Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Faces Colgate in Sunday's Patriot League Men's Lacrosse Championship Game, CBS College Sports to Air Game Live
4/26/2008 8:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
April 26, 2008
WHAT: Bucknell vs. Colgate in Patriot League Championship Game
WHEN: Sunday, Apr. 27, 2 p.m.
WHERE: Michie Stadium, West Point, N.Y.
TV: CBS College Sports
RADIO: WVBU 90.5 FM
INTERNET VIDEO: Patriot League All-Access
INTERNET AUDIO: SportsJuice.com
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
Fourth-seeded Bucknell goes in search of its sixth Patriot League championship and second NCAA Tournament appearance on Sunday afternoon when it takes on third-seeded Colgate in the Patriot League championship game at West Point's Michie Stadium. The Bison and Raiders both knocked off service academy rivals in the semifinals on Friday. Bucknell opened the postseason with a thrilling 8-7 win over the top seed and tournament host Army, then red-hot Colgate shook off an early 3-0 deficit and ran past Navy 12-9. This will be the first Patriot League championship game contested between the third and fourth seeds, and it is a rematch of last week's game at Bucknell's Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. Had the Bison won at home, they would have been the No. 1 seed and hosted this tournament, but instead the Raiders scored the game's final three goals and prevailed 11-9. Colgate has won the last three from Bucknell, including an 11-10 win in the 2007 Patriot League Tournament semifinals, played in Annapolis, Md.
With a Win over Colgate, Bucknell Would ...
• ... win the Patriot League Tournament for the first time.
• ... capture its sixth Patriot League title (the first five coming prior to the advent of the tournament in 2004).
• ... automatically qualify for its second NCAA Tournament appearance (the first was in 2001).
• ... win its 11th game of the season, tying the 2007 team for second-most in school history (the 1996 team went 12-0).
• ... snap a three-game losing streak to Colgate.
Ticket Information
Sunday's championship game tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for youths. All students from the participating schools will receive free admission to all three games with proper identification. A group ticket rate is also available as parties of 10 or more fans will be admitted for $2 per person. To take advantage of this rate, fans need to purchase their tickets in advance as the rate will not be available to people walking up on game day. To purchase in advance, call 1-877-TIX-ARMY or go online to www.goARMYsports.com.
On the National Airwaves
Sunday's championship game will also be televised live on CBS College Sports (formerly CSTV), with Jason Chandler calling the play-by-play and Paul Carcaterra handling the color commentary. The feed can also be seen online via Patriot League All-Access. Doug Birdsong's play-by-play call will air live on BucknellBison.com and SportsJuice.com, as well as locally on WVBU, 90.5 FM.
Bison Exorcise Postseason Demons
Bucknell had never won a postseason game in its history until Friday's semifinal victory over Army. Since the Patriot League went to a four-team tournament beginning in 2004, the Bison were 0-3 in the tourney, with all three semifinal losses coming in heartbreaking fashion by a single goal. Bucknell's Patriot League Tournament history:
Year Opponent Score Notable 2004 Hobart 10-9 L Bucknell up 9-7 in 4th, Hobart scores last three goals. 2005 Army 9-8 (OT) L Bison score twice in last 3:00 of regulation to tie, but Army wins in OT. 2007 Colgate 11-10 L Down 11-6 with 3:00 left, BU scores four straight and has last shot saved with 0:15 left. 2008 Army 8-7 W Game tied at end of 1st, 2nd and 3rd; Menzies' goal with 9:55 left holds up as winner.
Friday Recap
After losing its grip on fourth-quarter leads in losses to Penn State and Colgate to end the regular season, Bucknell gained an 8-7 lead on Perry Menzies' goal with 9:55 remaining and held tough from there, knocking out top-seeded Army on its home turf on Friday afternoon. Austin Winter had a goal and five assists to pace the offense, while backup goalie Matt Antonelli came on in relief of Nick Sciubba early in the first quarter and made 11 saves while allowing only five goals. The game was tied six different times, the last at 7-all on Menzies 15-yard tracer in the final minute of the third quarter. Menzies then put the Bison ahead to stay on a nearly identical play to the tying goal, taking a feed from Winter and pouring a hard shot through a screen and past Adam Fullerton from 15 yards out.
More from the Army Game
• The game was tied at 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7. It was tied at the end of each of the first three quarters. The only multiple-goal lead came when Army went up 5-3 in the second period, but the Bison tied it back up by halftime.
• In the first meeting of the season between the two teams (a 7-4 Bucknell win), Army did not score its first goal until the third quarter. This time, they scored just 20 seconds into the game. Bucknell also scored on its first possession of the game. The Black Knights tallied on their first two shots, knocking Nick Sciubba out of the game after only 3:43.
• Austin Winter's five assists tied the Patriot League Tournament record. Navy's Jon Birsner also had five against Army in 2005. It was the third time this season Winter had at least five assists in a game. He had six against Towson and five against Lehigh. All three 5+ assist games have come on the road. Winter now has a league-high 32 helpers on the season, the seventh-highest total in Bucknell history, and he hit the 50-point mark for the first time in his career.
• Joe Mele scored three goals for the Bison, all in the first half. It was Mele's fifth hat trick of the season and 11th of his career.
• In addition to scoring the tying and winning goals, Perry Menzies also had perhaps the best assist of the game. Early in the third quarter he nabbed a ground ball off a rebound, and from flat on his back he rolled a pass to Tim Brandau for a goal that put Bucknell up 6-5.
Antonelli a Savior off Bench
Head coach Frank Fedorjaka has long maintained that he has two very good goalies not far apart in talent, however he has not been a proponent of a platoon system. Thus, Nick Sciubba has been the primary starter for the last two seasons and has earned Second Team All-Patriot League honors both years. Junior Matt Antonelli has been called upon early in games twice this season, however, and has come up big both times. On March 19 at Navy, Antonelli replaced Sciubba early in the second quarter with the Bison trailing 2-1, and Antonelli made 11 saves while allowing only two goals in Bucknell's 4-3 overtime loss. Then on Friday, he came in just 3:43 into the game and finished with 11 saves and five goals against. Two of those saves came in the final four minutes to preserve a one-goal lead.
Bison Place Four on All-Patriot League Team
Four Bucknell players who were on the 2007 All-Patriot League Team repeated as all-conference players this season. Sophomore attackman Austin Winter earned First Team All-Patriot League honors for the second straight season, and Billy Haire, Perry Menzies and Nick Sciubba were all named to the all-league second team on Wednesday. Haire was a first-team pick a year ago, while Sciubba and Menzies were both 2007 second-team choices. Winter, the Patriot League scoring leader entering the postseason, is the first Bucknell player to earn first-team honors as both a freshman and sophomore.
In the Polls
Bucknell has appeared in both major national polls every week this season, cresting at No. 9 in the USILA Coaches' Poll last week after defeating Lehigh to get to 9-2 on the season. The No. 9 ranking tied the program record, set during two weeks in 1996 and once in 2001. Losses to Penn State and Colgate put an end to the climb, and this week the Bison are ranked 19th in the USILA Poll and 20th in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.
Patriot League Success
Bucknell is 40-15 (.727) in the Patriot League (regular season) since the start of the 2000 season. Bucknell won or shared PL titles in 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003. The Bison won outright championships in 1996 and 2001. In 1996, despite a 12-0 overall record, they were passed over for an NCAA Tournament bid, but in 2001 Bucknell received its very first NCAA invitation.
Round One vs. Colgate
With the No. 1 seed and the right to host the Patriot League Tournament available with a victory over Colgate last Saturday, Bucknell could not hold on to a fourth-quarter lead and fell 11-9 to the surging Raiders. In a wildly entertaining game played in front of more than 2,000 fans at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium, the Bison led three different times in the second half, only to see Colgate bounce back each time. Austin Winter put Bucknell ahead 9-8 with 7:05 to play, after a great ground ball and assist from Mark Lane, but Kevin Colleluori scored 1:13 later to tie the game for the seventh time. Ian Murphy's goal with 4:46 left put Colgate ahead, and after a big save from Tim Harrington preserved the lead, the Raiders added an empty-netter in the final minute.
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 10-4 in 2008. The school record for wins in a season is 12, set in 1996.
Senior Class is No. 1
Bucknell's nine-man senior class is the winningest in program history. The Class of 2008 has won 35 games, two more than the Class of 2003.
Nail-Biters
Of Bucknell's last 13 games, six have been decided by one goal (two in overtime) and three have been decided by two goals. Bucknell had been 5-1 on the season in games decided by one or two goals, with the lone loss coming in overtime at Navy, but last week the Bison lost 8-7 at Penn State and 11-9 at Colgate despite leading in the fourth quarter in both. The Bison are now 11-5 in one-goal games in head coach Frank Fedorjaka's three seasons.
A Good Year for the Fedorjaka Family Could Become a Great One
If Frank Fedorjaka can lead a Bucknell team to a Patriot League title and an NCAA berth, he would match the feat of his wife earlier this year. Frank's wife, Kathy, is Bucknell's head women's basketball coach, and just last month she guided her team to its second league title and a date with North Carolina in the 2008 NCAA Tournament. Interestingly, the women's basketball team won its title as an underdog -- it was the No. 5 seed in an eight-team tournament -- and the tournament host was Army.
