Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Men's Lax Back Home Saturday vs. Hobart
3/9/2012 7:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
March 9, 2012
Bucknell-Hobart GameTracker 
WEOS Radio Broadcast
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell men's lacrosse team looks to make it two wins in a row when it hosts Hobart Saturday at 1 p.m. at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. The Bison were sharp in a big Patriot League road win over Navy last week, and now they will try to repeat that performance against head coach Frank Fedorjaka's alma mater.
Bucknell comes in with a 1-3 record, with all three losses by a combined four goals against nationally ranked teams. Two of the setbacks, against Delaware and Villanova, came in overtime. Hobart is 1-2 on the young season after an 18-8 road loss at Colgate on Tuesday. The Statemen opened the year with a 13-11 loss to Siena, while their win came on March 3 at home against Binghamton (15-10). Hobart also had a game against No. 3 Cornell postponed by a snowstorm.
The Bison have outscored their opponents 45-44 through four games this season. Bucknell enters the weekend ranked 15th nationally in scoring offense and sixth in the nation in shooting percentage at .349.
Billy Eisenreich, who had two goals and five assists in the win over Navy, leads the team in scoring with 18 points on eight goals and 10 assists. His 10 assists lead the Patriot League and rank sixth in the nation.
Attackmen Todd Heritage (8-0-8) and Chase Bailey (6-3-9) are also off to good starts, as are first-line middies David Dickson (5-6-11), Peter Burke (6-4-10) and Nick Gantsoudes (4-1-5). Dickson is the Patriot League's No. 2 freshman scorer so far, while Burke is already within seven points of his 2011 total.
Kyle Feeney's 11.75 saves per game lead the Patriot League and rank 12th nationally. Feeney and the Bison defense will be challenged by a Hobart offense that is also averaging better than 10 goals per game. Alex Love leads the Statesmen with nine goals, while Sam Miller has six goals and an assist. Chris Pedersen leads the team with three assists, but so far only 11 of Hobart's 34 goals have been assisted (compared to 24 of 45 for Bucknell).
Defensively, Hobart has conceded 41 goals in three games. After Jon Lawless got the opening-day start in goal, Peter Zonino has played the last two games. He stopped 16 shots in the win over Binghamton and 17 more on Tuesday against Colgate in a game in which the Statesmen were outshot 58-29.
Faceoffs could be a big factor on Saturday, and Hobart has an excellent one in Bobby Dattilo, who is an incredible 46-for-61 (.754) on the season. Dattilo was 5-for-7 against Colgate before leaving with an injury, and the Raiders went on to win 15 of the final 21 draws after that. Ryan Gutowski has been Bucknell's No. 1 draw-taker and has won 45.3 percent so far.
The Bison played well defensively last week against Navy. They forced 25 turnovers and did not allow an even-strength goal in the last 28 minutes of the game.
Including last year's 11-9 win in Geneva, N.Y., the Bison are 7-16 all-time against Hobart. Bucknell and Hobart first met all the way back in 1972. Five of the last 10 meetings have been decided by one goal as well as three others by two goals.
Last season, Heritage posted two goals and two assists to lead the Bison to the 11-9 victory. Bucknell started and finished very well in that one. They scored the game's first four goals and led 6-1 midway through the second quarter. Hobart rallied within 6-5 at the half, and the Statesmen took a brief 8-7 lead late in the third quarter before the Bison stormed back with four straight goals to take control. Josh Briskman earned his first win in goal for Bucknell after replacing Feeney in the third quarter.
Fedorjaka is a 1989 Hobart graduate, and he is 4-2 against his alma mater as a head coach. He enjoyed a stellar career in both lacrosse and football at Hobart. 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.
After the Hobart game, Bucknell will travel to Drexel on Tuesday at 4 p.m. in its first mid-week contest of the season. Then it is back to Patriot League play next weekend as the Bison open up a three-game homestand against Lafayette on Saturday at 3 p.m.
