Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Lacrosse Battles Towson Tuesday Night at Home
3/23/2009 8:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
March 23, 2009
Bucknell brings a three-game winning streak into Tuesday night's non-conference home game against Towson. Opening faceoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. The Bison, who are back to .500 on the season at 4-4, are coming off a smothering 9-2 win over Air Force on Saturday at the Patriot Cup in Dallas. Towson is also riding a weekend victory, an 11-9 league win over Robert Morris. The Bison and Tigers have both played very tough schedules so far. In fact, all eight of the teams' combined losses have come against opponents that either were nationally ranked at the time or are currently ranked. Towson's setbacks have come against Loyola (Md.), Denver, Maryland and top-ranked Virginia, while its wins are over Air Force and Robert Morris. Bucknell broke a 10-game series losing streak with a 12-10 win at Towson last season, and on Tuesday the Tigers will be making their first trip to Lewisburg since 1994, and it will be their very first game inside Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.
With a Win over Towson, Bucknell Would ...
Tough Schedule to Open Season
Bucknell head coach Frank Fedorjaka put together a very demanding schedule this season, particularly right up front. Five of Bucknell's first seven opponents were nationally ranked at the time of the game, and a sixth (Hobart) was unranked at the time but is now in the top 20 after topping Bucknell and Georgetown. The Bison have two wins over ranked foes: 8-7 over No. 12 Georgetown and 13-8 over No. 18 Denver.
Last Time Out
Senior goalie Matt Antonelli backed a terrific defensive effort with a career-high 13 saves and classmate Perry Menzies scored three more goals to lead the Bucknell men's lacrosse team to a 9-2 victory over Air Force on Saturday at the Patriot Cup at SMU's Ford Stadium. Playing in the state of Texas for the first time in program history, Bucknell scored the first four and last four goals of the game. In between, the Bison yielded only single goals in the second and fourth quarters, despite being outshot 37-36. Antonelli, who picked up the win in relief against Denver on Tuesday, made his first start of the year in this one and made 10 saves in the middle two periods alone. Mike Danylyshyn scored two goals and Joe Mele, Tim Brandau, Chris Palmer and Billy Eisenreich also scored for Bucknell.
More From Air Force
The Bison improved to 7-0 all-time against the Falcons ... Matt Antonelli carried a shutout deep into the second quarter, until Air Force knocked in a rebound with 2:53 remaining in the half ... the two goals against were Bucknell's fewest since a 7-2 win over Holy Cross last season ... Bucknell finished with a 34-27 edge in ground balls and won eight of the 14 faceoffs ... Jake Clarke was 7-for-10 at the X ... freshman poles Jason Neithamer and John Scally combined for nine ground balls ... in game one of the Patriot Cup Division I doubleheader, Notre Dame topped Vermont 13-7.
The Last Bucknell-Towson Meeting
One year ago Wednesday at Unitas Stadium, Austin Winter enjoyed a career-high nine-point night with three goals and six assists to lead Bucknell past Towson 12-10. Winter played a hand in 75% of Bucknell's tallies on the night, and the Bison needed every one of them, as Towson cut what had been a four-goal deficit to one in the fourth quarter before Tim Brandau and Winter came up with a pair of big insurance goals in the final eight minutes to keep the Tigers from getting even. The Bison also received a solid performance from goalie Nick Sciubba and a dominating effort from the faceoff tandem of Rick Carolan and Christian Tucker. Sciubba finished with 12 saves, while Carolan (12-17) and Tucker (7-9) combined to win 19 of the 26 faceoffs.
Antonelli, Clarke Honored
Senior Matt Antonelli and sophomore Jake Clarke, two inspiring members of the Bucknell team, were rewarded for their outstanding efforts with Patriot League Player of the Week honors on Monday. Clarke was named the PL Defensive Player of the Week, while Antonelli earned Goalie of the Week honors. Antonelli, respected enough by his teammates that he was elected co-captain this season despite being the backup goalie, got his chance to shine in the cage last week and led the Bison to two victories. Clarke, a former walk-on who is now making a name for himself as both a faceoff man and a short-stick defensive midfielder, had another dominant week at the X, winning 21 of 31 (.677) in the wins over Denver and Air Force.
Antonelli, Sciubba Make History
Senior Nick Sciubba had won two of the previous three Patriot League Goalie of the Week honors before Matt Antonelli won the award this week. This is the first time in league history that two different netminders from the same school have garnered Goalie of the Week accolades in consecutive weeks.
Offensive Resurgence
Through five games this season the Bison had managed 32 goals (6.4 per game), including just eight in back-to-back losses to Hobart and Notre Dame. But in the three games since then, Bucknell has exploded for 40 scores in wins over Lafayette, Denver and Air Force. The 18 goals against Lafayette was the team's most in a game in five years, and 31 goals is also the best two-game performance since 2004.
Menzies Hot
Bucknell's recent offensive resurgence has coincided with senior midfielder Perry Menzies finding his scoring touch. Menzies, a two-time All-Patriot League selection, was scoreless through four games this season, but in the last four he has 12 goals and an assist. He scored two big second-half goals in the Notre Dame game, then had a career-high four goals and an assist against Lafayette, followed by three more scores in the wins over Denver and Air Force.
At the X
Bucknell's Achilles heel in recent years has come in the faceoff department, but the Bison have made significant strides in that area in 2009. Sophomore Jake Clarke won the starting faceoff job in preseason, and he has been terrific so far. After going 7-for-10 against Denver, Clarke is up to an even 60.0% (78-for-130) on the season. He leads the Patriot League in both faceoff percentage and ground balls per game (5.8).
Two Top-10 Faceoff Men to Meet
Two of the nation's top-10 faceoff men meet on Tuesday night, when Bucknell's Jake Clarke (.600) goes up against Towson's Mitchell Rosensweig (.592). The pair ranks seventh and ninth, respectively, among the national leaders.
Division I FO% Leaders 1. Shane Walterhoefer, North Carolina .668 2. Christopher Mattes, Rutgers .633 3. Tommy Lee, Delaware .623 4. Matt Francis, Marist .610 5. Bryn Holmes, Maryland .605 6. John Glynn, Cornell .603 7. Jake Clarke, Bucknell .600 8. Joe Britt, Penn State .593 9. Mitchell Rosensweig, Towson .592 10. Scott Montgomery, Siena .589
Bison Among the Leaders
Patriot League Leaders (through 3/22):
NCAA Leaders (through 3/22):
Winter Now No. 4 on Career Assist Chart
Austin Winter, only midway through his junior year, already ranks fourth on Bucknell's career assist chart:
Bucknell Career Assist Leaders 1. Pete von Hoffmann, 1976-79 138 Chris Cara, 2002-05 138 3. Jon Romm, 1987-90 82 4. Austin Winter, 2007-pres. 75 5. Todd Streelman, 1990-93 74
Next Up
Bucknell jumps back into Patriot League play on Saturday with a noon contest against Holy Cross at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. That game will be broadcast live on Bison Vision via BucknellBison.com.
