No. 9 Bucknell Men's Lacrosse Visits Penn State Tuesday Night
4/14/2008 8:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
April 14, 2008
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The regular season is down to just two games for the ninth-ranked Bucknell men's lacrosse team. The Bison travel to Penn State on Tuesday night, then they host Colgate Saturday night with the No. 1 seed in the Patriot League Tournament possibly on the line.
Tuesday's game begins at 7:30 p.m. at Penn State's Jeffrey Field. After an 11-5 win at Lehigh on Friday, Bucknell is now 9-2 overall and 4-1 in the Patriot League. The Bison have won four straight, and their only losses this season are to Duke and Navy (in overtime). Penn State is 4-6 overall, 1-4 in the ECAC. The Nittany Lions have lost three straight to UMass, Hobart and St. John's.
Patriot League Tournament Field Set, Seeds Still Up for Grabs:
At 4-1 in Patriot League play, Bucknell has locked up a PL Tournament berth, along with Army (4-1), Colgate (3-2) and Navy (5-1). If Army wins at Lafayette on Tuesday -- the Black Knights are 26-0 all-time against the Leopards -- then Bucknell can secure the tournament's No. 1 seed and home-field advantage with a victory over Colgate on Saturday. In that scenario, Bucknell, Army and Navy would all be 5-1, and the Bison would prevail as the No. 1 seed based on goal differential from games among the tied teams (Bucknell is +2, Army is even, Navy is -2). If Army defeats Lafayette and Bucknell loses to Colgate, the Bison would be the No. 4 seed and the tournament would be held at West Point.
Bison Equal Highest Ranking in Program History:
• Bucknell is ranked No. 9 this week in the USILA Coaches' Poll. That equals the highest ranking in program history. The Bison were also ranked ninth in the 4/23/96, 4/30/96 and 4/3/01 polls. The 1996 Bucknell team finished 12-0 but was famously snubbed by the NCAA Tournament selection committee. The 2001 team also won the Patriot League title and this time did make it to the NCAA Tournament by securing the league's automatic bid.
• Three Patriot League teams are ranked in the top 10 this week, and all three are separated by just two points in the poll. Army is No. 8 with 128 points, Bucknell is No. 9 with 127 points, and Navy is tied for 10th (with Notre Dame) with 126 points.
Seniors Make History:
Bucknell's nine-man senior class has set the school record for wins by a class. The Class of 2008 now has 34 wins to its credit, one more than the Class of 2003.
A Winning Era:
In the 40-year history of Bison Lacrosse, never had the team won nine or more games in consecutive seasons until now. Bucknell won 11 games last season and is now 9-2 in 2008. The school record for wins in a season is 12, set in 1996.
Home Sweet Home:
Bucknell's victory over Army last Friday was its ninth in a row at home, tying the school record. The Bison also won nine straight home games from Apr. 26, 1995 through March 29, 1997. The current streak includes a perfect 6-0 home record this season. It is also tied (with UMBC) for the second-longest active streak in the nation. Duke has the nation's longest home winning streak at 17 games.
Series Notes:
• Penn State leads the all-time series 32-9, dating back to Bucknell's first season of lacrosse in 1968.
• Bucknell has won each of the last two meetings, 11-10 in State College in 2006 and 7-5 at home last season.
• In last year's game, Brian Gargan scored three first-quarter goals in Bucknell's narrow 7-5 victory. Neither team led by more than two all night. It was just a 6-5 lead late in fourth quarter when Austin Winter scored a key insurance goal. Winter and Tim Brandau had two goals each, and Nick Sciubba finished with 12 saves. Rob Forster and Bubba Scott logged two goals each for the Nittany Lions.
• Penn State's last series win came in 2005, an 11-10 verdict in Lewisburg.
More on the Nittany Lions:
• Penn State's victories have come against Robert Morris (18-2), Villanova (12-3), Vermont (7-4) and Fairfield (7-2).
• Head coach Glenn Thiel is in his 31st season at Penn State and 41st as a collegiate head coach. He needs just one more victory for 300 in his career (299-204), which also includes eight seasons at Virginia, where he won two national titles.
• Rob Forster (11-10-21) is the team's top scorer. Max VanArsdale (11-3-14) is the only other Nittany Lion in double figures in the goals column.
• Penn State has been very good at the faceoff X, winning 58.9% as a team. Charley Henneghen (.615) and Jordan Kolb (.603) are both over 60%.
• Drew Adams has started all 10 games in goal. He has an excellent .600 save percentage, and a goals-against average of 7.66.
• Penn State is averaging 8.1 goals per game and allowing 7.6 per game. In their four wins, the Nittany Lions allowed a total of only 11 goals.
Last Outing:
On Friday in Bethlehem, Bucknell raced to an 8-3 lead and finished off Lehigh 11-5 in front of a large crowd of over 1,000. Joe Mele broke a 2-2 tie with three straight goals, and Austin Winter had a goal and five assists. All five helpers came in the first half, and he scored the first goal of the second half to send the Bison on their way.
Bison Bits:
• Austin Winter leads the Patriot League in assists with 25 in 11 games, and he ranks third in the league in points per game (3.36). Winter is sixth nationally in assists and 21st in points.
• Tim Brandau is fourth in the league in goals per game (2.00) and sixth in points per game (2.45).
• Joe Mele is tied for the league lead with three game-winning goals.
• Tim Brandau leads the league with six EMO goals.
• Mike Danylyshyn had a goal and two assists against Lehigh. He now has two straight three-point games, and three straight multi-point games.
• Bucknell now leads the Patriot League in EMO efficiency after a 3-for-7 performance against Lehigh. On the season the Bison are 19-for-45 (.422), just ahead of Navy at .419.
• Nick Sciubba is ninth in the nation in goals-against average (6.83).
• As a team, Bucknell ranks seventh in the nation in scoring defense (7.09), seventh in man-up offense (.422) and fourth in winning percentage (.818).
In the Polls:
• While the Bison are No. 9 in the USILA Coaches' Poll this week, they somehow slipped from 10th to 15th in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.
• ESPN and Inside Lacrosse analyst Quint Kessenich has Bucknell at No. 6 in his own top-20 rankings, noting this week: "I feel that they are the best of a trio of Patriot League teams that could make the NCAA field, and if the Herd win out, they will have the bonus of being the top seed and host of this year's Patriot League tournament."
• 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:
• The Bucknell-Colgate game will start at 8 p.m. Saturday at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. The game will be broadcast live via online Webcast at BucknellBison.com and SportsJuice.com. It will also be Senior Night, as the nine Bison seniors will be honored prior to the game.