Bucknell University Athletics
Men's Lax Places Three on All-PL Team on Eve of Quarterfinal Clash with Colgate
4/21/2014 4:58:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
All three of Bucknell's honorees are repeat selections, with Dickson honored for the third straight year. Dickson was a First Team pick in 2013 and a Second Team choice as a freshman in 2012. Place moves up from the Second Team in 2013 to the First Team in 2014, and Flibotte has now received First Team honors in each of his first two seasons with the Bison.
Place has been one of the league's most outstanding defensemen in 2014. He started the year by receiving Inside Lacrosse Third Team Preseason All-America honors and has been the top defender on a team that allows only 8.6 goals per game. This year he ranks No. 2 nationally in caused turnovers with 35 in 13 games (2.7 per game). He recorded a season-high six caused turnovers against Holy Cross and had five against Brown. Place also collected a season-high five ground balls against Lehigh, North Carolina and Brown.�
Flibotte ranks third on the team in goals with 19 and fourth in points with 20. He has hit the net in 11 of the team's 14 games this spring, including a four-goal game in a league win over Holy Cross, a three-goal outing at Bryant in the second game of the year, and two-goal performances against Navy, Army and Mount St. Mary's. Flibotte also leads the team and ranks second in the league with 94 shot attempts.
Dickson moved from midfield to attack this season and has once again been Bucknell's top playmaker. He has scored a career-high 15 goals and once again leads the team in assists with 24. His assist total ranks second in the Patriot League and 26th nationally. Dickson had a career-high nine-point performance with three goals and six assists in a win over Lafayette on Apr. 11. That extended his point-scoring streak to 41 straight games, the eighth-longest in the country, but that streak ended last week when he was kept off the board by No. 1 Loyola.
Dickson has recorded three or more assists in a game five times this season, and his 98 career assists are fourth-most in Bucknell history. He shattered school and league records with 48 assists in 2013.
Bucknell has now had at least one First Team All-Patriot League honoree in 14 consecutive seasons.
The Bison take a 7-7 record and the No. 5 seed into the postseason. Bucknell and Colgate tied for fourth place with 4-4 Patriot League records, but the Raiders defeated the Bison 9-8 in Hamilton on March 1 to give them the head-to-head tiebreaker and the right to host Tuesday's Patriot League Tournament quarterfinal match at Andy Kerr Stadium.
That game will start at 4 p.m. and will be streamed live and free of charge on the Patriot League Network.
In the first meeting between the two teams, Kevin Adams scored the tiebreaking goal with 4:26 to play to give Colgate the win in frigid conditions in Hamilton, N.Y. Todd Heritage scored three goals, including the 100th of his career, and Sean Doyle had two goals and two assists for the Bison, while Ryan Walsh had two goals and two assists for Colgate.
Bucknell trailed 8-6 in the fourth quarter before tying it on goals by Heritage and Doyle, but Adams broke the tie with 4:26 to play. The Bison had a few good chances to equalize, but Heritage hit a pipe and Colgate goalie Brandon Burke made a big save.
Bucknell has a 21-13 lead in the all-time series with Colgate, including a 13-8 win last season in Hamilton. Since 2007 the teams have met four times previously in the Patriot League Tournament, including twice in the championship game. Colgate won 13-9 in the 2008 final, and the Bison returned the favor with a 10-3 victory to capture the 2011 title. �
Colgate is 8-5 overall and 4-4 in the Patriot League. The Raiders lost a tight 8-7 decision at home to Army on Friday, and they are 2-4 in their last six outings after a 6-1 start. Colgate placed five players on the All-Patriot League Team, including a pair of First Team selections in midfielder Matt Clarkson and defenseman Bobby Lawrence. Walsh, midfielder Eric Foote and faceoff specialist Alex Kinnealey all made the Second Team, and Burke was named Rookie of the Year.
Walsh is the team's leading scorer with 37 points on 26 goals and 11 assists. Brendan McCann (20-12-32), Foote (16-8-24) and Clarkson (10-11-21) have also reached the 20-point mark.
Should Bucknell win at Colgate on Tuesday, the Bison would face either top-seeded Loyola or No. 2 Army in the semifinal round on Friday in Baltimore, Md. No. 3 Lehigh and No. 6 Navy play in the other quarterfinal game on Tuesday, and Loyola will play the lowest remaining seed. �
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