The Eagles (1-1) fell to the Bucknell Bison (1-1) 2-1 in an intense match Saturday that saw no break in the action. Scoring only once in the contest, the Eagles fell victim to fouls, set pieces and shot-after-shot from Bucknell.
“Bucknell is a tough place to play,” head coach Zach Samol said. “It’s a tough place to win. Their mentality is good. They’re hard-working kids, tough kids, they don’t give you anything easy, that’s for sure. There is just a lot of fight in them. A lot of set pieces, a lot of long throws. I feel like Bucknell is good at what they do.”
Bucknell’s focus on set pieces showed throughout the game. The Bison had eight corners in the game and seven in the first half alone, compared to the Eagles, who took two. Bucknell also led the game with six shots on goal; American only had two.
AU’s only goal was a penalty kick after a foul on senior forward Nick Dimitrijevic 16 minutes into the match. Junior forward David Coly took the shot, sailing the kick into the left side of the net as the goalkeeper went right.
Overall Coly had an excellent game with five shots in total and two shots on goal and was a significant thorn in Bucknell’s side throughout the match.
“He really caused them problems,” Samol said. “Great to see him score; I’m so happy that he scored. He took the PK. He kind of just stood up and said, ‘I want the PK.’ He handled that well, nice and smooth and calm. Really, really unlucky not to get a second goal. He was very good at handling pressure tonight, very good with the ball. Overall, I just thought he was a handful for them.”
Bucknell and AU were not originally scheduled to face each other in this match. AU was supposed to play the Navy Midshipmen at home, but a restriction on movement by Navy forced a schedule change. This change caused both American and Bucknell to prepare on short notice, which Samol noted after the game.
The Eagles will look to bounce back next Saturday at 7 p.m. at Loyola.
