Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Colgate
Bucknell Men's Lax Drops Season Finale to Colgate, 8-6
4/23/2006 8:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
April 23, 2006
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Robert Trasolini scored three goals to help Colgate clinch the No. 1 seed in the Patriot League Tournament with an 8-6 victory over Bucknell Sunday afternoon at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. Bucknell, which received three goals and an assist from freshman Joe Mele (Westbury, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial), concludes the 2006 season with a 6-8 record, 2-4 in the Patriot League.
The Raiders (11-2, 5-1) tied their school record for wins in a season and also tied Navy for the Patriot League regular-season title. Based on Colgate's earlier victory over Navy, the Raiders will host the Patriot League Tournament for the first time.
Bucknell built an early 3-1 lead, with Mele scoring all three goals. The first two came when he put back rebounds after Colgate goalie Andrew Jarolimek had saved an initial shot. The third came in transition after a nice clearing pass from long-pole Greg Sowyrda (Hingham, Mass./Hingham), who picked up his first career assist.
After controlling play for much of the first half, Bucknell's momentum began to slip away just before halftime. The Bison had a 3-1 lead and possession of the ball with just over a minute remaining in the half. But an errant pass give the Raiders the ball back, and after a whistle stopped play just inside the midfield stripe, Colgate caught the Bison off guard on a quick restart, and Rob Ryan passed to Matt Lalli for a breakaway goal that made it a 3-2 game at the half.
Colgate then outscored Bucknell 4-1 in the third quarter to take control. Trasolini and Brendan Hurley scored 50 seconds apart to give the Raiders their first lead of the day at 4-3 with 8:39 left in the period. Steve Case (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) tied it at 4-4 moments later, taking a pass from Mele from behind the cage and firing a precise shot over Jarolimek's left shoulder.
But the Raiders tallied the next three goals to assume a 7-4 lead. Brian Robinson scored off a Brandon Corp feed, then Trasolini scored a man-up goal with 41 seconds left in the third quarter. Will Planer made it a three-goal game when he corralled a long rebound after a shot off the pipe and fired it home.
On a two-man advantage, Bucknell cut it to 7-5 when Matt Castele (Medina, Ohio/Medina) fed Kirk Klett (Mt. Lebanon, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) for a point-blank goal with 10:52 remaining. Colgate went back up by three with 2:46 to play when Bucknell turned it over trying to clear while shorthanded, and Corp scored into an empty net.
Case answered 15 seconds later with his second goal of the day, but the Bison could get no closer.
Bucknell seniors Chris Carillo (Montauk, N.Y./East Hampton), Patrick Lenhart (Hingham, Mass./Hingham), Michael Abou Jaoude (San Francisco, Calif./St. Ignatius) and Matt Baran (Wilmington, Del./Tatnall) were honored prior to their final game.
Baran was outstanding, finishing with 13 saves and a game-high seven ground balls. He wraps up an outstanding career with 465 saves, sixth-most in Bucknell history.
Special teams played a big role in the game, as Colgate converted 3 of 5 EMO chances, while Bucknell was 1 of 5. Both teams scored man-down goals, and Colgate might have had a second if not for a spectacular save by Baran on Chris Mulholland in the fourth quarter.
Bucknell outshot Colgate 41-30 but missed the cage on 24 of those shots. Jarolimek had five of his 11 saves in the fourth quarter.
Bucknell's seven-game winning streak against Colgate came to an end. The Raiders' last win over the Bison came in 1998.
Mele finished his rookie season as the team's leading scorer with 28 points on 26 goals and two assists.
