March 16, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Fresh off a convincing 18-6 triumph at Lafayette on Saturday, the Bison men's lacrosse team plays host to 18th-ranked Denver Tuesday in their first home game this month. Opening faceoff is set for 4 p.m. at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. As always, admission is free.
Bucknell, which is receiving votes in the USILA Coaches' Poll this week, is a deceiving 2-4 on the season. Both wins are in league play, including an 8-7 win over then-No. 12 Navy on Feb. 28 and Saturday's no-doubt win over Lafayette. All four losses have come against teams that were either nationally ranked at the time or have since joined the rankings. The setbacks have come against No. 6 Duke, No. 19 Ohio State, No. 4 Notre Dame and a Hobart team that was unranked at the time, but is still unbeaten after a weekend pounding of Georgetown and is now ranked No. 13. Only the Navy win has come on home soil.
Denver makes its very first visit to Lewisburg armed with an athletic, skilled roster. The 4-2 Pioneers have been idle for nine days, with their last action a 12-11 loss at Brown that snapped a four-game winning streak. Denver is ranked 18th in this week's Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll and the first team outside the top 20 in the USILA rankings.
Scouting Denver:
The Pioneers' victories have come against Albany, Sacred Heart, Towson and Penn, with the losses to Brown and North Carolina.
Denver has 64 goals in six games, with Charley Dickensen (5-14-19), Joey Murray (13-3-16) and Mark Matthews (6-6-12) topping the scoring column. Seven other players have at least three goals.
Denver is extremely dangerous with a man advantage. The Pioneers' EMO unit is 10-for-18 (.556) on the season, but they have taken almost twice as many penalties as their opponents, which are 13-for-34 (.382).
Peter Lowell has started five of the six games in goal and has a .598 save percentage and 8.11 goals-against average.
Like Bucknell, Denver has been strong at the faceoff X this season. Led by Ben Wahler (46 ground balls), the Pioneers are winning 55.4% of their draws.
Series Notes:
These two teams have met twice previously, both times in Denver. Each side has a win in the series.
In 1992, Bucknell traveled to Denver and won 26-9 in what is still the program record for goals in a game. The Bison and Pioneers met again in 2006, and this time Denver rallied for an 11-8 win.
Last Outing:
Perry Menzies scored a career-high four goals and also handed out an assist to lead the Bison to a resounding 18-6 win over Lafayette on Saturday in Easton, Pa. Just two days after a tough loss to Notre Dame, the Bison scored the first five goals of the game, led 9-1 at the half and 17-5 after an eight-goal third quarter. Charlie Streep added three goals as 11 different Bison found the back of the net.
Bison Bits:
Perry Menzies, Nick Sciubba and Charlie Streep all earned Patriot League Player of the Week honors on Monday. Streep was named PL Rookie of the Week for the third time in the last four weeks, Sciubba was selected as the PL Goalie of the Week for the second time in the last three weeks, and Menzies became the first Bucknell player this season to earn PL Offensive Player of the Week honors.
Sciubba made a career-high 16 saves in the Notre Dame game, then added nine more against Lafayette before making an early exit with the Bison ahead 17-4 in the third quarter. Sciubba's season save percentage is up to .564.
Bucknell continues to excel in the faceoff department, where Jake Clarke has won 57.6% (57 of 99) on the season. Clarke was 13-for-21 in the Lafayette game, and the Bison have won the faceoff battle in five of their six games so far. Clarke leads the Patriot League in ground balls with 33.
Bucknell's 18 goals vs. Lafayette were its most in a game since a 19-5 win over Lafayette in 2004.
Bucknell was 11-for-12 on clears against Lafayette after struggling in transition against Notre Dame.
Brandon Buchmayr scored his first two goals in a Bison uniform at Lafayette. Chris Palmer and Chris Fetchet also scored their first goals of the season.
Next Up:
Bucknell travels to Dallas, Texas on Saturday to face Air Force at the Patriots Cup lacrosse showcase. A week full of high school games culminates with a college doubleheader on Saturday with Notre Dame facing Vermont at noon (1 p.m. Eastern) and Bucknell taking on Air Force at 2:30 local time (3:30 Eastern) at Ford Stadium on the campus of Southern Methodist University.
