Bucknell men’s soccer fans will be introduced to plenty of new faces, particularly in the attacking third of the field, when the Bison open up the 2024 season on Thursday at Robert Morris. Dave Brandt’s team features 11 newcomers – seven freshmen and four transfers – and it has been a quick ramp-up from the first day of preseason training on Aug. 7 to the season opener on Aug. 22.
“It’s definitely a ready-set-go situation, but we have had a very productive preseason on the heels of a strong spring, so we’re ready to go,” said Brandt, who is now in his third season on the Bison bench. “The team has done a good job integrating the new guys as seamlessly as possible. The group is invested in our style of play, and they are fit and aggressive and proactive, looking to make something happen. It’s a hungry and tight group.”
The Bison finished 2-10-4 last season, when they seemed to be punished for every little mistake in their own end. There were a number of games where Bucknell controlled the bulk of the possession, only to fall a goal short. The Bison held the opposition to single-digit shot attempts nine times but went just 1-5-3 in those games. Seven of the 10 losses came by one goal, including heartbreakers against Patriot League rivals Navy, Holy Cross, and Boston University where the deciding tally came in the 87th minute or later.
“I think ‘luck’, or bounces not going our way will even up in the long term,” said Brandt. “Being a little bit older and more experienced in the back will help eliminate some of those mistakes. We have the tools and weapons to win games,” said Brandt. “We’re excited about the possibilities but have to make sure it comes together at both ends of the field. We’ve struggled to win games the last two seasons, but this group wants to make this thing tip, and when it tips, look out.”
Optimism is high after a strong spring season when the Bison went 5-1 with wins against traditionally strong teams in Temple and UMBC, followed by two hard-fought draws in scrimmages with Villanova and Rider earlier this month.
In addition to the influx of young talent, the Bison also return 14 players who started at least one match a year ago. They should be especially experienced in the back where three veteran center backs in senior Aidan Lawlor and juniors Jackson Sullivan and Ben Sheffield will play in front of junior goalkeeper Freddie Lapworth. Offensively, only four returning goal-scorers are back, but Brandt is high on a deep and athletic group of attacking players who fit Bucknell’s pressing style quite well.
“Every team has good players, so the line is razor thin,” said Brandt, whose team debuts Thursday at Robert Morris before playing at home for the first time on Aug. 29 against Mount St. Mary’s. The Bison will have only four games before Patriot League play starts on Sept. 14 at home against Navy. Interspersed within the league slate are challenging non-conference tests at home against West Virginia and away at Cornell, Binghamton, and St. Bonaventure.
Loyola was picked as the preseason favorite in the Patriot League, with defending champion Boston University a close second. The Bison were tied for ninth in the preseason poll, a prediction that they are eager to prove wrong.
Here is a closer look at the 2024 Bison by position:
GOALKEEPER
Englishman Freddie Lapworth returns as the No. 1 goalkeeper after missing most of the final seven games of last season with an injury. Lapworth is Bucknell’s oldest player and its most experienced netminder with 17 career starts. Brandt will be looking to him for both his shot-stopping ability and his leadership.
Lapworth will be backed up by sophomore Rex Alphen and freshman Andrew Blodgett. Alphen got a taste last year with two starts late in the season, and he went 1-0-1 with a 0-0 draw with Lafayette and a 2-1 win at Lehigh. He totaled four saves with only one goal allowed. Blodgett helped Bergen Catholic High School to an undefeated (15-0-2) season last fall and earned all-state honors in New Jersey.
“Freddie is in good form, he’s healthy and we’re looking to him to have a big year,” said Brandt. “Rex Alphen is a very capable No. 2. He’s a big guy who is a strong shot-stopper. Andrew Blodgett has exceeded expectations in his first two weeks here. He’s had a great preseason and has a bright future.”
FULLBACKS
Brandt typically employs three central defenders flanked by two wingbacks, and he is pleased about the return of three veteran center backs in senior Aidan Lawlor and juniors Jackson Sullivan and Ben Sheffield. Lawlor has 37 career appearances under his belt, including 15 starts, while Sullivan and Sheffield have been stalwarts in the back in each of their first two seasons.
“Those three played about 95 percent of the minutes in the spring when we were a little thin at that position, and they defended very well,” said Brandt. “It’s a veteran group with some experience, and they are very comfortable playing together.”
Senior Jack Roberto made eight starts last season before picking up a significant ankle injury in the penultimate game of the season at Lafayette. That injury kept him out of training all through the spring season, but he is healthy now and Brandt loves his leadership within the team.
Also in the mix are sophomore Jack Heintz, who Brandt says has improved tremendously since the end of last season, and freshmen Collin Sullivan (Jackson’s younger brother) and Charlie Sorensen. Sorensen led Aquinas Institute of Rochester to a 20-0-1 record and a New York state title last season, while Collin Sullivan’s Lyons Township team made it to the state semifinals.
“We have reasonable depth now for the three center back spots,” said Brandt. “Collin and Charlie both played solid minutes in the scrimmages and have been training well.”
WINGBACKS
Pace and fitness are paramount at the wingback positions, which must be able to defend on the flanks and get forward in the attack when possible. Junior Cade McGrath and sophomore Jack Lucas played nearly all of the minutes there in the spring, and senior Nick Prime is back after battling injuries the last few seasons.
This is a position change for McGrath, who was a forward during his first two seasons at Bucknell, when he recorded two goals and two assists. McGrath moved to wingback in the spring and showed very well. Lucas’ role increased throughout his freshman campaign in 2023, and he ended up starting the final 11 games.
Freshmen Noah Handzel and Matt McLeod are also in the mix after playing quality minutes in the August scrimmages. Handzel was a high school All-American at Cathedral Prep in Erie, where he scored 90 career goals, and he also led his Cleveland Force club team in goals (12) and assists (14). McLeod captained his CFC United club team to the ECNL national playoffs and also helped Fairfield Prep to the Connecticut state semifinals in 2022.
“Matt McLeod can run all day and chew up ground, which is a good trait for our wingbacks,” said Brandt. “Noah is a bit smaller for a defensive player but is full of fight and very fast. These are two important additions in the wide areas.”
DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS
Brandt has leaned primarily on a group of four defensive central midfielders, with the minutes split fairly evenly throughout the scrimmages. Williamsport native Jimmy Pombor joins the squad after two productive seasons at Lock Haven, while senior Waldemar Kattrup and sophomores David Krumov and Kasper Piela are talented returnees.
Pombor recorded two goals and two assists at Lock Haven last season after scoring more than 50 career goals at Williamsport High School. The speedster also ran track at LHU and earned all-conference honors in the 4x100-meter relay.
Kattrup has made 30 starts and 33 appearances for the Bison over the last two seasons after transferring from St. John’s. The Copenhagen native recorded his first career goal at Seton Hall and has been a stalwart in the center of the pitch. Krumov and Piela both played in every game as freshmen last season but in more attacking roles.
“All four have been playing very well, and they all have some nuanced differences that will allow us to match up,” said Brandt. “Jimmy Pombor has extreme quickness and smarts to make up for his lack of size, and he has been a great addition to the team. Kasper Piela is a big, strong guy who brings tremendous toughness. David Krumov brings finesse on the ball, which can get him out of tight situations. He’s probably the best of the group in the attack. And ‘Waldo’ is a veteran who brings experience and vision. He has been very sharp this preseason.”
Brandt also says to keep an eye on sophomore Kiko Hidalgo, who missed all of last season with an injury, had a productive summer playing in a strong club league, but then took another injury during preseason. He has a chance to be a factor once he’s healthy.
ATTACKING MIDFIELD
Two newcomers have seen the bulk of the action in the attacking midfield positions. Junior Cohen Weaver, a transfer from Penn State, and freshman Gianluca Marroni have looked sharp throughout the preseason. Weaver is a product of the same PA Classics club system that developed U.S. star Christian Pulisic, and he was part of a Penn State team that won the Big Ten championship last fall. Marroni helped lead Salesianum to three straight Delaware state championships and also had a strong club tenure with Sporting Athletic.
“Cohen brings a fair bit of high-level experience both in his youth career and from two years at Penn State,” said Brandt. “He has looked better and better every day as he gets more confidence. He slips people in, he turns well, and he handles tight spaces well. Gianluca is a skilled and smart player, the question is just how well he adjusts to the tempo, intensity, and physicality of the college game. He’s fighting that battle well. He has a lot of class to his game, and if he can stay on top of those adjustments, he’s going to be a factor right away.”
FORWARD
The Bison have two returning players and three newcomers in the rotation for the two forward spots. Sophomore Mason Lillis and junior Zane Domsohn are the two vets in the group. Lillis played in 11 games as a reserve last season and improved his stock significantly since the end of last year. Domsohn, the son of Bucknell’s all-time leading scorer Dave Domsohn, has shown that he can score goals, potting three in each of his first two seasons. Five of those tallies have come against Patriot League opponents, and his first career goal came in 2022 against eventual national champion Syracuse.
“Mason has the physical strength, power, and work rate to be an effective goal-scorer,” said Brandt. “He is a bigger guy who uses his body well, and he is a handful to play against with the way we press and defend.”
Another returnee who will miss the start of the season due to injury is sophomore Jakub Samelko, who played in every game with nine starts as a freshman in 2023.
New to the squad in 2024 are freshman Drew Roskos and sophomores Winston Oziri and Cade Whitmire. Roskos was a record-setting two-sport star at Delran High School in New Jersey. He scored 84 career goals while leading the soccer team to back-to-back state championships in 2021 and 2022 and a runner-up finish in 2023. And on the wrestling mat, he finished third in the state in the 150-pound weight class and finished his career with a 120-12 record.
The speedy Oziri is technically a transfer student with three years of eligibility remaining after participating last year with the i2i International Soccer Academy while attending Northumbria University in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Whitmire is a Texas native who played at the University of Tulsa last season.
“Drew is a bull, just a strong, fast, and tough player,” said Brandt. “He has an eye for the goal and a low center of gravity that makes him difficult to knock off the ball. Winston is pure speed. He’s one of the fastest players I’ve coached in a long time. It’s just dangerous pace. Cade Whitmire is a combination of those two. He has a stockier build and a strong core, and his desire and ability to get in behind are going to be very important for us.”