Men's Soccer Back at Emmitt Field to Host Fordham on Friday

Friday, August 28

Lewisburg, Pa.

7 p.m.

Bucknell University

Fordham

Men's Soccer Back at Emmitt Field to Host Fordham on Friday

8/27/2026 2:05:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Fordham (0-1-1) at Bucknell (0-2)
When: Friday, Aug. 28, 7 p.m.
Where: Lewisburg, Pa. | Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com

The Bucknell men's soccer team is back at Emmitt Field on Friday for a 7 p.m. kickoff against Fordham. The Bison are coming off of a 3-1 loss to Pitt while the Rams are coming off of a 2-0 loss to Santa Clara.

Last Time Out for the Bison

Cade Whitmire scored his first goal of the season to draw Bucknell level with Pitt early in the second half, but two late goals by the Panthers gave Pitt a 3-1 win at Ambrose Urbanic Field on Monday night.
Bucknell and Pitt played an even match for the majority of the game, but the Panthers capitalized on mistakes by the Bison on two of its goals. Both teams fired 10 shots in the match, and both goalkeepers finished with two saves.
Pitt opened the scoring in the 31st minute through Miguel Bertran. A wayward pass from the Bison back line set Mamadou Tall on goal, and the ball slipped by Thomas Yerbury towards the net. Collin Sullivan nearly cleared the danger, but a persistent Bertran willed the ball into the back of the net.
Whitmire's equalizing goal came in the 58th minute on a diving effort during a scramble in the box. Noah Handzel started the opportunity down the wing, and his cross was deflected to Colin Findlay 12 yards out from goal. His shot was deflected towards goal, and Whitmire flew in for a diving header to even the score 1-1.
Pitt answered Bucknell's goal in the 69th minute through a Grayson Carter penalty. The Panthers got behind the back line on a big ball into the box, and Yerbury clipped the attacker as he tried to make a challenge on the ball. Yerbury guessed correctly on the spot kick, but the ball just beat him to the corner.
Cannon Scretchen doubled the advantage in the 78th minute with a great goal. Logan Oliver drove down the wing and slipped a pass into Scretchen, who fired his shot past Yerbury from a tight angle.
Whitmire's goal was his first of the season and the second of his career. Findlay notched his first career point for Bucknell and Handzel's assist was the second of his career.

Bucknell at a Glance

Bucknell is set for a fierce nonconference schedule in 2026. The Bison have already faced No. 23 Hofstra and Pitt, and will face Penn State, George Mason, Old Dominion and Cornell throughout the season.
Junior forward Drew Roskos is the reigning Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, and he was voted as the 2026 Patriot League Preseason Forward of the Year. Senior Jack Lucas was voted as the Patriot League Preseason Defender of the Year.
Bucknell has been plagued by injuries to start the season. The Bison have opened the 2026 campaign without Roskos and Lucas in the squad. The Bison are also missing a key contributor in Jakub Samelko. Roskos, Lucas and Samelko combined for 16 goals and four assists in 2025.
Freshman Chayse Snyder scored Bucknell's lone goal against Hofstra, and the 6-foot-4 forward was assisted by fellow freshman Viktor Permyashkin. The goal drew the Bison level 1-1, but Hofstra scored less than a minute later to win 2-1.
Cade Whitmire scored his first of the season against Pitt with a great effort on a diving header, but Pitt answered with two goals to win 3-1.
Cade Whitmire and Chayse Snyder have each scored a goal to start the season and lead the Bison in points. Colin Findlay, Viktor Permyashkin and Noah Handzel all have an assist through the first two matches.
Chayse Snyder has shown to be dangerous on the attack. The freshman has five shots and three shots on target through the first two matches.
Colin Findlay and Viktor Permyashkin are both from central Pennsylvania. Permyashkin is a Lewisburg native, and becomes the first Lewisburg graduate to play for Bucknell. Findlay is from Selinsgrove, just 20 minutes south of Lewisburg. Findlay's mother, Chrissy, is a former Bucknell women's soccer coach, and his father, Jim, served as the head coach at Susquehanna University for 28 years. Chayse Snyder is from Mechanicsburg, just 90 minutes from Lewisburg.
Bucknell has 19 returning players on the 2025 squad. Bucknell's freshman class includes six players: Hamish Riddell, Max Walsh, Marcelo Ojeda, Viktor Permyashkin, Chayse Snyder and Grant Brokaw. The Bison also brought in junior transfers, Colin Findlay and Jack Bejarano.
Dave Brandt is Bucknell's 14th full-time head coach and just the third dating back to 1967. Brandt, who is now in his fifth season at Bucknell, brought with him a remarkable career record of 375-119-56 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 2025

Bucknell got off to a hot start in 2025, but struggled to get results down the final stretch of the season. The Bison ultimately fell to Boston U. on the road 3-1 in the first round of the Patriot League tournament.
Bucknell had a knack for comebacks last season as the Bison went 4-3-1 in matches they had trailed in during the regular season.
The Bison also scored in the final 16 minutes in eight of its 18 matches, and they scored a goal in the final five minutes in five matches.
Bucknell senior class in 2025 combined for eight goals and seven assists last season.
The Bison ranked third in the Patriot League with 29 goals for and ranked second with 1.611 goals per game.
The Bison also led the league with 232 shots and 6.33 shots on target per game.
Defensively, the Bison ranked third in the league with eight clean sheets, and seven of those clean sheets came in Patriot League action.
Jackson Sullivan, the older brother of Collin, was named the 2025 Patriot League Defender of the Year.
Drew Roskos, now a junior, was named the 2025 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Season.

Fordham at a Glance

Fordham is also facing a challenging schedule, opening the season with a west coast trip to against WCC opponents, Gonzaga and Santa Clara. The Rams began the season with a 0-0 draw with Gonzaga followed by a 2-0 loss to Santa Clara.
The Rams start their season with five straight road matches, heading to Villanova and Patriot League Champions, Lafayette, after the match at Bucknell.
Fordham was a strong squad in 2025, finishing with an 8-6-4 record and a 5-1-2 record in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Rams fell to Dayton 2-1 in the A10 Semifinals.
The Rams lost a lot of goalscoring from 2025, losing its top six point-scorers due to graduation and the transfer portal. Their top-six point-scorers combined for 24 goals and 17 assists.
The only returning goal scorers from last season are Elias Betancourt and Nicholas Di Sessa.
Fordham is led by Carlo Acquista who is now in his eighth season as the Rams head coach. He boasts a .525 winning percentage with Fordham and an impressive 24-14-16 (.607) record in the A10.

History/Facts

The Bison and Rams will match up for the first time since 1994, where the Bison won 2-1 in overtime.
Bucknell leads the all-time series 3-2, dating back to 1990. Bucknell won the very first match up 2-1.

Next Up

Bucknell takes on Penn State on Tuesday, September 1 in State College at 7 p.m.
Penn State leads the all-time series 60-84 dating back to 1930 when Penn State won 3-0.
The last time the two sides met, Penn State beat the Bison 2-0 at Emmitt Field. Penn State was ranked No. 4 at the time.