Bucknell University
Lehigh
Bucknell Men's Lax Drops 7-5 Decision at Lehigh
4/1/2006 7:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
April 1, 2006
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Stephen Marino scored three goals, including two big ones in the fourth quarter, to lead Lehigh to a 7-5 men's lacrosse victory over No. 19 Bucknell on Saturday, snapping the Bison's six-game series winning streak. Kirk Klett (Mt. Lebanon, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) scored twice for Bucknell, which fell to 4-5 on the season and 2-2 in Patriot League play. It is only the second time in the last seven years the Bison have dropped more than one conference game in a season.
Lehigh, which also has a win over Army under its belt this season, improved to 6-3, 2-1.
Things started out well for Bucknell in this one, as goals by Joe Mele (Westbury, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) and John Togneri (Longmeadow, Mass./Loomis-Chaffee) staked the Bison to a 2-0 lead after one quarter. But Lehigh dominated the second period and managed to tie the game at 2-2 by halftime.
In the second quarter the Mountain Hawks outshot Bucknell 12-0, had a 7-0 edge in ground balls, won all three faceoffs and forced the Bison to go 0-for-3 on clear attempts. Marino finally put Lehigh on the board at the 11:32 mark of the period, and Blake Best, who finished with two goals and two assists, scored a man-up goal with 1:15 left to tie it.
Jeff Wiener pushed Lehigh into the lead for the first time with a goal five minutes into the second half. The Bison went 28:10 without scoring a goal until Nick Marks (Barrington, Ill./Salisbury School) tied it back up at 3-3 with 8:10 left in the third quarter. Exactly two minutes later Klett scored off a pass from Matt Castele (Medina, Ohio/Medina) to put the Bison back in front 4-3.
Lehigh pocketed the next three scores, however, and took over the lead for good. Best scored with 1:04 left in the third quarter to lock the game up at 4-4. Michael Zurfluh scored the go-ahead marker in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, and Marino made it 6-4 with 10:57 remaining.
The Bison pulled back within one at 6-5 on Klett's goal off a feed from Steve Case (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) with 9:10 left. Lehigh goalie John Park made a save on Case with just over three minutes remaining. The Mountain Hawks cleared, and with 1:53 left Marino scored the backbreaking goal.
Lehigh collected twice as many shots (38-16) and ground balls (30-15) as Bucknell, and the Mountain Hawks won 12 of the 16 faceoffs, including all five in the fourth quarter.
Both goalies - Matt Baran (Wilmington, Del./Tatnall) for Bucknell and Park for Lehigh - finished with seven saves.
Bucknell returns home on Friday night for another key Patriot League contest. The Bison host Army at 7 p.m. at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.
