through its first four matches. The Monarchs opened the season with a 2-0 win over George Washington. ODU then drew matches with Lehigh and Elon and fell 2-1 to VCU.
ODU finished 7-8-2 overall last season and was 3-5-1 in the Sun Belt Conference. ODU fell in the first round of the Sun Belt tournament to Marshall, the NCAA runner-ups in the tournament.
The Monarchs are most recently coming off of a 2-2 draw with a Patriot League rival, Lehigh. ODU was in front twice in the match and Lehigh equalized to erase both deficits.
Midfielder Jake Lane scored each of the Monarchs' first three goals to start the season. Defender Evan Watt and Forward Alex Kryazhev both netted a goal against Lehigh.
Kryazhev has two assists thus far and forward Michael Eberle has three assists. Forward Micah Wayland and midfielder Lago Jott each have an assist.
Eberle was ODU's second-leading point-scorer with three goals and four assists in 2024. Watt finished the season with two goals and an assist.

History/Facts

Bucknell will be squaring off against Old Dominion for the first time in the teams' history on Sunday.
The Bison have a 3-7 record against opponents from the Sun Belt Conference.

Men's Soccer Returns to Emmitt Field to Take on Old Dominion

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Nate Coughlin

Zane Domsohn

Zain Elder

Kiko Hidalgo

David Krumov

Freddie Lapworth

Jack Lucas

Gavin Newcombe

Jimmy Pombor

Drew Roskos

Jakub Samelko

Ben Sheffield

Jackson Sullivan

Jacob Thomas

Cohen Weaver

Cade Whitmire

Thomas Yerbury

Men's Soccer Returns to Emmitt Field to Take on Old Dominion

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Nate Coughlin

Zane Domsohn

Zain Elder

Kiko Hidalgo

David Krumov

Freddie Lapworth

Jack Lucas

Gavin Newcombe

Jimmy Pombor

Drew Roskos

Jakub Samelko

Ben Sheffield

Jackson Sullivan

Jacob Thomas

Cohen Weaver

Cade Whitmire

Thomas Yerbury

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