Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell's Joe Mele Named Patriot League Men's Lax Offensive Player of Week
4/6/2009 8:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
April 6, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Bucknell senior attackman Joe Mele (Westbury, N.Y./Kellenburg Memorial) earned Patriot League Men's Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week honors on Monday afternoon. Mele was recognized for his five-goal effort in Bucknell's key 8-6 Patriot League win at Army on Saturday.
For Mele, the five goals equaled his career high and helped him reach the 20-goal plateau for the fourth year in a row. He scored a big goal in the final minute of the first half that tied the game at 4-4, and in the third quarter he punched in back-to-back tallies to push Bucknell's lead to 8-4.
Mele, who also scored five goals this season against Duke, now has 20 goals on the season and 95 in his career. He moved into sixth place on Bucknell's career goals list, one ahead of Dennis Geraghty. He is two goals shy of moving into the top five on the list and five away from becoming the fourth player in school history with 100 career goals.
With the victory at Army, Bucknell is now 6-5 overall and 4-0 in the Patriot League. The Bison are tied with Colgate atop the Patriot League standings with two league games remaining, at home against Lehigh on Saturday and at Colgate in two weeks.
Bucknell also re-entered the national rankings this week. The Bison are tied for 19th in the USILA Coaches' Poll and 20th in the ESPN/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.
Bucknell hosts Penn State in a non-league tilt on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
