Bucknell University Athletics
No. 16 Bucknell Men's Lax Starts Busy Week Tuesday at No. 18 Penn State
3/26/2012 8:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
March 26, 2012
Live stats: Bucknell-PSU | Bucknell-Holy Cross
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- A six-game winning streak has vaulted the Bucknell men's lacrosse team back up to the No. 16 spot in both major national polls, and now the Bison will put that streak on the line with tough road test at No. 18 Penn State on Tuesday night at the PSU Lacrosse Field. Game time is 7 p.m.
After suffering three losses by a combined four goals, all against ranked teams, to start the year, the Bison have not lost since. Strong goaltending, a resurgent penatly-killing unit and a red-hot offense have keyed the winning streak.
Bucknell is up to third in the national rankings in scoring offense at 13.3 goals per game, trailing only Cornell (13.6) and Colgate (13.4). The Bison have 89 goals (14.8 per game) during the six-game winning streak, including 32 in a pair of one-sided wins over Robert Morris and Albany last week.
The Bison have been extremely efficient on offense, scoring on 41.0 percent of their shots this season, the best mark in Division I lacrosse. The attack trio of Billy Eisenreich (21-23-44), Todd Heritage (26-7-33) and Chase Bailey (18-8-26) have combined for 65 goals and a whopping .458 shooting percentage.
The top midfield line has also been productive, with three-time Patriot League Rookie of the Week David Dickson (9-17-26), Nick Gantsoudes (17-5-22) and Peter Burke (13-5-18) combining for 39 more goals.
Opponents have had difficulty keying on one particular Bucknell player. Heritage had a school-record-tying eight-goal game against Hobart and a four-goal, three-assist outing against Lafayette. Robert Morris then did everything it could to swarm Heritage around the crease, so that opened things up for Eisenreich's school-record-tying 11-point game (5G, 6A) against the Colonials. One game later Albany focused its defensive game plan around stopping Eisenreich, so Gantsoudes exploded for five goals and Dickson had five assists.
Meanwhile, goalie Kyle Feeney is heating up as well. The Tewaaraton Trophy candidate made 12 saves with only six goals against last time out against Albany, and he has upped his save percentage to a season-best .552. That is the second-best mark in the Patriot League.
After a slow start in the penalty-killing department, Bison opponents are just 1-for-10 with a man advantage over the last four games. Bucknell has given up just 23 goals in the last three games, coming against good offensive teams in Lafayette, Robert Morris and Albany.
If Bucknell is to keep up its offensive hot streak on Tuesday, it will have to solve an excellent Penn State defense. The Nittany Lions rank ninth nationally in scoring defense (7.9) and feature one of the nation's top-ranked goalies in Austin Kaut, who ranks sixth in the nation in save percentage (.600) and 10th in goals-against average (7.61).
Penn State comes in with a 4-4 record (1-1 CAA) against a very difficult schedule. After opening the season with a 14-10 loss to No. 6 North Carolina, the Nittany Lions flashed their defense with three straight wins over Michigan (16-9), No. 2 Notre Dame (4-3 OT) and No. 16 Ohio State (5-2), with the latter two coming on the road.
That three-game winning streak was followed by three straight losses, as Penn State dropped all three on a homestand against No. 11 Denver (14-6), No. 3 Massachusetts (9-8 OT) and No. 10 Lehigh (9-5). The Lions then bounced back on Saturday with a 7-3 league win at Saint Joseph's.
Jack Forster (13-7-20) is the team's top point-producer, followed by Matthew Mackrides (13-3-16), Shane Sturgis (5-5-10) and Nick Dolik (9-0-9).
Bucknell and Penn State have met every year since 1968 -- Bucknell's first year of varsity lacrosse -- and the Nittanly Lions have a 34-11 series lead. The Bison have won the last two in what has been a very tightly contested matchup in recent years.
Each of the last seven meetings have been one or two-goal games, including Bucknell's 8-6 victory at home last season. Bucknell has won four of those seven meetings. In their last trip to State College, the Bison won 11-9 in 2010. They also prevailed 7-5 in 2007 and 11-10 in 2006. Penn State won 9-8 in 2009, 8-7 in 2008 and 11-10 in 2005.
In last year's meeting at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium, Feeney made 14 saves and Bailey collected two goals and three assists in Bucknell's 8-6 win. Sturgis had two goals and an assist for Penn State, which was ranked 20th at the time.
Following the Penn State game, Bucknell puts its Patriot League winning streak on the line Saturday afternoon at Holy Cross. Including postseason play, the Bison have won 10 straight game against league foes,
Bucknell is a perfect 21-0 all-time against Holy Cross, including a 10-3 win last season at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. Mike Danylyshyn led the offense with three goals and two assists, and the defense conceded only 22 shots and three goals.
Holy Cross 4-5 overall and 0-3 in the Patriot League. The Crusaders have a very good road win over Hartford (15-14 OT) and have also beaten Jacksonville (13-11), Mercer (12-6) and Vermont (9-8). Holy Cross has dropped its last two contests, coming against league foes Navy (13-7) and Lehigh (12-3).
James Kennedy (18-12-30) and John Hannan (17-0-17) have handled the bulk of the scoring for Holy Cross, which scores 9.3 goals per game while allowing 12.0.
