Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Men's Lax Hosts Hobart Saturday, Faces Jacksonville Tuesday in Winston-Salem
3/12/2010 7:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
March 12, 2010
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bison men's lacrosse team, this week ranked No. 16 in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll and No. 20 in the USILA Coaches' Poll, looks to bounce back from last week's heartbreaking overtime loss at Navy when Hobart comes to Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium for a 1 p.m. contest on Saturday. Bucknell is now 2-2 on the season, with both losses coming in overtime to Duke and Navy. The Statesmen are 1-1, including a 10-7 loss to Cornell at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse and a 12-9 win at Colgate.
Bucknell continued its fourth-quarter prowess last week against Navy. The Bison trailed 6-2 entering the fourth quarter, then outscored the Midshipmen 5-1 in the fourth to force overtime. In its last three games, Bucknell has outscored its opponents 16-2 in the fourth period.
Saturday's game kicks off a busy week for the Bison. After playing Hobart on Saturday, they travel to Winston-Salem, N.C., for a neutral-site game Tuesday evening against up-ad-coming Jacksonville. Then the following Saturday, a Lafayette team that is nationally ranked for the first time ever visits Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium at 4 p.m.
Bucknell So Far
Bucknell has put together four strong performances thus far, two resulting in victories and two in tough losses. Here are thumbnail sketches of the team's first four contests:
• Duke 12, Bucknell 11 (OT): The Bison opened the season against No. 2 Duke at McEachern High School near Atlanta, and the Orange & Blue seemed poised for the upset after sprinting out to a 7-2 lead. They were up 8-5 at the half, but Duke slowly chipped away, tying the game for the first time at 9-9 midway through the fourth quarter. Chris Palmer and Austin Winter scored 12 seconds apart to put the Bison back up 11-9 with 5:03 left, but goals by Max Quinzani and Will McKee tied it back up with two minutes to play. Bucknell won the final faceoff of regulation and fired off four good shots in the closing seconds, but missed the cage on each of them. There was a heated scramble for the overtime faceoff, but eventually Duke's Parker McKee nabbed the loose ball and started a fastbreak, which Zach Howell finished 15 seconds into the extra period to give the Blue Devils their only lead of the day and a wild 12-11 win.
• Bucknell 11, Ohio State 5: On Feb. 20, in the home opener at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium, the roles were reversed this time, as the Bison got off to a slow start but finished strong in an 11-5 win over Ohio State. Bucknell fought off 2-0 and 4-2 deficits, then outscored the Buckeyes 9-1 over the final 37:08.
• Bucknell 13, Towson 9: Last Saturday at Johnny Unitas Stadium, the Bison outscored Towson 6-0 in the fourth quarter to rally for a 13-9 victory. Tim Brandau, playing back in his hometown, was the story for Bucknell. Brandau finished with six goals and two assists, and he had four goals and one assist in the fourth quarter alone. The Bison trailed 9-7 after three periods, but Brandau scored three straight only 4:40 apart to put them up 10-9. Later, he assisted on one insurance goal and scored another to help his team avenge a loss to the Tigers last season.
• Navy 8, Bucknell 7 (OT): After Bucknell rallied from a four-goal deficit with a huge fourth quarter, Patrick Moran scored 1:20 into overtime to lift Navy to an 8-7 win. Ryan Klipstein's third goal of the day tied the game at 7-7 with 1:25 left in regulation, then Jake Clarke won the faceoff and the Bison played for the final shot. Charlie Streep, who beat Navy at the buzzer in Lewisburg last season, shot wide inside five seconds remaining, but Austin Winter grabbed the loose ball behind the goal and made a great feed in front to middie Chris Palmer. Navy goalie RJ Wickham made a great spawling save, however, and the Mids scored on the first possession of overtime.
Bucknell-Hobart Series
• Bucknell and Hobart first met all the way back in 1972, and the Statesmen have a 16-5 series lead.
• Five of the last eight meetings have been decided by one goal and another by two goals.
• The Bison posted one-goal wins in 2007 (11-10 in OT) and 2008 (10-9), but last season in Geneva the Statesmen smothered them defensively in a 7-2 win.
• Bucknell is 3-5 against Hobart at home but has won each of the last three meetings in Lewisburg.
• In the most recent meeting at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium in 2008, then-freshman Ryan Klipstein scored the first four goals of his career, and Nick Marks scored the tiebreaking goal with 5:49 left in the fourth quarter.
• Last season, Bucknell launched 38 shots against Hobart, but only 16 were on goal and most importantly only two went in the cage as the Bison fell 7-2 to at McCooey Field. Hobart entered the contest with the nation's third-ranked defense, and they showed why. The Statesmen, who received 14 saves from Max Silberlicht, led 2-0 at the half and allowed only a pair of third-qaurter goals by Doug Buckley and Tim Brandau. Those two tallies came just 31 seconds apart, the latter with a man advantage, and tied the game at 2-2. But Kevin Curtin scored the first of his three straight goals for Hobart with 1:20 left in the third to give the Statesmen the lead for good. Two straight Curtin goals to open the fourth period stretched the lead to 5-2, and Mike Suits and Jeff Colburn tacked on insurance goals in the final three minutes. Bucknell's Austin Winter was held without a point for the first and only time in his career. Winter had scored in 34 straight games, the fifth-longest streak in Division I lacrosse.
Coach Fed vs. His Alma Mater
Bison head coach Frank Fedorjaka is 2-2 against Hobart as a head coach, with both victories coming by a single goal in 2007 and 2008. Fedorjaka graduated from Hobart in 1989 after a stellar career in both lacrosse and football. He was a starting long-stick defensive midfielder on three NCAA Division III national championship teams. He was also a three-year starter at wide receiver for the Statesman football team and earned All-America honors in 1988.Fedorjaka broke all of the school's reception records and was Hobart's all-time leading receiver until 2004. He was named Hobart's Athlete of the Year in 1989.
Buchmayr Faces Old Team
Senior middie Brandon Buchmayr joined the Bison program in 2009. Buchmayr was a midfielder for Hobart as a freshman in 2006, but he left the school after one season. After a short stint at Fairfield, he enrolled at Marymount College in Palos Verdes, Calif., a two-year school with no varsity athletics program. Buchmayr himself founded a club lacrosse program there, where he raised funds, coached the team (only a handful of players on the team had ever picked up a lacrosse stick before) and was the star player. After being named the school's student of the year in 2008, he enrolled at Bucknell and landed a spot on the team, where he is currently a member of the second midfield unit.
Scouting Hobart
• Kevin Curtin (4-3-7), Chris Pedersen (4-2-6) and Doug Shiver (5-0-5) have handled the bulk of the scoring so far for the 1-1 Statemen.
• Max Silberlicht is back in goal in 2010, and so far he has made 26 saves with 19 goals against.
• Hobart has a terrific faceoff man in Bobby Datillo, who has won 27 of 44 (.614) so far. He leads the team with 14 ground balls.
• Hobart's most recent victory was its 24th in a row over Colgate. Pedersen led the team with three goals and two assists in that game, as Hobart jumped out to a 6-1 lead. Silberlicht had 13 saves.
Scouting Jacksonville
• Tuesday's game against Jacksonville will be held at Forsyth Country Day School in Winston-Salem, N.C. Game time is 7 p.m.
• Jacksonville is a first-year varsity program, coached by former Hobart mentor Matt Kerwick.
• The Dolphins have done quite well in their inaugural season, winning three of their first six games. After opening the season with losses to North Carolina (11-5) and Bellarmine (14-13), Jacksonville's first-ever victory came against 18th-ranked Denver, 13-12 in triple overtime. Since then, they have beaten Mount St. Mary's (14-7) and Providence (9-4) and lost to VMI (10-9).
• Jacksonville hosts Sacred Heart on Saturday before taking on Bucknell.
• Jacksonville has a number of potent scorers, led by Ryan Serville with 13 goals and 10 assists for 23 points. Cameron Mann (10-5-14) and T.J. Kenary (10-3-13) also have 10 goals, while Nick Scalzo (8-6-14), Donovan Lange (8-2-10) and Jeremy Tissenbaum (5-3-8) are also top scorers.
• Brad Hester has made all six starts in goal, posting a .491 save percentage and a 9.46 goals-against average.
• The Dolphins as a team have won 53.9% of their faceoffs.
• Jacksonville's 50-man roster includes 38 freshmen and eight sophomores. Five of the top six scorers are freshmen.
At the X
• Prior to last season, Bucknell's Achilles heel had come in the faceoff department. The Bison made significant strides in that area in 2009, when former walk-on Jake Clarke won the starting faceoff job in the preseason and proceeded to break school records for faceoff wins (187) and ground balls (98) in a season. He ranked fourth nationally in ground balls per game (6.53) and sixth in faceoff percentage (.578).
• Clarke, who had a 20-for-21 game against Penn State last season, has won 58.7% of his faceoffs in 2010 and already has 33 ground balls in four games.
• Clarke currently ranks No. 3 in the nation in ground balls per game (8.25), trailing only Tim Fallon of Hartford (9.33) and Justin Lynch of Penn (9.25).
In the Crease
• Bucknell graduated two senior goalies following the 2009 season, Patriot League Goalie of the Year Nick Sciubba and Arnold, Md., native Matt Antonelli.
• This year, junior Sam Finnell and freshman Kyle Feeney have shared time in goal, and in an odd twist, the backup goalie earned the decision in each of the first three games.
• Finnell started the first two games, but Feeney came on and was excellent in relief in both games. He made four fourth-quarter saves against Duke and had nine saves with only two goals against in the win over Ohio State.
• That earned Feeney the start against Towson, but he was pulled in the second quarter in favor of Finnell, who went on to make six fourth-quarter saves en route to his first career win.
• Feeney went the distance in the Navy game and had a strong game, posting 12 saves with only eight goals against.
• Bucknell has faced some outstanding goaltending at the other end of the field. Bison opponents are averaging 13 saves per game, and in their two losses the opposing goalies combined for 35 saves. Duke's Dan Wigrizer made 17 stops against them on opening day, and Navy's RJ Wickham stopped 18 last Saturday, including the potential game-winner as time expired.
Truly Special Teams
• Bucknell's special teams units were fantastic last season. The Bison ranked No. 5 nationally in man-down defense (.800) and No. 6 in man-up offense (.444).
• Already this season, Bucknell's EMO unit is 6-for-13 (0-for-5 against Towson, 6-for-8 against Duke, Ohio State, Navy), while the man-down team has killed 9 of 13.
Fourth-Quarter Mayhem
• After giving up a lead in the fourth quarter in the season opener against Duke, the Bison have been much better in the final period in each of the last three weeks, outscoring foes 16-2.
• Bucknell outplayed Ohio State 5-1 in the fourth en route to an 11-5 win; the Bison put away Towson with a 6-0 outburst in the fourth; and they rallied from a 6-2 deficit by outscoring Navy 5-1 in the final period.
• For the season, Bucknell is outscoring foes 18-5 in the final 15:00.
Bison Among the League Leaders
• Tim Brandau ranks T-2nd in goals per game (2.75) and T-4th in points per game (3.75).
• Austin Winter ranks T-3rd in assists per game (1.75).
• Ryan Klipstein ranks T-6th in goals per game (2.00).
• Jake Clarke ranks 1st in ground balls per game (8.25) and 2nd in faceoff percentage (.587).
• Chris Palmer ranks T-8th in assists per game (1.25).
• Kyle Feeney ranks 2nd in goals-against average (7.46) and 3rd in save percentage (.591).
Winter Wonderland
• Austin Winter, only in the early stages of his senior year, already ranks high among Bucknell's all-time scorers. With his three assists against Towson, he became only the third player in program history to record 100 career assists.
Bucknell Career Assist Leaders 1. Pete von Hoffmann, 1976-79 138 Chris Cara, 2002-05 138 3. Austin Winter, 2007-pres. 101 4. Jon Romm, 1987-90 82 5. Todd Streelman, 1990-93 74Bucknell Career Point Leaders 1. Chris Cara, 2002-05 111-138-249 2. Pete von Hoffmann, 1976-79 82-139-220 3. Justin Zackey, 1991-94 138-58-196 4. Jon Romm, 1987-90 97-82-179 5. Austin Winter, 2007-pres. 59-101-160
• Winter last season became the fifth two-time All-American in Bucknell lacrosse history, and this year he is aiming to become the program's first-ever three-time All-American.
• Winter needs just one more point to move into the top 10 on the Patriot League career points list.
• Winter was named the 2010 Patriot League Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and an Inside Lacrosse Preseason Honorable Mention All-American.
• For the second straight year, Winter was named to the Tewaaraton Trophy Watch List.
Brandau Now Top 10 in Career Goals
Senior Tim Brandau topped the 100-point plateau earlier this season, and his six goals against Towson two weeks ago give him 87 for his career, moving him into a tie for 10th place on Bucknell's career list. Brandau is trying to become the fifth 100-goal scorer in program history.
Bucknell Career Goal Leaders 1. Justin Zackey, 1991-94 138 2. Tom Cusick, 1984-87 117 3. Chris Cara, 2002-05 111 4. Joe Mele, 2006-09 103 5. Jim Ball, 1976-79 98 6. Jon Romm, 1987-90 97 7. Dennis Geraghty, 2000-03 94 8. Patrick Christensen, 2002-05 92 9. Jon Methven, 1993-96 88 10. Tim Ainslie, 1977-80 87 Tim Brandau, 2007-pres. 87
Patriot League Success
• Bucknell is 46-16 (.742) in the Patriot League since the start of the 2000 season, including a perfect 6-0 mark in 2009.
• Prior to the advent of the Patriot League Tournament, Bucknell won or shared PL titles in 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003. The Bison won outright championships in 1996 and 2001.
• In 1996, despite a 12-0 overall record, they were passed over for an NCAA Tournament bid, but in 2001 Bucknell received its very first NCAA invitation.
• The Bison have lost in the Patriot League Tournament championship game in each of the last two seasons.
Bison Dedicate Season to Tom Thibeault
• Bucknell has dedicated its 2010 season to sophomore midfielder Tom Thibeault, who had to undergo emergency open-heart surgery on Jan. 13.
• Thibeault's recovery has gone very well, and in fact has been able to lead his team onto the field before each game so far this season.
• Thibeault collapsed while working out in a gym in his hometown with his sister, Kendall Thibeault, who is a senior co-captain on the Bucknell women's lacrosse team.
• A native of Cockeysville, Md., and a graduate of Boys' Latin, Thibeault would have been ticketed for second-line midfield duty this spring, but instead he will have to sit out the season.
"A Bison Never Forgets"
• Bucknell juniors Ryan Klipstein and John Collett have launched "A Bison Never Forgets," a program with a mission to collect donations for supplies to be sent to former college lacrosse players now serving overseas in the armed forces.
• Donors receive a bracelet printed with "A Bison Never Forgets." Donations will be accepted at all Bucknell home games this season.
• Collett's brother, Mike Collett, was a four-year member of the Navy lacrosse team before graduating last spring. He now serves on the USS Ashland.
Head Coach Frank Fedorjaka
• Reigning Patriot League Coach of the Year Frank Fedorjaka is in his fifth season as Bucknell's head coach after succeeding the legendary Sid Jamieson.
• Fedorjaka, who is only the second head coach in the 43-year history of the program, has a 38-26 record at Bucknell and a 77-57 overall record, including a five-year stint at Franklin & Marshall.
• He had been an assistant coach under Jamieson before taking over as head coach in 2006.
• Frank's wife, Kathy Fedorjaka, is Bucknell's head women's basketball coach.
