After earning the co-regular season champion title and second seed in the Patriot League Tournament, Bucknell Men’s Soccer defeated No.3 American in penalty kicks last Tuesday, Nov. 12, to secure a spot in the Patriot League Championship game. This season has been a major turnaround for the Bison as they finished in last place in the conference the season prior.
Tuesday night’s game was a nail-biter from the first to last whistles. The Bison gained the first lead of the game 18 minutes into the first half. The scoring play started with David Krumov ’27, who played a through ball to Jack Lucas ’27 down the left flank. Lucas was fouled in the box, resulting in a penalty kick. The team’s only other penalty was earlier in the season, taken and won by Lucas, who proved successful again on Tuesday.
American put pressure on the Bison in the second half. A series of crosses and close goals kept the Orange and Blue on their toes. It wasn’t until the 69th minute that the Eagles managed to tie the game off a header that just passed the hands of Freddie Lapworth ’26.
Both teams fought hard to find the go-ahead goal. Lucas came close to finding Drew Roskos ’28 in the box for a second goal but just missed him.
Roskos came up close again in the final minutes of the match. Collin Sullivan ’28 found him on the throw-in, but Roskos was unable to convert the volley. In the final seconds, the Bison had two corner kicks that came up unlucky.
Since neither team was able to score in regulation or overtime play, they were sent to a shootout. The Bison scored the first three PKs (Roskos, Lapworth and Lucas).
On their fourth PK, the ball deflected off the crossbar. Lapworth kept the Bison even with the Eagles with a big save to follow. Zane Domsohn ’26 and Kiko Hidalgo ’27 came up successful as well but were answered with two made shots by American. Ben Sheffield ’26 would make the last PK for the Bison as the Eagles were just wide on their sixth shot. The field soon filled with the rest of the team and celebratory fans.
The Bison will host Colgate on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 6 p.m. where they will fight for the Patriot League Tournament Title.
