Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Lax Begins Quest for Four-Peat Saturday at #9 North Carolina
2/18/2003 7:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Feb. 18, 2003
LEWISBURG, Pa. - After winning outright or sharing each of the last three Patriot League titles, Bucknell's men's lacrosse team appears well-equipped to make a run at a fourth straight crown in 2003. That title defense begins Saturday, when the 24th-ranked Bison (Inside Lacrosse pre-season poll) travel to Chapel Hill to battle ninth-ranked North Carolina.
After posting a 16-2 Patriot League record over the last three seasons, including a 5-1 mark in 2002, Bucknell returns all but one starter this spring - all-conference defender Kevin Smithies. Middie Brian Loesch and reserve defenseman Matt Ewalt are the only other lettermen lost to graduation. Bucknell returns 98.4 percent (121 of 123) of its goals, 98.7 percent (77 of 78) of its assists and 85.0 percent (470 of 553) of its ground balls in 2003.
"The outlook is like we hope it is going to be every year at Bucknell," said Sid Jamieson, who is the only head coach in the 36-year history of the Bison men's lax program. "We have good players here. The schedule is very challenging, but we have a group of guys in the senior class who have been on the field since their freshmen year against this level of competition. So they can go out and play with a comfort level that an underclass group may struggle with."
Bucknell's formidable starting attack unit returns completely intact, led by seniors Dennis Geraghty (Kings Park, N.Y./St. Anthony's) and Worthy Sanders (West Chester, Pa./West Chester East) and sophomore Chris Cara (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford), the 2002 Patriot League Rookie of the Year.
Geraghty posted his second straight 30-goal season with 34 markers in 2002. The first-team All-Patriot League honoree is one of the conference's premier finishers. His primary set-up men will again be Sanders and Cara. Sanders, who scored 29 points (13G, 16A) last season, is dangerous in 1-on-1 situations and is also an excellent passer. Cara last season shattered the Bucknell freshman scoring record with 56 points (25G, 31A) and ranked fifth nationally in assists and sixth in overall scoring. Jamieson thinks that Cara's numbers have plenty of room for growth when he improves his goal-scoring skills.
Adding even more firepower is junior Wes Fetchet (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan), the 2001 PL Rookie of the Year and one of the stars of Bucknell's first NCAA team, who returns after missing most of last season with a knee injury. Sophomore Patrick Christensen (Leonardtown, Md./St. Mary's Ryken) saw regular field time on the extra-man unit last season and flashed a ton of scoring potential with 10 goals in his rookie season.
Bucknell is deep, experienced and talented in the midfield, with 2002 First Team All-Patriot Leaguer Rob Lane (Boonton Twp., N.J./Mountain Lakes) spearheading the veteran cast. Lane, a senior, scored a career-high 18 points (12G, 6A) to lead the Bison middies last season.
Classmates Andrew Copelan (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford Mendon), John Terracciano (Lynbrook, N.Y./Lynbrook) and Kelly Hogue (Painted Post, N.Y./Corning West) are also smart, athletic middies who pack some offensive punch. Hogue has played both attack and midfield in his career and is comfortable in both roles. Terracciano, a true speedster who won Bucknell's offseason "Iron Man" award, is also coming off a knee injury that limited him to only two games last season. Copelan is an underrated player, but is an outstanding field leader.
Senior Justin Slama (Chestertown, Md./Kent County) and junior Brendan Fitzgibbons (Dallas, Texas/Hillcrest) will handle the bulk of the short-stick defensive midfield duties this season. Both have good speed and are excellent in transition. Sophomores Michael Petrash (Bethesda, Md./Landon School) and Ryan Goodman (Franklin Lakes, N.J./Dwight Englewood) will also play SSDM, but will be more heavily relied upon in the faceoff game. The duo split chores in the faceoff circle as freshmen last season and improved greatly as the season progressed. Petrash ranked third in the Patriot League with a 52.9 percent success rate.
The key to Bucknell's defensive fortunes this season is senior goalie Justin Sussman (Towson, Md./Friends School), the 2002 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year and an honorable mention preseason All-America selection. Sussman enters his fourth year as the Herd's starting creaseminder. He is a terrific stopper who frequently disheartens the opposition with flurries of saves. Sussman led the Patriot League in goals-against average (8.85) and ranked seventh nationally in save percentage (.610) last season.
Sussman will not feel stranded on an island, however, as Bucknell is expected to have another big, physical defense unit in front of him. Leading the way is junior Blaise Fletcher (Glen Mills, Pa./Archmere Academy), a second-team all-conference selection a year ago. At 6'6", 225 pounds, Fletcher is an imposing presence in front of the cage, and he is adept at using his long, loping strides to clear the ball.
Joining Fletcher on close defense will likely be a pair of sophomores. Hard-working Reece Pacheco (East Falmouth, Mass./Tabor Academy) started every game as a freshman and proved to be extremely reliable after being thrown into such a crucial role from day one. Ned Hare (Hingham, Mass./Loomis Chaffee) played long-stick defensive middie last season, but will move to close defense in 2003.
While the Bison return nearly all of its roster from last year's squad, not to mention the return of two former starters who missed virtually the entire 2002 season with knee injuries and a host of talented freshmen, Bucknell will once again face a formidable challenge from the likes of Army and Hobart in the Patriot League.
Bucknell, Hobart and Army finished in a three-way tie for first place last season (with Hobart earning the NCAA bid based on RPI), and the Statesmen and Black Knights also return plenty of talent. Colgate and Lehigh are also expected to be much improved, and the Bison have to face both on the road to close the season.
Bucknell opens the season with five straight games away from home to kick-start a formidable non-conference schedule. Beginning with Saturday's game at No. 9 North Carolina, the Bison also tackle ranked teams in No. 5 Maryland, No. 16 Penn State and No. 21 Harvard, in addition to Butler, Villanova and Mount St. Mary's.
This will be the third straight early-season contest pitting the Bison and Tar Heels. Bucknell upset UNC 9-4 in Baltimore en route to the NCAA Tournament in 2001, but North Carolina returned the favor with a 12-3 rout at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium in last season's opener.
After posting an 8-5 record (despite a 6-0 start) in 2002, the Tar Heels return their top five scorers in addition to two close defensemen and starting goalie Paul Spellman.
"The outlook is optimistic, and I know the players have been anxious to get this season underway since the end of last season," said Jamieson. "[The players] are the only ones who can detract from this team having success. As with most teams, so much depends on the kind of internal leadership that we can generate. My sense is that this is a team that really wants to do things the right way."
