Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Lacrosse Hosts Lehigh Saturday Night, Free Audio Broadcast Available
4/13/2007 8:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
April 13, 2007
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Bucknell can clinch a Patriot League Tournament berth (and either the No. 2 or 3 seed) with a victory over Lehigh on Saturday night at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. The Bison, who are ranked No. 12 this week in the USILA Coaches' Poll and No. 13 in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll, can also reach the 10-win plateau for the fourth time in school history. To do so, they will have to defeat a tough Lehigh squad that is fighting for its own postseason survival. The Mountain Hawks would be eliminated from Patriot League Tournament contention with a loss. Lehigh's 4-6 record is deceiving, as all six losses have come by four goals or less, including one-goal setbacks to Penn, Army and Stony Brook and a two-goal loss to Colgate. The Bison, who will be looking to avenge a 7-5 loss at Lehigh last season, are coming off a thrilling 6-5 victory at then-No. 17 Army last Saturday.
With a Win over Lehigh, Bucknell Would ...
• ... clinch a Patriot League Tournament berth.
• ... improve to 29-10 all-time against the Mountain Hawks.
• ... defeat Lehigh at home for the fifth straight time.
• ... secure 10 wins in a season for the fourth time in program history.
• ... improve to 4-1 in the Patriot League this season.
• ... improve to 36-12 in the Patriot League since the start of the 2000 season.
Bucknell Now 9-2
Featuring one of the youngest offenses in the nation, the Bison are off to an outstanding 9-2 start, their best 11-game showing since the unbeaten 1996 season. Among the victories are an overtime thriller over former Patriot League rival Hobart, as well as three wins against teams that were nationally ranked on gameday (#17 Army, #19 Ohio State, #19 Penn). After starting the year 5-0, Bucknell suffered its first defeat on March 13 at Fairfield, which was then ranked No. 20 and is now No. 19. The only other setback was a tough 6-3 loss to No. 4 Navy on March 25.
Bucknell Back in Top 15
Bucknell has spent the last seven weeks ranked in the top 20, peaking at No. 11 in the USILA Coaches' Poll on March 12. That was the team's highest ranking since it was listed No. 9 during the 2001 Patriot League Championship season. This week, Bucknell is ranked No. 12 in the USILA Coaches' Poll, No. 13 in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll and No. 14 in the Baltimore Sun Poll.
Bison Among National Victory Leaders
Heading into the weekend, Bucknell is one of six Division I teams with nine or more wins.
Team W-L Pct. Albany 10-0 1.000 Virginia 10-1 .909 Cornell 9-0 1.000 Bucknell 9-2 .818 Duke 9-2 .818 Drexel 9-3 .750 Navy 8-2 .800 Maryland 8-3 .727
Last Time Out
After dropping five straight games to Army, all by one goal, Bucknell reversed its fortunes last Saturday at Michie Stadium, defeating the 17th-ranked Black Knights 6-5 on the strength of five combined goals from freshmen attackmen Tim Brandau and Austin Winter, a late game-winner from Perry Menzies and a number of big defensive stops down the stretch. This one figured to be a defensive struggle, as Army entered the game ranked No. 1 in the nation in scoring defense, while Bucknell came in ranked No. 5. Bucknell faced a 4-2 third-quarter deficit against that vaunted Army defense but got back in it with a strong finish to the period. With 1:16 remaining in the quarter John Togneri, back in the starting lineup with all-star attackman Joe Mele out with a knee injury, feathered a nifty pass to Brandau for his third goal of the day, bringing the Bison within 4-3. Then with only five seconds left in the period, Winter made a terrific individual play to dodge a defender and place a shot past Adam Fullerton to even the game at 4-all. Brooks Korvin scored his second goal of the day to put Army back in front 5-4 with 11:28 to play, but the Black Knights would not score again. Another unassisted goal from Winter tied the game at 5-5 with 7:47 left, and just over two minutes later Togneri passed to Menzies, who fired home the go-ahead goal. There were plenty of tense moments in the final five minutes, as Nick Sciubba came up with late saves on Korvin and Paul Wigdzinski. After an offsides call against Bucknell, Army had a last shot in the closing seconds, but Ryan Chase fired wide and the Bison claimed only their second win ever at West Point.
Bucknell-Lehigh Last Season
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 then-No. 19 Bucknell last season in Bethlehem, Pa., snapping the Bison's six-game series winning streak. Kirk Klett scored twice for Bucknell. Things started out well for the Bison, as goals by Joe Mele and John Togneri staked them 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 tied it back up at 3-3 with 8:10 left in the third quarter. Exactly two minutes later Klett scored 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 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.
On the Case
Bucknell significantly benefitted from the return from injury of do-it-all middie Steve Case in last week's win over Army. Case entered his senior year with 51 career points (23G, 28A), but he was asked to sacrifice some offensive productivity to help the team's transition game. His biggest impact has been as a wing man on faceoffs. Despite missing three full games due to injury, Case leads the team in ground balls with 29 and ranks third in the Patriot League in ground balls per game (3.62). Against Army, he had a game-high six ground balls, all of them coming on faceoffs. Case also had an assist on Tim Brandau's goal just 11 seconds after the second-quarter draw.
Case, Sciubba Earn Patriot League Weekly Honors
For the second straight week Bucknell claimed two of the four Patriot League weekly. Steve Case earned Defensive Player of the Week honors for the first time in his career, while Nick Sciubba earned Goalie of the Week honors for the third time this season, tying him with Navy's Colin Finnegan for the most in the league.
Getting Defensive
The Bison currently rank fifth nationally in scoring defense (5.9 goals per game allowed), and Bucknell's defense has a chance to rank among the best in school history.
National Defensive Rankings Bucknell's Top Defensive Teams 1. Army 5.50 1969 4.3 2. Navy 5.80 1970 4.7 3. Princeton 5.88 2007 5.9 Cornell 5.88 1996 6.2 5. Bucknell 5.91 2001 6.2 6. Hofstra 6.25 2003 7.0 7. Notre Dame 6.89 1968 7.2 8. Virginia 6.91 2000 7.2 9. Drexel 7.18 1973 7.5 10. Providence 7.22 2006 7.5
Kiddie Corps
Eight of Bucknell's top 13 scorers, including the top three, are first or second-year players. Freshman Austin Winter leads the team and the league in assists (26) and points (38), while sophomore Joe Mele is the top goal producer (24). All told, 72.5% of the goals, 78.0% of the assists and 74.5% of the points come from freshmen or sophomores.
In the Crease
Nick Sciubba, who was the No. 2 goalie on the UMass team that went all the way to the NCAA title game last season, transferred to Bucknell after last season and has taken over as the starting netminder. Sciubba has already been named the Patriot League Goalie of the Week three times, and in 11 games (nine starts) has a terrific .673 save percentage with 109 saves and only 53 goals allowed. Sciubba leads the nation in save percentage and ranks third in goals-against average (5.67).
Long Poles Having Strong Season
While new goalie Nick Sciubba has been a tremendous addition, another key to Bucknell's defensive prowess has been the return of all three starting close defensemen and the top two long-stick defensive midfielders. The close defense trio of senior co-captain Greg Sowyrda, junior Evan Burns and sophomore Billy Haire are all having excellent seasons. The starting unit has an average build of 6'3", 215 pounds and is a major reason why the Bison have allowed six goals or less in nine of 11 games. Senior co-captain Paul Stansik and junior Tommy Orr are two of the league's better long-stick middies, while freshman Scott Monfort has also filled in nicely as a fourth defenseman and a wing man on faceoffs.
At the X
Bucknell really struggled in the faceoff department last season, winning only 38.0% on the year. In 2007, the Bison are much improved at the X, winning 46.1% as a team. A big reason for the improvement lies in the conversion of former defensive backups Rick Carolan and Danylko Kulczycky to full-time faceoff specialists. Starting with fall practices, Carolan and Kulczycky have worked on nothing but faceoff technique. Carolan has been the primary faceoff specialist and has been winning at a 48.5% clip. Two weeks ago the Bison lost all 12 draws against Navy, but in two games since then they have won 21 of 37 (.568).
EMO Unit Gets Going
Bucknell's man-up unit had struggled a bit in recent weeks before producing a stellar 5-for-7 showing against Holy Cross two weeks ago. The Bison had been just 9-for-40 prior to that game, but they upped their season EMO percentage from .225 to .298 against the Crusaders. They only had two EMO chances last week and did not score against Army, leaving their season percentage at .286. Bucknell opponents are 9-for-34 (.264) on the year.
Gargan Making Strong Comeback
Senior co-captain Brian Gargan earned his starting job back after missing all of 2006 with a knee injury. He had a goal in seven straight games before going scoreless against Army last week, and he is the team's fourth-leading scorer with 15 points on 12 goals and three assists. A former walk-on, Gargan claimed a starting assignment as a freshman and scored 14 goals. He tallied 13 more as a sophomore but tore an ACL in the preseason a year ago. Gargan began this season as a midfielder, but moved back to attack when Joe Mele went down with a knee injury.
Stansik A Candidate for Lowe's Senior CLASS Award
Bucknell senior Paul Stansik has been named one of 20 national candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in the men's lacrosse division. In addition to being one of the Patriot League's top long-stick defensive midfielders, Stansik is a team co-captain and positive role model on and off the field, and he carries a 3.55 cumulative grade-point average in Bucknell's challenging management program. Candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award were selected based on personal qualities that define a complete student athlete. While the on-the-field performance during their collegiate lacrosse careers is a factor in determining candidates and the eventual winner, their personal character and off-the-field achievements in the classroom and community are major areas of focus. The list of candidates includes lacrosse players from 15 different schools and six conferences. From the list of 20 candidates, a national media committee will select 10 finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in April as the lacrosse season hits its peak. Those ten names will then be placed on the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award ballot for a nationwide vote beginning April 24 and concluding May 15. Fan balloting will be coupled with votes from coaches, media and sponsors to determine the recipient of the award. Winners will be announced during the weekend of May 26 during the 2007 NCAA Lacrosse Championships in Baltimore, Maryland.
Bison Bits
Army is typically considered one of the top ground ball teams, but the Bison won the GB battle last week 33-31 ... Bucknell also held a 42-29 shot advantage ... the Bison have outscored opponents 102-65 on the season, including a 28-12 margin in the third quarter ... Perry Menzies continues to lead the Patriot League in shot attempts with 86 ... Menzies now has a league-high three game-winning goals ... Patriot Leaguers Nick Sciubba (Bucknell), Adam Fullerton (Army) and Colin Finnegan (Navy) rank 1-2-3 in the nation in goals-against average, and the same trio also comprises the top three (in reverse order) in goals-against average.
Next Up
Bucknell has two games remaining in the regular season. On Tuesday night the Bison will host Central Pennsylvania rival Penn State on Senior Night at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. Bucknell won a thriller, 11-10, in State College last season. The regular-season finale will be at Colgate next Saturday at 3 p.m.
Patriot League Tournament in Annapolis
For the fourth straight year Navy will serve as host of the Patriot League Men's Lacrosse Tournament. Even with a big home game against rival Army coming on Saturday, the Midshipmen have clinched the No. 1 seed and the right to host the four-team event on Apr. 27 and 29.
