Bucknell University Athletics
Clarke, Feeney Earn Patriot League Men's Lax Honors
2/23/2010 7:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Feb. 23, 2010
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The first Patriot League men's lacrosse players of the week were announced on Tuesday, and Bucknell claimed two of the four recipients as former Greenwich (Conn.) High School teammates Jake Clarke (Cos Cob, Conn./Greenwich) and Kyle Feeney (Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) earned Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week honors, respectively.
The first award selections of the 2010 season included both of Bucknell's first two games, a 12-11 overtime loss to No. 2 Duke and an 11-5 home victory over Ohio State. Clarke and Feeney both played significant roles in both games.
Clarke is coming off a season in which he broke Bucknell records for faceoff wins (187) and ground balls (98), and he is already off to a tremendous start in both areas this year. Going up against Duke's vaunted faceoff unit, Clarke won 12 of 21 draws and picked up a game-high 10 ground balls. It was his third career double-digit ground ball game. Then in the win over Ohio State, he went 10-for-14 from the X and collected seven ground balls.
For the week, Clarke went 22-for-35 (.629) on faceoffs and totaled 17 ground balls. Unlike many faceoff specialists, Clarke stays on the field and is also one of the team's top short-stick defensive midfielders. In the Ohio State game he was part of a defensive unit that held the Buckeyes to five goals and 22 shots.
Feeney, a freshman goalie, came on in relief against both Duke and Ohio State, and he earned his first career win with a stellar performance against the Buckeyes. Feeney entered the Duke game in the third quarter with the Bison leading 9-8. He came up with four big fourth-quarter saves in the close game, but the Blue Devils pulled it out on a fastbreak goal in overtime.
Against Ohio State, Feeney made nine saves while conceding only two goals in 38:08 of action. The Bison yielded only one goal in the final 37:08, outscoring OSU 9-1 over that span.
On the season, Feeney now has a .684 save percentage and a 6.04 goals-against average.
The 1-1 Bison are ranked No. 15 in both the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll and the USILA Coaches' Poll this week. They travel to Towson on Saturday for a 1 p.m. contest.
