Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Lacrosse Opens 2013 Campaign Saturday at Delaware
2/7/2013 7:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Feb. 7, 2013
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The 18th-ranked Bison men's lacrosse team is set to kick off the 2013 campaign at Delaware on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Delaware Stadium. The Blue Hens, who are receiving votes in the USILA Coaches' Poll, already have a game under their belt, a 12-10 victory at High Point last Saturday.
Bucknell also opened the 2012 season against Delaware, with the Blue Hens pulling out an 11-10 victory in overtime on a snowy day at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. The Bison rallied from five goals down to force extra time, but Danny Keane won it for Delaware with five seconds left in the first overtime period. Todd Heritage led the Bison with four goals.
One-time rivals in the Middle Atlantic Conference and East Coast Conference, Bucknell and Delaware met on the lacrosse field last season for the first time since 1994. The Blue Hens won that game 16-9 in Lewisburg, and they own a 24-3 lead in the all-time series. In fact, Delaware has beaten Bucknell 21 straight times since the last Bison victory in 1974.
Under eighth-year head coach Frank Fedorjaka, Bucknell returns seven starters and 27 lettermen from last year's squad that finished 9-7 overall and 3-3 in the Patriot League. The Blue Hens, led by 38th-year head coach Bob Shillinglaw, welcome back 29 letterwinners and 13 players with starting experience from a team that went 6-9 overall a year ago. The Blue Hens will feature one of the nation's youngest teams this spring with 33 of the 46 team members having either freshman or sophomore eligibility.
The Bison open the season with two straight road games, at Delaware Saturday and at Mount St. Mary's on Sunday, Feb. 17. Bucknell then plays its next four games at home, with the home opener set for Saturday, Feb. 23 against Bryant at 1 p.m. The Bison will also entertain Navy, Massachusetts and Drexel on that homestand.
In the Herd: Bucknell-Delaware Preview
Below is a closer look at the Bison entering the 2013 season:
Each year the Bucknell men's lacrosse team's list of competitive goals starts with winning the Patriot League championship. Along with the shiny hardware that comes with claiming the title is an automatic ticket to the NCAA Tournament. In recent years winning the Patriot League has become an extremely daunting task, however. The conference is now considered one of the best in the country, with Bucknell (18), Lehigh (11) and Colgate (10) all ranked in the preseason top-20 with Army and Navy on the cusp. In the last decade, the league has sent multiple teams to the NCAA Tournament four times, including last season with Lehigh and Colgate, and Bucknell dropped an overtime heartbreaker to eventual national champion Virginia in its most recent NCAA appearance in 2011. Furthermore, the league is poised to get even stronger in 2014, when defending national champion Loyola and Boston University begin play.
Fortunately for head coach Frank Fedorjaka and the Bison, they have a talented and balanced lineup coming back this spring. Last year's leading scorer, Third Team All-American Billy Eisenreich, has graduated, but the next four point-producers are all back. Bucknell has a pair of All-America candidates on the defensive end of the field in senior goalie Kyle Feeney and senior defenseman Mike Huffner, the Patriot League Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. In all, seven starters return from last year's squad that finished 9-7 and fell to Colgate in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals.
The Bison also have a very promising first-year class, with freshmen expected to be in the rotation at attack, midfield and long-stick defensive midfield in the season-opener at Delaware.
"Winning the Patriot League is the No. 1 goal for us," said Fedorjaka, who is starting his eighth year as Bucknell's head coach. "This is obviously a very tough league, but we are going to take it one game at a time and do what we do. We have a plan and our own style, and we are going to stick to that. We have terrific leadership in our senior class, and we don't have any glaring weaknesses."
Fedorjaka directly oversees the Bison defense, and he has a deep and talented group returning this spring, led by a fourth-year starter in goal in Feeney. A two-time all-league selection and eighth-round draft pick of the MLL's Charlotte Hounds, Feeney has always been a strong ball-stopper. Now as a senior co-captain, he is also the vocal leader of the defense. He understands Bucknell's complex defensive scheme, and Fedorjaka said he is as good as any goalie he has coached at directing his teammates in front of him.
Huffner is a two-time First Team All-Patriot League honoree and one of the top cover men in the league. He can handle attackmen that are big and physical or smaller and quicker, and the Patriot League features all kinds. Junior Jackson Place is also a returning starter, and he and Huffner mesh very well. Stepping into the third close defense position is sophomore Ben Kellar, who was ticketed for a starting spot last season before suffering an ACL tear late in fall ball. Senior co-captain Dylan Burke could also see time on close defense.
Senior co-captain Wills Miller and freshman ground ball whiz Alex Spring will handle the bulk of the long-stick midfield duties, with junior Evan Bozymski also in the mix, and the Bison return three experienced short-stick d-middies in senior Kyle O'Keefe, junior Sam McDonough and sophomore Andrew Dempsey. Freshman Zach Henkhaus is also knocking on the door for some playing time.
"Defensively we have a very nice foundation," said Fedorjaka. "We have a lot of versatility and flexibility on defense. We have good cover guys and smart players who really understand how we play. Our system allows us to play multiple defenses and styles, and we have a goalie who knows how to direct them. Mike Huffner and Jackson Place can both cover anyone and they are both aggressive, and Ben Kellar is a very good complement to them."
The Bison return their two most experienced faceoff specialists in senior Ryan Gutowski and sophomore Gavin Sullivan. Gutowski is also the starting punter for the Bucknell football team, so he missed fall practice. Sullivan took most of the reps in the fall and performed very well, and Fedorjaka anticipates using both of them judiciously to keep them fresh for the biggest games late in the season. Freshman Eric Monfort will also take some draws.
Fedorjaka is very excited about his wing players, including McDonough, Spring and sophomore Mike Ondrusek, who also plays short-stick d-mid. Last season the Bison won 45.7 percent of their draws, a figure that was significantly improved in the fall.
Offensively, Bucknell has two of the country's most accurate finishers among its attack unit. As a team, the Bison led the nation in shooting percentage (.371) a year ago, with senior Chase Bailey (.583) and junior Todd Heritage (.507) ranking second and seventh individually. Heritage led the team with 35 goals, including a school-record-tying eight in a win over Hobart, while Bailey added a career-high 28 goals to go along with 10 assists. Many of their goals were set up by Eisenreich, who produced 34 goals and 32 assists last season. This year the Bison will frequently put the ball in the stick of freshman Sean Doyle, a quick, shifty attackman who is both a strong shooter and feeder.
"We have a great set of attackmen with great balance," said Fedorjaka. "Offensively we are at our best when we can move the ball around. Sean Doyle is very unselfish, and he brings a nice dimension to the offense. They all work well together."
The midfield is probably Bucknell's least-experienced unit, but it is also one of the deepest. Junior Peter Burke is coming off a 22-goal, 12-assist season, and he has scored some big goals late in games for the Bison over the last two years. Sophomore David Dickson was one of the most productive rookies in the country last season, when he recorded 14 goals and 26 assists. Dickson is versatile enough to play both attack and midfield, and Fedorjaka feels that last year's confidence boost will make him even better this season.
Senior Billy Mattimore returned last season after a one-year absence, and he tallied eight goals and four assists as a second-line middie and EMO regular. Junior sharpshooter Tom Black, a seven-goal scorer last year, and sophomore Ryan Joseph also played on the second line in 2012.
As many as four freshmen are on the cusp of playing time at midfield, including the diminutive speedster Brock Ghelfi, who Fedorjaka says is one of the fastest players he has ever coached. Ghelfi has spent time on the first midfield line in preseason scrimmages and could start in the opener at Delaware.
"I like our depth at midfield," said Fedorjaka. "Peter Burke and David Dickson are returning starters, Billy Mattimore is ready for a breakout season, and Tom Black is probably our best shooter. And then we have some really good freshmen who are getting better and better. Their job is simply to run our offense and help manufacture shots and goals."
As usual, the Bison have a very challenging non-conference schedule to get them ready for the Patriot League gauntlet. In addition to the Delaware game to open the season, the Bison have also added Ivy League power Cornell to the schedule for the first time. The Bison will play in Ithaca on March 19, then return to upstate New York to face Albany four days later.
Bucknell has non-league home games against Massachusetts, Drexel, Penn State and Bryant. The first-ever meeting with the Bulldogs marks the home opener on Feb. 23, and a week later the Bison host Navy in the Patriot League opener. Once again this season Bucknell has to finish the regular season with Army, Lehigh and Colgate in succession. The finale will be in Hamilton, N.Y., on Apr. 20 in a game that will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
