Bucknell University Athletics
12th-Ranked Bucknell Men's Lacrosse Opens 2012 Campaign Saturday at Home vs. No. 19 Delaware
2/9/2012 7:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Feb. 9, 2012
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell men's lacrosse squad, ranked No. 12 nationally after a record-setting 2011 campaign, kicks off the 2012 season on Saturday at home against No. 19 Delaware. Opening faceoff is slated for 1 p.m. at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. Admission is free for all Bison regular-season home games.
Bucknell finished 14-3 overall and 6-0 in the Patriot League last season. The Bison then beat Lehigh and Colgate to win the Patriot League Tournament, but their season ended in frustrating fashion, as Virginia staged a late rally to beat Bucknell in overtime in the NCAA Tournament.
This year's Bison squad returns seven starters and 26 lettermen from that championship group.
Delaware has captured the last two Colonial Athletic Association titles and is favored to make it three in a row this spring. The Blue Hens finished 11-7 last season, and they also had a close loss in the NCAA Tournament, falling to Duke 15-14 in the opening round.
Delaware already has a game under its belt. Last Saturday the Blue Hens opened up with a 19-6 victory over Detroit. They exploded for 12 goals in the third quarter to give coach Bob Shillinglaw his 300th career victory.
One-time rivals in the Middle Atlantic Conference and East Coast Conference, Bucknell and Delaware will be meeting on the lacrosse field for the first time since 1994. The Blue Hens won that game 16-9 in Lewisburg, and they own a 23-3 lead in the all-time series. In fact, Delaware has beaten Bucknell 20 straight times since the last Bison victory in 1974.
Following the Delaware game, the Bison have three straight tough road contests against No. 11 Massachusetts, No. 10 Villanova and Patriot League rival Navy.
In the Herd: Bucknell-Delaware Preview
Below is a closer look at the Bison entering the 2012 season:
Going into last season, Bucknell head coach Frank Fedorjaka constantly preached improved mental and physical toughness in all of the team's preparations. Coming off a 2010 season in which all five of their regular-season losses came by just one goal, the added focus on mental and physical toughness clearly paid dividends last spring, as the Bison went 14-3, completed a sweep of the Patriot League regular season and tournament titles, and came within minutes of knocking off eventual national champion Virginia in the NCAA Tournament.
Fedorjaka has many familiar faces back on the field on 2012, and his message to this year's team is very similar: be tough-minded and play smart lacrosse for all 60 minutes. And while Bucknell's postseason performance last year has resulted in some positive press and a major bullseye on its back heading into this season, the Bison feel like they have some unfinished business left to do after letting a fourth-quarter lead get away in that Virginia game.
"We still have a lot to prove," said Fedorjaka, the reigning Patriot League Coach of the Year. "Ultimately our goal is to win a national championship someday. The sting of last year's finish is still there, which I think is a healthy thing to have. We learned last year what it means to be mentally and physically tough, and that is still our motto. When you are hungry and have a chip on your shoulder and also have talent in place, that is a good combination."
Ranked No. 12 in the USILA preseason coaches' poll, the Bison return the core of their offense in 2012, although they were dealt a blow in the fall when senior co-captain and returning Honorable Mention All-American midfielder Charlie Streep tore an ACL in practice. Streep, who scored a career-high 28 goals last season and has 104 total points in his career, is hoping to return in March.
While the Bison did lose top scorer Ryan Klipstein (32-21-53) and talented middie Mike Danylyshyn (18-18-36) to graduation, they have plenty of production back on the offensive end of the field for first-year offensive coordinator Joe Conner. Heading the list is senior Billy Eisenreich (18-15-33), who had a breakout season in 2011 even though he missed four games with a shoulder injury. Fedorjaka calls Eisenreich, "one of the top five players I have ever coached," and this year he moves from midfield to attack, where he will quarterback the offense.
Eisenreich will team up with sophomore Todd Heritage (27-7-24) and junior Chase Bailey (16-9-25) up front. Heritage was one of the top rookies in the Patriot League a year ago and is a terrific finisher, as is Bailey, who scored a team-high six extra-man goals last season.
"Those three guys complement each other very well," said Fedorjaka. "We have a nice combination of lefty and righty finishers, and they are all versatile players. If you could draw up your ideal attack unit, this is what it would look like. I expect our attack to have a lot of points this year."
The offensive midfield will have a bit of a new look at the start of the year, with the injury to Streep along with Eisenreich's move to attack. But Fedorjaka feels that this year's midfield will be much deeper than last, with as many as eight players in the mix early on. The most experienced of the group is senior Nick Gantsoudes (18-2-20), who has played in all but one game over the last three seasons. Gantsoudes set a career scoring high in 2011.
Sophomore Peter Burke (10-7-17) scored some big goals for the Bison last season, and he is expected to start on the first line along with Gantsoudes and freshman Joe Kearney, a quick, hard-shooting middie from Mahwah, N.J. Also pushing for time are junior Billy Mattimore, sophomore Tom Black and freshman David Dickson.
On paper, it appears that Bucknell took a hit on close defense with the graduation of standouts Alex Lyons and John Collett, but all along Fedorjaka has been grooming some younger players who should step right in. Junior Mike Huffner is the lone returnee from last year's trio, and he is a good one. Huffner earned First Team All-Patriot League honors last season and was also named to the PL All-Tournament Team.
Sophomore Jackson Place saw plenty of action as a fourth defenseman and long-stick defensive middie last season, and he will jump into a starting role this year. And senior Matt Spagnoli, a reserve for the last three years, is set to make his starting debut in 2012. Another potential starter, freshman Ben Kellar, injured a knee in the fall and will miss the season.
Seniors Jason Neithamer and John Scally head up what should be a terrific rotation of poles. Both have been regulars from day one at Bucknell. Neithamer has also played some close defense and was a Second Team All-Patriot League selection there in 2010. Scally is also Bucknell's top wing man on faceoffs.
At short-stick defensive midfield, Fedorjaka has had to do some shuffling after losing all-time ground ball and faceoff wins leader Jake Clarke, along with Jason Foreit and Jordan Nies, to graduation. Senior Andrew Van Valkenburg returns to that role, where he will be joined by sophomore Sam McDonough and freshman Andrew Dempsey. Converted offensive middies Kyle O'Keefe and Wills Miller, both juniors, also figure to garner plenty of action there.
In goal, Bucknell returns Second Team All-Patriot League selection Kyle Feeney, a junior who will already be in his third season as a starter for the Bison. Feeney led the Patriot League and ranked sixth nationally with a 7.24 goals-against average last season.
"We have a lot of depth at long-stick defensive middie, and we have some very versatile guys on close defense," said Fedorjaka. "We lost our top three short-stick guys, so that was a priority to shore up that unit. And of course Kyle Feeney will have a lot to do with our success on defense. If he plays up to his potential, he can be one of the better goalies in the country this season."
At the faceoff X, the Bison will have to replace one of their best ever in Clarke, but junior Ryan Gutowski is back after backing up Clarke for the last two seasons. Gutowski actually had the best faceoff percentage (.527) on the team last year, winning 48 of 91. Promising freshman Gavin Sullivan will also take draws.
Bucknell has a difficult non-conference schedule this spring, starting with a home game against Delaware on Feb. 11. The Bison will also play UMass, Villanova, Penn State, Penn, Drexel, Albany, Robert Morris and Hobart out of league. Bucknell was the unanimous preseason No. 1 pick in the Patriot League poll, and conference play comes up quickly with a key road game at Navy on March 3.
"We have to be able to handle the high rankings and not pay any attention to that," said Fedorjaka. "Our leadership has been very good. I'm happy with our overall work ethic, and with how our seniors have demanded that from the younger guys. I think this is a group that really wants to work hard and enjoy the journey along way."
