Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Fairfield
Bucknell Men's Lacrosse Suffers First Defeat of Season, 13-7 at No. 20 Fairfield
3/13/2007 8:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
March 13, 2007
FAIRFIELD, Conn. - Mike Bocklet scored six goals, three coming in No. 20 Fairfield's seven-goal fourth quarter, lifting the host Stags to a 13-7 defeat of No. 11 Bucknell on Tuesday afternoon at Alumni Field. The loss was the first of the year for the Bison, who fell to 5-1.
Joe Mele (Westbury, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) scored four goals and Tim Brandau (Owings Mills, Md./McDonogh) had a goal and two assists for the Bucknell, which trailed 5-2 in the second quarter before rallying to tie on a goal by Austin Winter (Boonton Twp., N.J./Mountain Lakes) with 5:03 left in the third quarter.
Fairfield (4-0) needed only six seconds to go back in front, however, as Sean Fay won the ensuing faceoff and fed Bocklet for a quick score. The Bison tied it again at 6-6 on Mele's tally with 10:54 left in the fourth quarter, but again the Stags answered quickly. Just 1:11 later Travis Nelson scored an unassisted goal to make it 7-6, and Bocklet made it 8-6 with 7:36 left in the game.
Steve Case (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) fed Mele for a quick Bison reply, pulling them within 8-7 with 7:19 left, but Bocklet's extra-man goal with 5:47 left opened the floodgates for the Stags, who scored five times in only 3:46 to put the game away.
Bucknell came in yielding only 5.6 goals per game before allowing a season-high 13 to Fairfield. Nelson had three goals and three assists, Dan Boudreau had two goals and one assist and Chris Manley three assists for the Stags.
Winter tallied a goal and an assist for the Bison. Winter and Brandau, both freshmen attackmen, now have multiple points in all six games this season.
Nick Sciubba (Sea Cliff, N.Y./Salisbury School) finished with 14 saves for Bucknell, while counterpart Michael Kruger had nine.
Fairfield outshot Bucknell 36-25 and held a 26-17 edge in ground balls. Bucknell won 13 of 24 faceoffs, with Rick Carolan (Wellesley, Mass./St. Sebastians) claiming 10 of 17.
Bucknell is now 2-1 this season against ranked teams. Earlier in the year the Bison defeated Hobart and Ohio State when each was ranked No. 19.
The Bison, who currently boast their highest national ranking since 2001, return home on Saturday to face Air Force at 1 p.m. at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.
