WASHINGTON – American University men's soccer is set to return to the pitch to face Bucknell on Saturday afternoon, a late-week schedule change after the AU-Navy contest was postponed due to the Naval Academy's continued restriction of movement.  
 
QUICK INFO

• Date/Time: Saturday, March 13, 4 p.m.
• Site: Lewisburg, Pa. (Emmitt Field)
• Series History: AU leads, 15-7-3
• TV: ESPN+

PLEASE FOLLOW US ONLINE ONLY; NO FANS OR SPECTATORS PERMITTED ON CAMPUS.

• Per Washington, D.C. and American University guidelines, and for the health and safety of our coaches, student-athletes and campus community, no spectators are permitted at athletics events in 2020-21.
• This policy is a stipulation of our approval to host athletic events from D.C. Department of Health and D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
• We do not anticipate a change in these guidelines this semester. Violators will be escorted from the site and jeopardize our ability to host athletic events for our student-athletes.
• All American University athletic events played on campus this spring will be streamed on ESPN+ (FAQ HERE) and can also be watched through the Patriot League's International Video Stream.
• Schedules and game updates can be found at www.AUeagles.com and our Twitter account @AUeagles.
• All scheduled events and start times are subject to change. 

BUCKNELL SPECTATOR POLICY

• Visiting team spectators and general fans are not permitted access to facilities or events at this time.

INSIDE THE SERIES

• A season ago, AU and Bucknell tied, 1-1, in a double-overtime contest in Lewisburg, Pa.
• Four of the last five games in this series have gone to overtime, including three double-overtime games.
• The two programs only met once before AU joined the Patriot League in 2001. AU won the first matchup in 1996, 3-1, in overtime.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT AMERICAN

• AU topped the returning Patriot League champion, Lehigh, to open the spring 2021 season. The Eagles brought home four of the weekly PL awards for their efforts in the season-opener (Jason Bouregy - Midfielder, Robbie Matei - Rookie, Lorenzo Gordon - Goalkeeper, and Nicolas Blassou - Defender).
• With the win last Saturday, American picked up its first win to open conference play since 2016. The Eagles made it to the PL Finals that season before falling in PKs to Colgate.
• AU is looking for the 500th win in men's soccer history with a win on Saturday at Bucknell. The program began in 1949 and is in its 72nd season of existence.
• Head coach Zach Samol welcomes 13 new faces to the program for the condensed 2020-21 spring season. That includes 10 freshman and three transfers from power conference schools (Nicolas Blassou - Kentucky, Ben Severe - Villanova, and David Coly - Washington). The newcomers complete a strong group of 31 players looking to keep rebuilding the AU program.
• Coly is an exciting forward who scored four goals for the Huskies when he last saw game action. Blassou was a key piece of two Kentucky teams that saw tremendous success, reaching the NCAA Tournament in both 2018 and 2019, advancing all the way to the Elite 8 in 2018. 

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT BUCKNELL

• Bucknell is coming off a semifinal appearance in the 2019 PL Tournament after upsetting third-seeded Navy in the quarterfinals. This season, the Bison were predicted to finish sixth in the PL preseason poll after losing a strong senior class.
• Bucknell struggled to find offense in its season opener last Saturday against Lafayette. The Bison fell 1-0 and couldn't muster any shots.
• The Bison are led by Matt Thorsheim. The senior was named preseason all-league for the third time in his career. Thorsheim was First Team All-League in 2019 and was named the PL Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He did not play last weekend.
• Brenden Nash is in his 25th season as a part of the Bucknell men's soccer program, including his 22nd season as the head coach. He has the second-most wins in program history (186) behind just Craig Reynolds (238).

AWARDS SEASON

• American earned four of the five Patriot League Men's Soccer weekly awards, the League announced on Tuesday. Lafayette collected the other weekly award.
• All four AU players to receive the weekly award were playing in their first game for the Eagles. American freshman Jason Bouregy earned midfielder of the week after scoring the game-winning goal in dazzling fashion in the first half.
• Eagles' junior Nicolas Blassou received defensive player of the week honors, while freshman Lorenzo Gordon was named goalkeeper of the week.
• Freshman midfielder Robbie Matei rounded out the awards as the Patriot League Men's Soccer Rookie of the Week.
• These awards mark the first time since Oct. 22, 2018 that an AU Men's Soccer player has been a recipient of a PL weekly award. On that date, John Mino and Oscar McConnell, a current captain for AU, were picked as PL Goalkeeper of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively. The last PL Midfielder of the Week award for AU was now-senior Brenner Jarrad on Oct. 15, 2018. Finally, the last PL Rookie of the Week for AU came on Oct. 16, 2017, when now-senior Nick Dimitrijevic earned his second straight honor.

INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR

• With its remarkable location in Washington, D.C., American has long attracted students from all around the globe. The men's soccer program is no different. AU boasts a roster featuring seven international players from five different countries. England leads the way with three players calling it home (Dimitrijevic, McConnell, McGovern). Other countries represented on the AU roster include Bulgaria (Poelzlbauer), Cameroon (Zouantcha), Senegal (Coly), and Sweden (Sjoberg). Additionally, Al-Ameen Salako was born in Nigeria, but calls Wilmette, Ill., home. 

STAYING LOCAL

• As global of a footprint that AU Men's Soccer has produced, local roots to soccer clubs in the DMV region also run deep. Five players from the Bethesda-Rockville area have made the short trek up the road to be an Eagle. Nicolas Blassou and Ben Severe both transferred to AU to be closer to home after beginning their careers at Kentucky and Villanova, respectively. Will Manogue, Kevin Ventura, and Tomas Martini join those two as Maryland natives on the roster. Lorenzo Gordon is also not very far from his hometown of Fairfax, Va. Gordon is the only Virginia native on the squad this season. 

THE STORY ON SCHEDULING

• A six-game Patriot League-only schedule is in place and began in early March. The Eagles, like all fall sports in the Patriot League and in much of the nation, did not have competition in the fall due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• AU will compete in the Patriot League South Division along with Bucknell, Lehigh, Loyola Maryland, and Navy. The North Division features Army, Boston U., Holy Cross, Lafayette, and Colgate.
• Four teams will qualify for the PL Tournament, with each division winner hosting the second-place team within its division in the semifinal round. The remaining team with the highest regular-season point total will host the championship game. 

VIRTUALLY "PHIL" REEVES FIELD PRESENTED BY GEICO

• American University Athletics has announced a new virtual ticket campaign in an effort to sell out Reeves Field for the upcoming men's soccer season. This new season-long initiative, presented by "TEAM AU" partner GEICO, will challenge Eagles fans and alumni to virtually sell out each seat at Reeves Field for the 2021 men's soccer campaign. The "AU Founder" ticket price of $18.93 commemorates the year AU was founded. Click here to support AU Athletics by buying virtual tickets. 

HOW TO WATCH ESPN+

• A subscription to ESPN+ is available for purchase via ESPN.com, ESPNPlus.com, or the ESPN App. Fans can access ESPN+ content only after they have subscribed. To subscribe, click here. It costs $5.99/month or $59.99/year.

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), Facebook (/AU.MSoccer) and Instagram (@au.msoccer).