Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Villanova
Bucknell Men's Lax Suffers First Defeat of Season, 16-11 at Villanova
3/9/2004 7:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
March 9, 2004
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Junior attack Chris Cara had four goals and an assist, but Villanova used a big second period to hand Bucknell its first loss of the season, 16-11 in a non-conference game Tuesday night. The Bison fell to 2-1 on the season while the Wildcats improved to 3-1.
Bucknell scored three times in the first five minutes of the contest and led 5-3 late in the first period before Villanova embarked on a game-changing 6-1 scoring run. Ross Albers scored just 1:03 into the contest off a feed from Patrick O'Hearn, and Cara made it 5-3 with his first tally of the night with 2:10 left in the period.
Dave Cacciabeve's extra-man goal in the final minute of the quarter launched the Wildcats' surge. Matt Lucas evened things up at 5-all with his first of three goals coming just under seven minutes into the period. Matt Starker and Marc Creegan scored to give the hosts a 7-5 lead before Bison rookie Brian Gargan temporarily stopped the bleeding with an unassisted goal with 42 seconds left in the half.
Chris Kramer scored with just three seconds left in the half to give the Wildcats an 8-6 lead at the break. Villanova, which came into the game averaging only 6.0 goals per game over its first three games, added eight more goals in the second half.
The Wildcats scored three of the first four goals of the second half, with Creegan's marker making it 11-7 10 minutes into the third period. Bucknell drew within two on a pair of Cara scores, but Starker and Richie Kratz answered 45 seconds apart to restore the four-goal margin, and Bucknell would not draw closer than three the rest of the way.
Gargan and fellow freshman Kirk Klett scored twice each for the Bison. Craig Fleishman had two assists. Cara has now registered at least five points in each of Bucknell's first three games. He now has 13 goals and nine assists on the year.
Bucknell did most of its damage in man-up situations. The Bison scored five times in six EMO opportunities, while Villanova was 1-for-6.
Creegan led Villanova with four goals and an assist, while Lucas and Starker also had hat tricks. Joseph Canuso made 10 saves, while Bison netminder Matt Baran logged 12.
Villanova outshot Bucknell 37-27 and held a decisive 49-21 edge in ground balls.
Bucknell returns to action this Saturday at Navy at 12 p.m. It will be the Bison's Patriot League opener, as Navy is in its first year as a lacrosse member of the conference.
