Over the last few days, Bison Men’s Soccer began their season with away games against Mount St. Mary’s University and West Virginia University.

On Thurs. Aug. 28, the Bison traveled to Emmitsburg, Md. to face off against Mount St. Mary’s University. This game marked the season openers for both teams. Luckily for the Bison, they grasped a 2-1 victory. 

Around the 22nd minute of play, the Orange and the Blue found the back of the net. After a terrific throw into the box from Jackson Sullivan ’26, Ben Sheffield ’26 headed the ball off a Mount player to Kasper Piela ’27 who played a square ball off the end-line into the 6-yard box, where Aidan Kieffer ’26 one-timed the ball into the goal. 

Shortly into the second half, the Bison earned another goal from lots of great work on the right side from Waldemar Kattrup ’25 and Charlie Holmes ’26. Kattrup won a 50-50 ball then beat two more defenders before finding Holmes along the edge of the box. Holmes then cut into the box and nailed a left-footed shot for his third career goal. 

The only goal the Bison let up was on a free-kick roughly 30 yards from the goal. 

After the unfortunate goal, the Bison settled down and possessed the ball in the Mount St. Mary’s end for the majority of the remaining time. 

The Orange and Blue had great performances in all areas on the pitch, and defensively, protected goalkeeper Jake Nicoll ’25 very well. This was Nicoll’s first collegiate start after coming off a major injury. Nicoll had two memorable moments late in the first half to maintain the 1-0 lead. With three minutes remaining in the half, Nicoll made a kick save from close range, and in the final five seconds of the half, he punched the ball away from two incoming players. 

In this game, nine Bucknell subs saw game action, while first-years Piela and Jakub Samelko earned starts. Teammates Jack Lucas ’27, David Krumov ’27 and Ryan Burritt ’27 also made their career debuts. 

On Monday, Aug. 28, the team was on the road again as they headed to play a non-conference game in Morgantown, W.Va. to battle West Virginia University. Unfortunately, the Bison fell 2-0 despite their best efforts.

During the first half, both teams only managed to put one shot on target. The Bison defended very well, and headed into halftime tied 0-0.

After nine minutes into the second half, West Virginia was able to find the back of the net. The Bison nearly scored an equalizing goal near the hour mark, when Piela forced a save from the keeper at the near post. 

Unfortunately for the Bison, around the 74th minute, West Virginia scored another goal, making it a 2-0 game. 

With around six minutes to play, Bucknell had their best attempt to score. On the right wing Samelko sped past his defender and connected a pass to Marco Valentic ’26 at the top of the box. Valentic then turned on his defender and fired a shot just inches over the crossbar. 

Throughout the entire game, both goalkeepers were not tested too much. Still, Bison goalie Freddie Lapworth ’26 earned five saves in his first start of the 2023 season. 

Head coach Dave Brandt utilized 21 players throughout the match. 

This Friday, Sept. 1, Bucknell will host their home opener at 7 p.m. versus Robert Morris University.