Bucknell University Athletics
No. 19 Bison Men's Lax Travels to Albany Saturday
3/26/2010 8:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
March 26, 2010
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell men's lacrosse team looks to bounce back from a draining 16-15 loss to Lafayette last week with a non-league game at Albany on Saturday at 1 p.m. at John Fallon Field. The Bison, ranked No. 18 in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll and No. 19 in the USILA Coaches' Poll, are 4-3 on the season, while the Great Danes, picked third in the America East preseason poll, come in at 0-6 with three of the losses coming to top-20 teams.
All three of Bucknell's losses have come by one goal, including overtime setbacks to No. 2 Duke and Navy and last week's shootout against No. 11 Lafayette. The Bison continue to click offensively, totaling 32 goals in their last two games and just under 12 per game on the season.
Austin Winter, Charlie Streep and Ryan Klipstein have been the offensive catalysts in recent games. Klipstein received top billing after tying the Bucknell record for goals in a game with eight against Lafayette last time out, giving him a team-high 18 on the season, and Winter had nine points in that game on two goals and a career-high seven assists. Winter, who had four goals and two assists in the previous game against Jacksonville, is the team scoring leader with 29 points and ranks third nationally in assists with 19 in sveen games. Streep has 11 points in his last two games and is second on the squad in goals (14) and third in points (21).
Bucknell has been beset by injuries on defense and at the faceoff X, and last time out the team allowed its most goals in a Patriot League contest since a 16-12 loss to Hobart in 2000 and most in a home game since a 16-6 loss to Maryland in 2002. The defense will look to regroup against a solid Albany offense that features a preseason All-American in Brian Caufield, who was the nation's No. 7 scorer (24-27-51) as a sophomore last year. The Great Danes average better than nine goals per game, but they have struggled defensively, allowing 13.2. Despite the fact that Albany is still searching for its first victory of 2010, in the last seven years the Great Danes have won the America East title and gone to the NCAA Tournament four times and lost in the conference championship game in each of the other three seasons.
This will be the very first meeting between Bucknell and Albany. In fact, the Bison have previously played only two of the teams that currenlty comprise the America East Conference. They are 3-0 against Stony Brook and 2-3 against UMBC.
Bucknell So Far
Bucknell has played seven games thus far, four resulting in victories and three in tough one-goal losses. Here are thumbnail sketches of the team's first seven 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: 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 9, Hobart 7: In his first game as an attackman, Charlie Streep scored four goals and Austin Winter had a goal and three assists to lead the Bison to a home win over their former Patriot League rivals. The game was tied at 3-3 at the half, but the Bison took control with a four-goal third quarter.
• Bucknell 17, Jacksonville 8: In the first-ever college lacrosse game played in Forsyth County, N.C., Bucknell sprinted to a 7-0 lead, withstood a second-quarter rally by Jacksonville, and eventually pulled away for a 17-8 win. Bucknell's starting attack unit of Charlie Streep (4-3-7), Austin Winter (4-2-6) and Mike Danylyshyn (1-2-3) combined for nine goals and seven assists.
• Lafayette 16, Bucknell 15: The 11th-ranked and still-unbeadten (6-0) Leopards broke a 15-all tie on Stefan Bauer's goal with 2:13 left and defeated the Bison for the first time since 1993. The classic game featured five lead changes and was tied at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 12, 14 and 15. The loss overshadowed a record-setting day for midfielder Ryan Klipstein, who tied the Bucknell record with eight goals. Austin Winter assisted on five of Klipstein's eight tallies, and Winter finished with nine points on two goals and five assists.
Scouting Albany
• Albany was picked to finish third in the America East in the preseason coaches' poll.
• Brian Caufield (6-14-20), an Honorable Mention All-American last season, is the team's top point producer. Joe Resetarits (13-3-16), Dave Brock (10-1-11) and Joe Pompo (5-4-9) are also top scorers.
• Matt Mackenzie has handled the bulk of the faceoff duties so far and has won 47.2%. As a team, Albany is 43.9% on the season.
• Defensively, Albany is led by 2009 second team all-conference pick Mark Kelly, who is the younger brother of Bucknell men's basketball assistant coach Aaron Kelly.
• John Carroll has started every game in goal so far and has a .490 save percentage and 12.92 goals-against average. Carroll is averaging 12.3 saves per game.
• Bucknell and Albany have played one common opponent so far: Ohio State. The Bison topped the Buckeyes at home 11-5, while Albany lost in Columbus 11-6.
• Albany ranks sixth nationally in man-up offense, converting at a 54.5% clip (12-22). Resetaris has six of the team's 12 EMO talies.
Bison Briefs
• Bucknell now has six players with double-digit points and seven with at least nine points. Austin Winter (10-19-29) is the team points leader, while Ryan Klipstein (18-4-22) has taken the goal-scoring lead. Charlie Streep (14-7-21), Mike Danylyshyn (12-3-15), Tim Brandau (11-4-15) and Billy Eisenreich (5-6-11) are also scoring in double figures.
• Bucknell is outscoring foes 83-65 on the season. The Bison rank 15th nationally in scoring offense and 18th in scoring defense.
• With First Team All-Patriot League faceoff man Jake Clarke sidelined for a second straight game due to injury, Bucknell lost the faceoff battle to Lafayette 21-12. On the season, the Bison are now winning 50.6% at the X.
• Defenseman Jason Neithamer has 15 ground balls in his last two games and 29 on the season. Neithamer now ranks No. 5 in the Patriot League in ground balls per game (4.14), while Clarke is No. 1 (7.80).
• Klipstein is tied for the league lead with six man-up goals. His eight goals against Lafayette is tied for the most in the nation this season.
• Winter's seven assists against Lafayette is the most in Division I lacrosse in 2010. No other player has more than five.
• In the Lafayette game Bucknell tied the program record for most goals scored in a loss. The other times the Bison scored 15 goals in a loss came back in 1983 (20-15 to Towson) and 1979 (16-15 at Delaware).
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. He also performed well against Hobart and Jacksonville, and he made a career-high 19 saves in the loss to Lafayette. Feeney ranks third in the Patriot League in save percentage at .573.
• Bucknell has faced some outstanding goaltending at the other end of the field. Bison opponents are averaging 12.9 saves per game, and in their three losses the opposing goalies combined for 45 saves. Duke's Dan Wigrizer made 17 stops against them on opening day, and Navy's RJ Wickham stopped 18, 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 14-for-27 (0-for-5 against Towson, 14-for-12 against everyone else), while the man-down team has killed 14 of 22.
Bison Among the League Leaders (through Hobart game)
• Tim Brandau ranks 2nd in goals per game (2.75) and 4th in points per game (4.14).
• Austin Winter ranks 2nd in assists per game (2.71) and T-7th in points per game (2.80).
• Ryan Klipstein ranks T-3rd in goals per game (2.57) and T-7th in points per game (3.14).
• Jake Clarke ranks 1st in ground balls per game (7.80) and 5th in faceoff percentage (.532).
• Charlie Streep ranks T-5th in goals per game (2.00), T-10th in assists per game (1.00) and 9th in points per game (3.00).
• Jason Neithamer ranks 5th in ground balls per game (4.14).
• Kyle Feeney ranks 4th in goals-against average (8.89) and 3rd in save percentage (.573).
Winter Wonderland
• Austin Winter 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, and he now ranks No. 3 nationally in assists per game.
Bucknell Career Assist Leaders 1. Pete von Hoffmann, 1976-79 138 Chris Cara, 2002-05 138 3. Austin Winter, 2007-pres. 113 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 Austin Winter, 2007-pres. 66-113-179
• 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 has moved 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.
Patriot League Success
• Bucknell is 46-17 (.730) 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.
"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 40-27 record at Bucknell and a 79-58 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.
Next Up:
The Bison have another non-conference game on Tuesday at in-state rival Penn State at 7:30 p.m. Then next Saturday, Bucknell returns to Patriot League competition at Holy Cross at 4 p.m.
