April 9, 2009
Bison Vision Webcast
Live Stats on GameTracker
LEWISBURG, Pa. - With a 4-0 Patriot League record and two games remaining, Bucknell begins the stretch drive for a regular-season title Saturday night against Lehigh. The Bison and Mountain Hawks face off at 8 p.m. at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium, and the game will be webcast live on Bison Vision.
The Bison, who travel to PL co-leader Colgate next week, are coming off a tough 9-8 loss to Penn State on Tuesday night. While Bucknell is assured of being one of the four teams involved in the Patriot League Tournament in two weeks, Lehigh is very much alive but has some work to do to make the postseason. The Mountain Hawks are 1-2 in PL play with games against Bucknell, Holy Cross and Lafayette remaining. Lehigh's league win was an incredible 13-12 overtime win at Army in which the Mountain Hawks overcame an 11-3 second-half deficit.
With a victory over Lehigh, Bucknell would be assured of a top-two seed at the Patriot League Tournament.
Prior to the game on Saturday, the team will pay tribute to an outstanding 10-man senior class, comprised of Matt Antonelli, Doug Buckley, Michael Cooke, Billy Haire, Tom Izard, Joe Mele, Perry Menzies, Will Pickel, Nick Sciubba and John Togneri. This class has been a part of 33 victories, second-most in program history and two shy of the record set by the Class of 2008.
Scouting Lehigh:
The Mountain Hawks come in with an overall record of just 3-9, but this talented squad has faced a tough schedule and has been in most games. Lehigh has three one-goal losses (St. Joseph's, Brown, Bryant) and two more by two goals (Navy, Colgate). In late March Lehigh put together two impressive wins in a row, beating No. 16 Army in that remarkable comeback and No. 20 St. John's 10-9 in overtime. Both of those top-20 wins came on the road. Since then, however, the Mountain Hawks have dropped three straight to Delaware (9-5), Bryant (14-13) and Colgate (10-8).
Lehigh boasts one of the Patriot League's top scorers in senior Ricky Cornetta, who has 22 goals and 21 assists for 43 points. Cornetta ranks third in the PL in both points and assists and sixth in goals. Freshman Cameron Lao-Gosney, who scored five goals including the OT winner against Army, has 17 tallies on the season, while junior Brian Bienemann also has 17.
At the faceoff X, Will Scudder comes in at 52.9% on the season, fifth-best in the Patriot League. He also has a team-high 52 ground balls.
Second-year head coach Kevin Cassese has used two goalies this season. Sophomore Morgan Haller and freshman Conor Murphy have both started six games apiece. Haller has a .462 save percentage and a 10.00 goals-against average, while Murphy has a .424 save percentage and 13.68 goals-against average. Haller got the win in relief against Army and has started each of the four games since then.
Series Notes:
Bucknell holds a 29-10 lead in a series that dates back to 1969. The Bison are 17-3 against the Mountain Hawks in Lewisburg, including five straight home wins.
Bucknell won 14 straight between 1972-85. Lehigh won six of the seven meetings between 1993-99, but since then the Bison have captured eight of nine.
Lehigh's lone victory in the last nine meetings was a 7-5 decision in Bethlehem in 2006 that knocked the Bison out of the Patriot League Tournament.
Last season, Bucknell won 11-5 in Bethlehem behind three goals from Joe Mele and a goal and five assists from Austin Winter. Mele scored three straight goals to break open a 2-2 tie, and the Bison led 8-3 at the half.
Last Outing:
On a frigid Tuesday night at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium, Penn State edged the Bison 9-8 in one of the odder statistical games you will see in lacrosse. Bucknell won 20 of the 21 faceoffs, outshot the Nittany Lions 46-29 and had a 38-21 edge in ground balls, yet lost the game. A big reason for that was Penn State goalie Drew Adams, who made 20 saves, including six big ones in the fourth quarter. Bucknell led 8-6 late in the third, but the Lions scored the final three goals of the night, the last coming off the stick of Rob Forster with 6:01 to play. Joe Mele led the Bison with three goals, while Austin Winter had a goal and three assists.
Streep Named One of Top Freshmen:
Inside Lacrosse this week published a list of the nation's top 20 freshmen, and Bison middie Charlie Streep came in at No. 12. Streep, who has 17 goals and four assists on the year, is ranked No. 2 among rookie midfielders, and he is the highest-ranked Patriot League player on the list.
Bison Back in the Rankings:
Last Saturday's 8-6 win at Army vaulted Bucknell back into 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.
Bison Bits:
Joe Mele was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week on Monday after he scored five goals in the win over Army. Mele had three more on Tuesday against Penn State, and he now has 23 on the year, his fourth straight 20-goal season. Mele needs two more tallies to become the fourth Bison to reach 100 career goals.
Austin Winter has moved into third on Bucknell's career assists list with 85.
Jake Clarke won an incredible 20 of 21 faceoffs against Penn State and now ranks No. 1 in the nation in faceoff percentage (.661). Clarke broke Bucknell records for faceoff wins and percentage in a game, and he also had a school-record 13 ground balls against PSU. The 20-for-21 performance is tied for 11th-best in NCAA Division I history.
Of course, Clarke's record-setting night came with plenty of help from his wing men, notably freshman John Scally, who had six ground balls in the game.
With 75 ground balls on the season, Clarke already ranks No. 3 on Bucknell's singe-season chart. Only Alex Rudis (82 in 1999) and Brian Loesch (80 in 2001) have pocketed more in a season.
Senior defenseman Billy Haire is up to 152 career ground balls, which is tied with Mark Juelis for second on Bucknell's all-time list. The career record-holder is Ryan Goodman, who had 175 between 2002-05.
With eight goals in his last two games, Mele has moved uo to No. 5 in the Patriot League in goals per game.
Winter leads the Patriot League and ranks in the top 10 nationally in assists per game (2.09).
Bucknell held Penn State scoreless in four extra-man opportunities on Tuesday. The Bison man-down unit has been successful 81.8% of the time this season. That figure ranks No. 5 nationally and No. 2 in the Patriot League behind Navy.
Half of Bucknell's six losses this season have come by one goal.
Next Up:
Bucknell wraps up the 2009 regular season next Saturday at 1 p.m. at Colgate. Regardless of Saturday's outcomes -- Colgate travels to Lafayette while Bucknell faces Lehigh -- the winner of the Bison-Raiders contest will claim the regular-season title and will host the Patriot League Tournament Apr. 24 and 26.
