LORETTO, Pa.- Saint Francis men's soccer has a double-header this weekend, including the 2015 regular-season home opener. On Friday, the team heads east to take on in-state rival Bucknell on Friday night in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.  On Sunday, the Flash will host the Niagara Purple Eagles at 4 p.m. on the newly-turfed Stokes SoccerPlex pitch.
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUPS
 
The two Keystone State schools have met frequently, this will be the 17th meeting between the schools. Currently, Bucknell owns a 9-5-2 advantage, including a 2-0 win in Lewisburg last September 3rd.
 
This will be the fourth match-up between the Red Flash and the Purple Eagles. The teams have split the first three matchups, going 1-1-1. Saint Francis won the last match, 2-0 on September, 22nd 2013.
 
ABOUT THE BISON
Despite a fifth-place regular-season finish in 2014, Bucknell ran through the Patriot League tournament and into the NCAAs. As a result, the Bison have been picked third in the Patriot League this season and are off to a 2-1-1 start. They won the Mayor's Cup last weekend that included SFU. The Bison also drew with Hartwick (2-2) and defeated Northern Kentucky 1-0 in double overtime. NKU beat SFU 2-0 last Friday.  Jesse Klug leads the Bison with two goals and five points, but Bucknell sports six players who have at least one goal this season. Clarke Fox and Mike Lansing have each started twice in goal this season and the Bison are allowing 1.15 goals per game this season to date.
 
ABOUT THE PURPLE EAGLES
Niagara comes into the weekend at 0-4 on the season and will take on the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) on Friday before heading to Loretto for Sunday's matchup. The Purple Eagles have played a tough schedule to date, falling to Michigan State and Michigan last weekend. Sergio Lujan and Alex Dimitriu have each scored a goal to lead the offense. Joel Gerberich has gotten the majority of the time in goal this season. He has a 1.86 goals against average to date this season.
 
LIVE STATS AND LINKS
Both games will have free live video and live stats. On Friday, the game will be aired on the Patriot League Network. On Sunday, the game will be aired on NEC Front Row, following the women's match against UC-Santa Barbara. All links are available on the soccer schedule page.