WASHINGTON – The road back to a fourth championship game appearance in five years leads through Lewisburg, Pa., for the American University men's soccer team, as AU will play at Bucknell in a Patriot League Tournament semifinal on Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 6 p.m. The Eagles (5-5-8) are the No. 3 seed and coming off an exciting finish in the quarterfinals, advancing on penalty kicks, while the No. 2 Bison (6-6-5) had a bye. Neither team has lost in its last four contests.

Game Information
When: Tuesday, Nov. 12; 6 p.m.
Where: Lewisburg, Pa. (Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium)
How to watch: ESPN+

Series History

• American leads the all-time series 17-9, with four ties.
• Bucknell scored the only goal in the regular season meeting, winning 1-0 at the Maryland SoccerPlex on Sept. 28.
• The Eagles have won two of the last six matches, with two ties.
• Last year's match-up saw the teams tie 3-3, as Bucknell scored in the final seven minutes to level the score.

What to Know About American

• The Eagles are 2-0-2 in their last four games, and concluded the regular season with a 3-1 win at Navy on Nov. 5, earning them the No. 3 seed in the Patriot League Tournament.
• In a Patriot League Tournament quarterfinal hosted by AU on Nov. 9, American trailed 1-0 before coming back to take a 2-1 lead on goals from Taku Tagahashi and Sam Hershey. No. 6 seed Loyola Maryland was able to tie it up, and the teams played 20 minutes of scoreless overtime before going to penalty kicks.
• AU started off strong with a penalty kick made by Sam Hershey, who had also scored on a penalty kick at Navy. The Greyhounds missed their fifth kick while Eagles made all five, finishing on a Cooper Nunn conversion and celebrating as they advanced to the semis.
• Junior forward Troy Elgersma was named the 2024 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year. He was joined on the All-PL First Team by Nunn, while Hershey and grad student Ethan Boyle were named to the All-PL Second Team. Elgersma also earned Academic All-Patriot League recognition.
• Junior goalkeeper Mattheww Tibbetts is tied for second in the Patriot League in shutouts with four. His 67 saves lead the conference, while his .720 saves percentage ranks fifth.
• Hershey ranks in the top 10 in the Patriot League for goals after scoring five times in 18 games. Elgersma leads the league in assists with six.
• The Eagles are second in the Patriot League for goals, with 24 goals in 18 games.
• American has appeared in three of the last four Patriot League Tournament championship contests, with a win in spring 2021. Last year, AU had lost in penalty kicks in a quarterfinal at Lafayette.

What to Know About Bucknell

• No. 2 seed Bucknell and No. 1 Boston University both played to draws in their final regular-season games, tying for the top spot in the PL. BU earned the spot due to tiebreakers.
• Neither team scored as Bucknell faced Loyola Maryland in that final game on Nov. 5. The Bison earned a quarterfinal bye and have not played since that date.
• Bucknell has not been beaten in four games, taking 1-0 victories over Army and Colgate and playing to ties against Loyola Maryland and Lafayette.
• Freddie Lapworth has league-leading seven clean sheets this season. Bucknell's 1.06 team goals-against average is the best in the Patriot League. The Bison gave up just five goals in Patriot League action.
• The Bison have scored 14 goals in 17 games this season, with the tallies spread among 11 different players. 
• Ben Sheffield leads all Bison field players in minutes played with 1,394 of a possible 1,530. Sheffield, Lapworth, and Jimmy Pombor are the only Bison to have started all 17 games this season. 
• Dave Brandt is Bucknell's 14th full-time head coach and just the third dating back to 1967. Brandt, who is now in his third season at Bucknell, brought with him a remarkable career record of 355-86-41 in stints at Messiah, Navy, and Hope. Brandt won six Division III national championships at Messiah and led Navy to the 2013 Patriot League title and an NCAA Tournament first-round win.            

Keep Up With Us

• For the latest on American University Men's Soccer, stay tuned to AUEagles.com and follow the team on Twitter (@AU_MSoccer) and Instagram (@au.msoccer).