Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Very Successful in Patriot League Player of the Week Voting
3/31/2003 7:00:00 AM | General
March 31, 2003
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Five Bucknell student-athletes earned weekly honors on Monday following a strong all-around weekend for the Orange and Blue. The Bison that were honored were Andrew Copelan (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford Mendon) and Ryan Goodman (Franklin Lakes, N.J./Dwight-Englewood) of the men's lacrosse team, Meredith Gill (Hampstead, Md./North Carroll) and Lauren Wible (Dover, Pa./Dover) of the softball team, and Nicole Kallis (Springfield, Pa./Archmere Academy) of the women's lacrosse team.
The Bison lacrosse teams enjoyed a terrific doubleheader sweep in Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium on Saturday. The men's team's tense 8-7 victory over arch-rival Hobart was preceded by an important 10-6 win for the women's squad over Holy Cross.
Copelan was the offensive hero for the Bison men, who moved up two spots to 17th in the Warrior/Inside Lacrosse media poll this week. Copelan, who was named the PL's offensive player of the week, snapped a 7-all tie with an unassisted goal with just 1:11 remaining in regulation to lift Bucknell to a huge win over the Statesmen. Goodman was an unsung hero, winning better than 52 percent of his faceoffs against Hobart's veteran all-star Tim Booth, including a critical draw that set up Copelan's winning goal. Goodman, who was also outstanding in his role as a short-stick defensive middie, was selected as the league's defensive player of the week.
The win lifted Bucknell (5-2, 2-0) into first place in the Patriot League.
Kallis backstopped two Patriot League victories last week, first an 11-3 win at Lehigh, then Saturday's 10-6 win over Holy Cross, en route to defensive player of the week honors. The two wins leveled the Bison's league mark at 2-2 and put them back into the fourth and final playoff position. Kallis logged 21 saves in the two games, including 12 against Lehigh, and had a sparkling .700 save percentage.
Despite dropping two of three games at Holy Cross over the weekend, the Bison softball team had a pair of honorees. Gill earned her first player of the week nod of the season after homering in the first game of the series, and collecting four hits in a losing cause in the series finale. The senior shortstop went 6-for-14 for the week with three runs scored, two RBIs and two stolen bases.
Wible, a freshman first baseman, earned Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors after four hits in 12 at-bats, to go along with four walks, in five contests last week. Wible had two hits and a walk in Bucknell's 2-0 win over Holy Cross.
Due to a multitude of rainouts, the league's weekly balloting in baseball was postponed until Tuesday. The Bison took 3 of 4 at Holy Cross in the first conference action of 2003.
