Bucknell University
Colgate
Bucknell Men's Lax Suffers Rare Loss, 9-7 at Colgate
4/21/2007 8:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
April 21, 2007
HAMILTON, N.Y. - The 12th-ranked Bucknell men's lacrosse team suffered only its third defeat of the season, 9-7 at Colgate on Saturday afternoon in its regular-season finale. Perry Menzies (Upperco, Md./Hereford) scored three goals for the Bison (11-3, 4-2), who will be seeded third at next week's Patriot League Tournament and face Colgate again on Friday at 7 p.m. at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium.
Colgate (9-4, 5-1), which was ranked 19th this week in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll, received four goals from Brendan Hurley, two goals from Ian Murphy and a goal and two assists from Brandon Corp. The Raiders will be the No. 2 seed in the Patriot League Tournament.
Bucknell came into the game ranked second in the nation in scoring defense allowing only 5.7 goals per game, but the Raiders posted seven goals in the first half to build a commanding lead. Hurley's goal with 6:53 left in the first quarter gave Colgate a 2-0 lead, but Menzies scored just 32 seconds later to get the Bison on the board, and Menzies tallied again 32 seconds after that to make it 2-2.
The Bison took a penalty on the ensuing faceoff, however, and Colgate's vaunted extra-man unit produced the tiebreaking goal when Kevin Colleluori scored off a Corp feed just 22 seconds after the Menzies equalizer. It was the game's fourth goal in 86 seconds.
Early in the second period Bucknell's Nick Marks was flagged for a 3-minute penalty for an illegal stick, and Nick Monastero scored another EMO goal to make it 4-2. The Raiders came into the game leading the nation in extra-man efficiency, converting at 59.5 percent, and they went 2-for-3 on Saturday.
Murphy's goal with 6:54 left in the half put Colgate ahead 5-2, and all Bucknell could do was trade goals the rest of the way. The Raiders led 7-4 at the half, and despite second-half goals from John Togneri (Longmeadow, Mass./Loomis Chaffee), Zander Crawford (Clarksville, Md./Atholton) and Austin Winter (Boonton Twp., N.J./Mt. Lakes), the Bison could not pull closer than two goals.
Colgate finished with a 31-28 shot advantage and won 15 of 20 faceoffs. Bison goalie Nick Sciubba (Sea Cliff, N.Y./Salisbury School), the national leader in goals-against average and save percentage coming in to the game, was credited with 10 saves.
Bucknell's transition game was again very strong. The Bison converted 18 of 20 clears while holding Colgate to 13 of 22.
The Bucknell-Colgate Patriot League Tournament game can be heard live on the Internet at BucknellBison.com and SportsJuice.com.
