Update from Head Men's Soccer Coach Dave Brandt -- December 2025

Dear Bucknell Men’s Soccer Parents, Alumni, and Friends,

Hello everyone, and December greetings from the soccer office at Bucknell. I hope all of you are well as I write today to provide an honest program update, and I will look to do that in three parts:

Season Review
Our fall season was, in my opinion, extremely positive, somewhat disappointing, and very notable, all at once, and I will try to explain what I mean by that. There was lots and lots that was positive. A 9-4-5 overall record (first time since 1981 that we lost four or fewer games in a season), our first national ranking in 51 years, a win over nationally-ranked and eventual Sweet Sixteen team Hofstra, and a well-earned 2-2 draw in front of over 5,000 not very friendly fans at Maryland, who spent most of the year at #1 in the country before falling in the national quarterfinals.

Senior Jackson Sullivan earned Patriot League Defender of the Year honors, and sophomore Drew Roskos was chosen as the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year. Our team finished with the highest RPI in the league, RPI being generally representative of program strength based on results over the course of the full season. So, super positive, and I think even more so than last fall, accelerated the sense and feeling that this is again a very good program and one of the top teams, if not the top team, in the Patriot League.

All of that being said, we ran out of some gas at the end and just didn’t put teams away as we should have, and, as a result, dropped out in the Patriot League quarterfinal, falling at Boston University. So, very good overall season. Historic in some ways, but really disappointing not to go further. Still, there is no question that we served notice that this is a team and program very much on the rise and that we aren’t going to go away anytime soon, and so the boys are determined, and the future feels very bright. We are hoping, of course, that we can turn this disappointment into a stronger resolve to finish well in 2026, and beyond that into the future, and be the unquestioned dominant team in the Patriot League.

The Way Forward
Recruiting for Fall ’26 honestly has gone really, really well, and I am generally conservative in my thoughts about moving forward, but I could not be more excited for the class coming in and for all things Bucknell Soccer. Great group of guys and players coming in, and an excited and highly motivated group coming back, who now understand more and better than ever, I think, what it takes to win the league year in and year out, which is our direct objective. We have added nationally ranked Cornell and Pittsburgh to an already very challenging schedule next fall, and so we will, of course, need to be very ready. This year was critical for building depth of belief and capability, and understanding what it takes in this day and age of Division I soccer to play and win at the highest levels.

Program Purpose
While this may read or feel like an unusual “category,” I think it’s OK and probably just “important” to constantly say and remind that the purpose of the men’s soccer program here at Bucknell is to provide what I would call a “life impacting” college soccer experience. Life impacting from the standpoint of being a part of something so special, so passionate, and so bleeding bottom line excellence-with a very close group of like-minded people, that it creates a lifelong disdain for things that are anything less than that, and I can say that I truly believe this is happening, and happening right now, in the program. Guys are learning what it takes at this level to over-achieve, to be selfless for a cause, to work together, to be disciplined, to be committed, and to understand what “excellence” really is; and what it isn’t. Winning is important, and, believe me, we are taking dead aim at that, but what is happening at the same time is that guys are going after winning in the right way-thru process and investment, and this is something, in my opinion at least, that in an “easy come, easy go” type of culture, is, hopefully, priceless to each of our guys as they graduate and move on to all sorts of other equally and even more important things in their lives and careers.

Thank you all for your support. We are disappointed not to be Patriot League champions again as we were last year, but it was an important year, and we deepened the level of respect others have for Bucknell Men’s Soccer nationwide, so something solid to build on, and we look forward to doing just that.

I also want to take this opportunity to ask you to mark your calendar for March 25-26 – this year’s One Herd One Day giving challenge, which is, of course, a very important 24-hour period for our program. You all helped us put together a stellar day for Bucknell Men’s Soccer during last year’s challenge, and we are excited to top that effort this year.
Thanks for all you do for the young men in our program. I wish you all a safe and joyful holiday season.

With kind regards,

Dave Brandt
Head Men's Soccer Coach
db071@bucknell.edu

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Update from Head Men's Soccer Coach Dave Brandt -- December 2025