Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Laxmen Look to Stay Hot as Penn State Visits Tuesday Night
4/16/2007 8:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
April 16, 2007
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The 12th-ranked Bucknell men's lacrosse team puts its 10-2 record on the line when Central Pennsylvania rival Penn State visits Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. It will be the final home game for Bison seniors Steve Case, Brian Gargan, Kirk Klett, Danylko Kulczycky, Greg Sowyrda and Paul Stansik, who will be recognized prior to the opening faceoff.
Bucknell checked off one significant milestone on Saturday when it topped Lehigh 11-5 to lock up a berth in the Patriot League Tournament at the end of the month. In the meantime, the Bison have the non-conference game with Penn State and Saturday's regular-season finale at Colgate prior to the tournament, which gets underway at Navy on Apr. 27. The Bison and Raiders are ticketed to meet in the semifinals, meaning they will play on back-to-back weekends.
Penn State brings a 4-5 record into Tuesday's game, but like Bucknell, the Nittany Lions have played very well recently. After an 0-4 start, Penn State has won four of its last five, with the victories coming in impressive fashion against Colgate (7-4), Fairfield (10-7), Hobart (12-7) and St. John's 9-5. The only loss in that span was a close 6-5 decision at UMass.
After allowing 41 goals to Denver, Notre Dame, Loyola and Ohio State in that 0-4 start, the Nittany Lions have yielded only 29 goals in five games since. Midfielder Gil Pearsall leads the team in goals (13) and points, and PSU features an outstanding goalie in Drew Adams, who has a .620 save percentage in nine starts.
Bucknell is allowing only 5.8 goals per game, the second-best mark in the nation. Goalie Nick Sciubba now leads all Division I netminders in both save percentage (.676) and goals-against average (5.60). Sciubba is this week's Patriot League Goalie of the Week -- the fourth time he has been so honored this season -- and the Bison have claimed the last three PL Defensive Players of the week in Greg Sowyrda, Steve Case and Billy Haire.
Even with season-ending knee injuries to top attackmen Klett and Joe Mele, the Bucknell offense has been plenty productive. The team is averaging 9.4 goals per game, paced by a pair of freshmen in Austin Winter (14-28-42) and Tim Brandau (21-9-30). Winter ranks second in the nation in assists per game, and he leads the Patriot League in both points and assists.
Midfielders Togneri, Perry Menzies, Nick Marks and Doug Buckley all scored big goals in the Lehigh victory.
The Bison have also been resurgent in the faceoff department. Since going 0-for-12 at the X in a 6-3 loss to Navy on March 12, the Bison have won 32 of 56 (.571) draws in the three games since, all victories. Rick Carolan has handled the bulk of the faceoff duties and is 27-for-46 (.587) over the last three contests.
Penn State has been on Bucknell's schedule every year since the inception of the Bison's varsity program in 1968. The Nittany Lions have a 32-8 series lead, with Bucknell's most recent win coming in thrilling fashion last season in State College. The Bison scored the game's final three goals, the last coming from John Togneri with 2:49 to play, and goalie Matt Baran made the last of his 18 saves with 14 seconds left in the 11-10 win.
Bucknell's 10 victories is tied for second-most in program history. The 1996 team finished 12-0, while the 1969 and 2001 teams also won 10.
