Bucknell Men's Lacrosse Hosts Fairfield on Wednesday, Seeks Payback for '07 Loss to Stags
3/10/2008 8:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
March 10, 2008
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bison men's lacrosse game brings a three-game winning streak and a No. 14 national ranking into Tuesday afternoon's home game against No. 16 Fairfield. Game time is 3 p.m. at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium, and admission is free.
Series Notes:
• Fairfield leads the all-time series, 1-0.
• These two teams met for the very first time last season up in Connecticut, and the Stags parlayed a seven-goal fourth quarter into a 13-7 win. The Bison rallied from a 5-2 deficit to tie the game, but Mike Bocklet scored three of his six goals in the fourth period and Fairfield closed the game on a 7-1 run. Travis Nelson had three goals and three assists for the Stags, while Joe Mele led the Bison with four goals.
Last Outing:
Joe Mele and Tim Brandau scored five goals each and the Bison routed Mount St. Mary's 14-6 on Saturday. The Bison led 6-0 after one period, 9-1 at the half, and 14-2 in the third quarter before clearing the bench. Mele also had two assists, giving him a career-high seven points, while Brandau had a helper for a career-high-tying six points. The Bison outshot The Mount 47-27 and held a 38-17 edge in ground balls. Bucknell also had great success in the riding game, stopping Mount St. Mary's eight out of 10 times on clears in the first half.
Bison Bits:
• Doug Buckley had two goals and one assists for a career-high three points.
• Perry Menzies added a goal, an assist and a team-high five ground balls. Menzies interception near midfield led to a fastbreak goal for Joe Mele, the team's first tally of the day.
• Christian Tucker won 10 of 18 faceoffs, and the team won 12 of 23.
• Austin Winter chipped in two assists, giving him a Patriot League-high nine on the season.
• Tim Brandau has a team-high 10 goals, while Mele is second with seven. Freshman Ryan Klipstein has six goals, and his tally against Mount St. Mary's gives him at least one point in each game thus far.
• Defenseman Tom Izard leads the squad in ground balls with 13.
• Bucknell is now 6-for-17 (.353) with a man advantage this season, while Bison opponents are just 2-for-10 (.200).
• Tim Brandau leads the team with three EMO tallies.
Scouting the Stags:
• No. 16 Fairfield is off to a 3-0 start, with wins over Rutgers (10-7), Dartmouth (14-9) and Providence (7-6).
• Travis Nelson leads the team in scoring with 11 points on six goals and five assists. Doug Kuring has four goals and three assists for Fairfield, which returned seven starters from last year's 6-6 squad.
• Goalie Joe Marra has a .560 save percentage and 7.36 goals-against average.
• Fairfield has won 55.2% of its faceoffs, with Andrew Urquhart capturing 14 of 22 (.636).
In the Polls:
• The Bison are ranked T-14th (with Drexel) in the USILA Coaches' Poll this week, while Fairfield was No. 16 in that poll.
• In the Nike/Inside Lacrosse media poll, Bucknell is No. 16, and Fairfield is tied for 20th.
• Bucknell was picked third in the Patriot League preseason poll, behind only Navy and Colgate. Bucknell received one first-place vote and 51 total points. Navy collected 12 of the 14 first-place tallies and 72 points, while Colgate also received a first-place vote and 60 points. Army was picked fourth with 45 points, followed by Lehigh (31), Holy Cross (20) and Lafayette (15).
Looking Ahead:
• Bucknell's five-game homestand concludes on Saturday when Lafayette visits Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium at 1 p.m. It will be Bucknell's first Patriot League game of the season.