Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Mount St. Mary's
Mele, Brandau Lift Bucknell Men's Lax Past Mount St. Mary's, 14-6
3/8/2008 7:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
March 8, 2008
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Backed by five-goal performances from junior Joe Mele (Westbury, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) and sophomore Tim Brandau (Owings Mills, Md./McDonogh) and a suffocating ride, the 15th-ranked Bucknell men's lacrosse team outran visiting Mount St. Mary's 14-6 at rain-soaked Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
Mele equaled his career high with five goals, and his two assists gave him his first career seven-point game. Brandau scored five goals in a game for the first time and tied his personal best with six points. Doug Buckley (Wantagh, N.Y./Chaminade) added two goals and an assist, Austin Winter (Boonton Twp., N.J./Mountain Lakes) had two assists and Perry Menzies (Upperco, Md./Hereford) one of each for the Bison, who won their third straight to get to 3-1 on the season.
Geery Grant scored three goals and Dan Mohr two for The Mount, who are now 0-3 with all three losses coming to top-15 teams (Maryland, Navy, Bucknell).
In addition to the big games from Brandau and Mele, Bucknell's vaunted 10-man ride was the story in this one. The Bison forced turnovers on Mount St. Mary's first five clearing attempts of the day, and The Mount was just 2-for-10 on clears in the first half and 11-for-21 overall.
Bucknell's very first goal of the day came when Menzies intercepted a pass near midfield, leading to a 2-on-1 fastbreak with Mele, whose slam dunk was the first of six Bison goals in the first quarter. Brandau scored three unassisted goals in the opening period, the last coming when he batted in a rebound just as time expired.
Mele scored his third and fourth goals of the day in the second quarter to help the Bison take a commanding 9-1 halftime lead.
Five straight third-quarter goals, capped by a Ryan Klipstein (Califon, N.J./Rutgers Prep) tally with 2:39 to play, gave the Bison a 14-2 advantage. Bucknell cleared the bench late in the third quarter, and Mount St. Mary's tallied the game's final four goals.
Starting goalie Nick Sciubba (Sea Cliff, N.Y./Salisbury School) made three saves in 40 minutes before getting an early breather. Matt Antonelli (Arnold, Md./Archbishop Spalding) made four stops in 14:10, and freshman Sam Finnell (Skillman, N.J./Deerfield Academy) made his collegiate debut late in the fourth quarter.
Bucknell outshot The Mount 47-27 (15-2 in the first quarter) and held a 38-17 edge in ground balls (11-0 in the first quarter). The Bison won 12 of the 23 faceoffs and were successful on 19 of 21 clears. Bucknell was 1 of 2 with a man advantage, while Mount St. Mary's was 1-for-3.
Freshman middie Mike Danylyshyn (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) registered his first collegiate point with an assist on Brandau's EMO goal in the third quarter.
Bucknell improved to 14-0 all-time against Mount St. Mary's.
Bucknell has two more home games coming up next week. The Bison host Fairfield on Tuesday at 3 p.m., then Lafayette comes to town for the Patriot League opener Saturday at 1 p.m.
