The Robert Morris men’s soccer team (0-4-1) will be taking on Bucknell (1-2-1) soccer on Wednesday, Sept. 12, at 7:00 p.m. Preview the match-up with RMU Sentry Media right here.

Early Season Struggles

The men’s soccer team has struggled to start the season as evident by their 0-4-1 record. The biggest struggle for the Colonials has been their offense, which went the first three games without scoring a goal. However, the offense has scored four goals in the past two games, with Zac Sherman being credited for three of them.

The Colonials last game was a 3-2 loss at the hands of Longwood (2-2). In that game, Zac Sherman (3) and Owen Pearce (1) scored the two goals for the Colonials. They were out-shot though 19-8 and 10-4 with shots on goal. Winter Fondi made six saves in the contest for the Colonials.

Scouting Bucknell

Bucknell enters the game with a record of 1-2-1 on the year. Their one win was a 2-0 victory over Mount St. Mary’s back in their first game of the season on Aug. 19. Since then, the team has yet to score a goal and have had two games go into 2OT. Those two 2OT games were a 0-0 tie with Canisius (1-2-1) and a 1-0 loss to Stetson (2-2). Canisius is actually a common opponent with Robert Morris as they defeated the Colonials 3-0 in the first game of both of their seasons back on Aug. 24.

The top players to watch for Bucknell include Matt Thorshiem, who led the 2017 team in both goals (5) and assists (4), and keeper Ryan Ott, who has only given up one goal on the season and has made a total of 14 saves in three games started on the year. He is responsible for both shutouts on the young season.

A tale of two halves

A storyline to follow into the game is the Colonials’ aggressive second half, as opposed to their slower play in the first half. While the goal totals would suggest that not much is different, the Colonials have scored three goals in the first and just one in the second on the year, the shot totals tell a different story. The Colonials have registered 35 shots in the second half as opposed to just 20 in the first.

Furthermore, the team has played slightly better overall in the second half. Once again, the goals tell a different story as opponents have scored five goals against them in both the first and second halves. However, the Colonials have been able to generate four more corners in the second half (17-13) and, more significantly, have played cleaner as they have registered seven fewer penalties (26-19) in the second half as opposed to the first.

Final thoughts

The game looks to be a low scoring one as both teams feature offenses that have struggled this season, although four goals in two games may start something for the Colonials, as well as two strong goalies in Ott and RMU’s Winter Fondi. The Colonials are still looking for their first win of the season before NEC play starts on Sept. 18 when the team travels to Bryant (0-4-1) for a 3:00 p.m. Friday afternoon game.