Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Mount St. Mary's
Men's Lax Hands Fedorjaka First Bucknell Win, 16-9 over Mount St. Mary's
2/28/2006 7:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Feb. 28, 2006
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Freshman Joe Mele (Westbury, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) scored five goals to lead a potent Bucknell offense, and head coach Frank Fedorjaka picked up his first Bison victory, 16-9 over Mount St. Mary's on Tuesday afternoon at frigid Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.
Now 1-1 on the season, the Bison put this one away early. They exploded for 11 first-half goals, including seven in the second quarter. Bucknell led 4-1 after one period thanks to Mele's natural hat trick, 11-5 at the half and 14-6 after three quarters.
Mele wasn't the only Bucknell player to light up the scoreboard. Junior Kirk Klett (Mt. Lebanon, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) and sophomore John Schlicher (Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury) tallied three goals each, while freshman John Togneri (Longmeadow, Mass./Loomis-Chaffee) logged two goals and two assists. Sophomore Matt Castele (Medina, Ohio/Medina) pocketed a goal and four assists for a career-high five points.
Sophomore Nick Marks (Barrington, Ill./Salisbury School) scored his first goal of the season, while freshman Perry Menzies (Upperco, Md./Hereford) scored the first of his career. Sophomore Austin Sanders (Great Falls, Va./Landon) had two assists.
Jason Werner and Adam Sharretts scored two goals apiece for Mount St. Mary's, which was making its 2006 debut.
Schlicher opened the scoring with his first goal of the year on an outside shot 4:27 into the contest. Mount St. Mary's tied it on Werner's goal less than a minute later, but Mele then scored three in a row to give the Bison the lead for good. His first two goals came after corralling missed shots behind the net, and the third came from point-blank range after a nice shorthanded clear and feed from freshman Michael Cooke (Phoenix, Md./St. Paul's), who picked up his first collegiate point.
It was a strong day for the Bucknell special teams. In addition to the shorthanded marker, the Bison went 3-for-5 with a man advantage. Marks, Klett and Menzies also scored EMO goals for the Bison.
Bucknell took command with the seven-goal second quarter. Togneri's goal at the 9:42 mark made it 7-2, and Klett scored off a Togneri feed to make it 11-5 at the half. The Mount scored on 5 of 7 shots in the first half, while the Bison launched 23 shots. Bucknell took its largest lead of nine goals at 15-6 on Klett's third of the game with 9:51 to play.
For the game, Bucknell outshot Mount St. Mary's 41-18 and had a 41-23 edge in ground balls. The Bison forced a number of transition turnovers, limiting The Mount to 16 clears in 23 attempts.
Bison goalie Matt Baran (Wilmington, Del./Tatnall) finished with four saves, while freshman Matt Antonelli (Arnold, Md./Archbishop Spalding) made his first career stop after coming in with 7:16 to play. For Mount St. Mary's, starter Joe Zolezzi stopped eight shots while yielding 14 goals in three quarters. Backup Chris Channing played the final period and made four saves while allowing two goals against the Bison reserves.
Bucknell returns to action on Saturday afternoon, taking on Butler in Pittsburgh at 3 p.m.
