Bucknell University Athletics
Update from Head Men's Soccer Coach Dave Brandt -- May 2023
.jpg&width=656&type=webp)
Dear Alumni, Family, and Friends of Bucknell Men’s Soccer,
I hope this letter finds you well and enjoying this spring. I am checking in with an early May update from the men’s soccer office, and I have three areas of focus I’d like to share regarding our program.
1. As I write this note, our spring season has concluded, and finals start this week. Our student-athletes trained straight through with very few off days from January 18 to April 20. We are pleased with the progress and with where we are right now. From a results standpoint, we finished the spring 1-2-2 against five DI opponents. From a growth and overall quality standpoint, it was a huge spring for us. The team lost but played well in away games against NJIT and Duquesne and then finished 1-0-2, coming back from 0-2 down three straight times to either tie or beat Temple, UMBC, and La Salle. We sit further ahead compared to where we were one year ago, and everyone is looking ahead to the fall. The guys will all head home after this week, finals week, and will start prepping/running/training for the fall and report back to Bucknell on August 7 for preseason.
2. Our alumni golf weekend (April 20-22) was a lot of fun and a huge success—thanks to the almost 100 guys who came back to play and spend the weekend together. The Young Alumni group tied the current team 1-1 on Thursday night with a late game-tying goal from Sebastiaan Blickman (’17), and the weather for our golf round, dinner, and raffle on Friday was fantastic. I encourage everyone to circle that weekend on your calendars for next year. It’s a great time, and I think everyone involved this year would say worth the time and energy to get here, so please consider for next year, as the more of you come back to Lewisburg, the better and more memorable the event.
3. A quick recruiting update -- we are expecting a new group of freshmen for Fall ’23. As with the ’22 class, it is another large group of players in terms of overall numbers. We expect eight field players and one goalkeeper in August; pleased with the group, we expect many of them to make an immediate impact. The group includes:
Jakub Samelko/Cherry Hill East HS(NJ)/Real JFC MLS Next
*Jakub is a 6’0” attacking player comfortable playing wide or centrally. He is skilled, strong, and fast and has been a regional top attacking player in MLS Next.
Kasper Piela/Fair Lawn HS(NJ)/TSF MLS Next
*Kasper is a left-footed attacking central midfielder and TSF’s best player on its U19 squad. He is very versatile positionally, with the ability to play wide as an attacking wingback, in the front three, or anywhere in the midfield. An excellent combination of toughness, physicality, a skilled left foot, and a high degree of experience at the top youth levels highlights Kasper’s game.
Jack Lucas/Shawnee Mission East HS(KS)/Kansas City Scott Gallagher ECNL
*Jack is a 5’11” skillful and slippery winger with a high level of strength and power in his game. An excellent 1v1 player and strong attacking personality, Jack is physically, highly skilled, and comfortable playing wide or in the pocket.
Sean Boyle/Haverford HS(PA)/Penn Fusion ECNL
*Sean is a highly skilled 6’4” central defender who typically plays as a forward for his HS team and has earned significant honors through HS as an attacking player, but he will play in the back for us at Bucknell. Given his build and strong physical attributes, he is a player I expect will quickly transition to college soccer.
Jack Heintz/Bethesda Chevy Chase HS(MD)/Baltimore Armour MLS Next
*Jack is a 6’0” defender who can play as a center-back or right-sided wingback. He is a tenacious defender and an excellent passer. He is, like the others, highly experienced, having played and started consistently at the top level with Baltimore Armour and DC United over the past four years.
David Krumov/Lebanon Trail HS(TX)/Solar MLS Next
*David is an attacking center midfield player from Dallas, TX. He is comfortable in any midfield role and is two-footed, an excellent ball striker and playmaker. He has started and been a key player for Solar MLS Academy for the past four years. He brings a high level of experience and should be ready to impact and compete immediately.
Francisco Hidalgo/Montgomery Blair HS(MD)/Potomac SA NL
*Francisco is a 6’0” central midfield player who may be the sleeper of the class. Skilled, smart, athletic, and with a flair for big plays and big goals, Francisco flew under the radar largely due to a serious injury that kept him out most of his JR year. Great potential in this player, and physical enough to be ready to compete for minutes right away.
Mason Lillis/Tulpehocken HS(PA)/FC Revolution
*Another player who may have flown under the recruiting radar of bigger programs, Mason is a striker from Berks County, PA, named County Player of the Year and tallied 36 goals and 79 points for his HS team this past fall. Mason has good size and presence in the box but combines his size with a winger’s skill set and silky touch on the ball.
Rex Alphen/St. Christopher’s HS(VA)/Richmond Kickers ECNL
*Rex is a 6’4” goalkeeper who will, at minimum, add much-needed depth to our keeper corps. A significant physical presence and excellent shot-stopper, Rex starred at St Christopher’s in both soccer and basketball, leading his team to the state championship in soccer, and also started for ECNL club Richmond Kickers.
This group of 2023’s will have every opportunity to make an impact, as the current group of freshmen has, and though we will once again be a young team, we return a first-year group that started a combined 66 games. The ’23 group, although challenged to make the college transition, is an experienced and physical enough group to figure out our plans right away.
Best wishes to all of you for a great summer, and I hope you’ll plan to follow us closely next fall. Our players report back to campus on August 7; the first preseason game is on the 12th at Villanova, and we’ll open Thursday, August 24 at Mount St. Mary’s!
Dave Brandt
Head Men's Soccer Coach
db071@bucknell.edu
PAST VIDEO REPORTS:
April 2023:
March 2023:
PAST WRITTEN REPORTS:
Bison Club support is the driving force behind Bucknell Athletics. Your donations directly impact the holistic development of student-athletes from 27 Division I varsity programs who are building a foundation at Bucknell to become leaders and difference-makers around the globe. Make your gift online, or call 570-577-1771 to support your favorite Bison team today.
I hope this letter finds you well and enjoying this spring. I am checking in with an early May update from the men’s soccer office, and I have three areas of focus I’d like to share regarding our program.
1. As I write this note, our spring season has concluded, and finals start this week. Our student-athletes trained straight through with very few off days from January 18 to April 20. We are pleased with the progress and with where we are right now. From a results standpoint, we finished the spring 1-2-2 against five DI opponents. From a growth and overall quality standpoint, it was a huge spring for us. The team lost but played well in away games against NJIT and Duquesne and then finished 1-0-2, coming back from 0-2 down three straight times to either tie or beat Temple, UMBC, and La Salle. We sit further ahead compared to where we were one year ago, and everyone is looking ahead to the fall. The guys will all head home after this week, finals week, and will start prepping/running/training for the fall and report back to Bucknell on August 7 for preseason.
2. Our alumni golf weekend (April 20-22) was a lot of fun and a huge success—thanks to the almost 100 guys who came back to play and spend the weekend together. The Young Alumni group tied the current team 1-1 on Thursday night with a late game-tying goal from Sebastiaan Blickman (’17), and the weather for our golf round, dinner, and raffle on Friday was fantastic. I encourage everyone to circle that weekend on your calendars for next year. It’s a great time, and I think everyone involved this year would say worth the time and energy to get here, so please consider for next year, as the more of you come back to Lewisburg, the better and more memorable the event.
3. A quick recruiting update -- we are expecting a new group of freshmen for Fall ’23. As with the ’22 class, it is another large group of players in terms of overall numbers. We expect eight field players and one goalkeeper in August; pleased with the group, we expect many of them to make an immediate impact. The group includes:
Jakub Samelko/Cherry Hill East HS(NJ)/Real JFC MLS Next
*Jakub is a 6’0” attacking player comfortable playing wide or centrally. He is skilled, strong, and fast and has been a regional top attacking player in MLS Next.
Kasper Piela/Fair Lawn HS(NJ)/TSF MLS Next
*Kasper is a left-footed attacking central midfielder and TSF’s best player on its U19 squad. He is very versatile positionally, with the ability to play wide as an attacking wingback, in the front three, or anywhere in the midfield. An excellent combination of toughness, physicality, a skilled left foot, and a high degree of experience at the top youth levels highlights Kasper’s game.
Jack Lucas/Shawnee Mission East HS(KS)/Kansas City Scott Gallagher ECNL
*Jack is a 5’11” skillful and slippery winger with a high level of strength and power in his game. An excellent 1v1 player and strong attacking personality, Jack is physically, highly skilled, and comfortable playing wide or in the pocket.
Sean Boyle/Haverford HS(PA)/Penn Fusion ECNL
*Sean is a highly skilled 6’4” central defender who typically plays as a forward for his HS team and has earned significant honors through HS as an attacking player, but he will play in the back for us at Bucknell. Given his build and strong physical attributes, he is a player I expect will quickly transition to college soccer.
Jack Heintz/Bethesda Chevy Chase HS(MD)/Baltimore Armour MLS Next
*Jack is a 6’0” defender who can play as a center-back or right-sided wingback. He is a tenacious defender and an excellent passer. He is, like the others, highly experienced, having played and started consistently at the top level with Baltimore Armour and DC United over the past four years.
David Krumov/Lebanon Trail HS(TX)/Solar MLS Next
*David is an attacking center midfield player from Dallas, TX. He is comfortable in any midfield role and is two-footed, an excellent ball striker and playmaker. He has started and been a key player for Solar MLS Academy for the past four years. He brings a high level of experience and should be ready to impact and compete immediately.
Francisco Hidalgo/Montgomery Blair HS(MD)/Potomac SA NL
*Francisco is a 6’0” central midfield player who may be the sleeper of the class. Skilled, smart, athletic, and with a flair for big plays and big goals, Francisco flew under the radar largely due to a serious injury that kept him out most of his JR year. Great potential in this player, and physical enough to be ready to compete for minutes right away.
Mason Lillis/Tulpehocken HS(PA)/FC Revolution
*Another player who may have flown under the recruiting radar of bigger programs, Mason is a striker from Berks County, PA, named County Player of the Year and tallied 36 goals and 79 points for his HS team this past fall. Mason has good size and presence in the box but combines his size with a winger’s skill set and silky touch on the ball.
Rex Alphen/St. Christopher’s HS(VA)/Richmond Kickers ECNL
*Rex is a 6’4” goalkeeper who will, at minimum, add much-needed depth to our keeper corps. A significant physical presence and excellent shot-stopper, Rex starred at St Christopher’s in both soccer and basketball, leading his team to the state championship in soccer, and also started for ECNL club Richmond Kickers.
This group of 2023’s will have every opportunity to make an impact, as the current group of freshmen has, and though we will once again be a young team, we return a first-year group that started a combined 66 games. The ’23 group, although challenged to make the college transition, is an experienced and physical enough group to figure out our plans right away.
Best wishes to all of you for a great summer, and I hope you’ll plan to follow us closely next fall. Our players report back to campus on August 7; the first preseason game is on the 12th at Villanova, and we’ll open Thursday, August 24 at Mount St. Mary’s!
Dave Brandt
Head Men's Soccer Coach
db071@bucknell.edu
PAST VIDEO REPORTS:
April 2023:
March 2023:
PAST WRITTEN REPORTS:
Bison Club support is the driving force behind Bucknell Athletics. Your donations directly impact the holistic development of student-athletes from 27 Division I varsity programs who are building a foundation at Bucknell to become leaders and difference-makers around the globe. Make your gift online, or call 570-577-1771 to support your favorite Bison team today.