Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Lacrosse Left Out of NCAA Tournament Field
5/8/2005 8:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
May 8, 2005
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The 2005 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament field was announced Sunday night on ESPN News, and 14th-ranked Bucknell was not one of the 16 teams included in this year's field. Despite a significant victory over then-second-ranked and current No. 4 Navy on March 12, the Bison will end a very successful season with an 8-5 record.
The tournament exclusion also brings to a close the legendary 38-year career of head coach Sid Jamieson, who is retiring from coaching. Jamieson, who will continue to serve the Bucknell athletic department as a part-time fundraiser, won 242 games as Bucknell's only lacrosse coach from 1968-2005.
After dropping a heartbreaking 9-8 overtime decision to Army in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals on Apr. 29, most lacrosse prognosticators had the Bison planted firmly on the tournament "bubble." Penn State, which defeated Bucknell 11-10 on Apr. 19 but had been lacking a top-10 win, probably played its way into the field with a 13-12 overtime upset of No. 7 Georgetown on Sunday afternoon, while 11-5 Delaware, runner-up in the Colonial Athletic Association, was also picked over Bucknell for an at-large berth. Tourney hopefuls Dartmouth, Notre Dame and Hofstra joined the Bison in receiving bad news Sunday night.
Undefeated Johns Hopkins garnered the No. 1 seed for the fourth straight season. Duke, Maryland, Virginia, Patriot League champion Navy, Georgetown, Towson and Massachusetts are the second through eighth seeds. Rounding out the field are Army from the Patriot League, defending national champion Syracuse, Delaware, Albany, Penn State, Cornell, Fairfield, and Marist, which won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title to secure its first NCAA berth in school history under head coach Andrew Copelan, a 2003 Bucknell graduate.
Bucknell was seeking its second NCAA Tournament berth. The Bison received the Patriot League's automatic bid in 2001 and lost a 12-7 decision to Notre Dame at West Point's Michie Stadium. Bucknell was famously snubbed for an NCAA bid in 1996, despite a 12-0 record.
In addition to Jamieson's career coming to an end, Bucknell was also hoping to extend the playing careers of an outstanding senior class, headed by All-American and Tewaaraton Trophy nominee Chris Cara, who earlier this season became the all-time leading scorer in Bucknell and Patriot League history. He finishes with an amazing 249 career points, and he had at least a goal or an assist in all 53 career games.
Seniors Ross Albers, Patrick Christensen, Ryan Goodman, Ned Hare, Grant Kemmerer, Nick Lane, John Salvesen, Daryl Seymour and T.J. Wallace, all of whom will graduate from Bucknell in two weeks, also faced the disappointment of seeing their college careers end.
Longtime Bison assistant coach Frank Fedorjaka will take over the head coaching duties and will have 25 returning players to build around in 2006.
