Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Places Six on All-Patriot League Men's Lax Team
5/8/2002 8:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
May 8, 2002
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Junior goaltender Justin Sussman (Baltimore, Md./Friends Academy) and freshman attack Chris Cara (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford H.S.) were major award winners, while a total of a half-dozen Bison earned spots on the All-Patriot League men's lacrosse team, the league office announced Wednesday.
Bucknell's six all-conference selections were the most of any of the league's seven teams.
Sussman, who led the conference in goals-against average at 8.85, was named the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year. He is the second Bucknell player to earn the honor since its inception in 1995, joining defenseman Hugh Donovan, who won top defensive honors in 1996. Sussman was also picked as the goalie on the All-Patriot League First Team.
Sussman, who stopped 61.0 percent of his shots faced this spring, is an all-conference selection for the second time. He was a second-team pick in 2001. Sussman is a 2002-03 captain-elect.
Following a brilliant debut season in which he broke Bucknell's 26-year-old freshman scoring record, Cara was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Year in addition to securing a spot on the All-Patriot League Second Team. With 56 points on 25 goals and 31 assists in 13 games, Cara led the Bison in scoring and ranked a close second to Army's Tim Pearson (63 points in 14 games) in the league scoring race. Cara also ranked second in the league in assists and seventh in goals.
Pete VonHoffmann, Bucknell's career scoring leader, scored 48 points as a freshman in 1976. In addition to the rookie scoring record, Cara moved into a tie for fifth on the school's single-season assists chart, and seventh on the single-season points list. His assist total also ranks tied for sixth in Patriot League annals.
Cara had a point in every game this season and scored at least four points eight times. He had a career-high eight points on three goals and five assists in a win over Lafayette. In fact, Cara torched Patriot League opponents for an astounding 39 points (19G, 20A) in six games, for an average of 6.50 points per game. Only one other player managed more than 27 points in league play.
Cara is the third Bison - and second in as many years - to earn the Rookie of the Year nod. Wes Fetchet won the honor in 2001, while Ed Joffe won it in 1996.
Joining Sussman on the all-league first team were senior defender Kevin Smithies (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown H.S.) and junior attack Dennis Geraghty (King's Park, N.Y./St. Anthony's H.S.). Geraghty, a first-team selection for the second straight year, was Bucknell's top goal-scorer again this season with 34. Only Lehigh's Andrew Lucas (41) scored more goals than Geraghty among Patriot League players. Geraghty scored five or more goals in a game three times, including a career-high-tying six in Bucknell's season-ending 20-10 win over Lehigh.
-more- Six Bison Earn Spots on All-Patriot League Men's Lacrosse Team (2-2-2-2-2)
Smithies was once again one of the league's premier close defensemen. At 6'4" and 210 pounds, Smithies was a physical presence who used a long reach to corral opposing attackmen. Generally assigned to the opposition's best offensive player, he also managed to scoop a team-high 57 ground balls. That total ranked sixth in the Patriot League this season.
Another towering defenseman, sophomore Blaise Fletcher (Glen Mills, Pa./Archmere Academy) joined Cara and junior middie Rob Lane (Boonton Township, N.J./Mountain Lakes H.S.) on the All-Patriot League Second Team.
Fletcher, a 6'6", 225-pound close defender, excelled in his first season as a starter. He collected 44 ground balls, second on the team to Smithies and 11th in the Patriot League. Fletcher was a major reason why the Bison led the Patriot League and ranked 20th nationally in scoring defense, averaging 8.77 goals-against per game.
Lane enjoyed his best season in the Orange & Blue in 2002, finishing with 12 goals and six assists for a career-high 18 points. Lane was Bucknell's fourth-highest scorer, and the highest among Bison midfielders. He upped his scoring production as the season progressed, totaling nine of his 12 goals over the season's final seven games.
It is the first all-league citations for Lane and Fletcher.
The Bison finished the 2002 campaign with a 6-7 record, but they went 5-1 in league play to join Army and Hobart in a three-way tie for the Patriot League crown. It is Bucknell's third straight league title and fourth overall. Based on the league's final men's lacrosse tiebreaker, the Ratings Percentage Index, Hobart was awarded the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Army's Pearson was named the league's offensive player of the year for the third time. Hobart first-year head coach Matt Kerwick was picked as the league's coach of the year.
Rounding out the All-Patriot League First Team are Army's Pearson, Mike Kamon and Al Tofani; Hobart's John Bogosian, Tim Booth and Brad Neuberth; Colgate's Joe Parker and Greg Walby; and Lehigh's Mike Rabinovitz.
Others on the second team are Army's Jeff Bryan and Marko Kostovic; Hobart's Nate Hill and Mike Borsz; Lehigh's Dave Cohen and Scott Carpenter; and Holy Cross' Marty Gilbert.
