Bucknell University Athletics
Men's Lax Hosts Loyola on Friday on Senior Night
4/15/2015 8:36:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell men's lacrosse team has clinched a berth in the Patriot League Tournament, now it will be playing to host a quarterfinal-round game when 16th-ranked Loyola visits Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium for a Senior Night clash on Friday at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed live on the Patriot League Network.
Bucknell enters the contest with a 7-5 overall record and a 4-3 mark in the Patriot League. The Bison are tied for fourth place with Army, one game behind Loyola and Colgate at 5-2. Navy has completed league play at 6-2, but Colgate and Loyola are still alive for the No. 1 seed. Boston University (3-4), Holy Cross (2-5) and Lehigh (2-5) are all vying for the sixth and final playoff spot.
On Friday night, Army hosts Colgate, Boston University hosts Holy Cross, and Lehigh hosts Lafayette. Bucknell can finish anywhere from third through sixth. The top two seeds receive byes into the semifinals, while the third and fourth seeds host quarterfinal games next Tuesday. Bucknell needs to beat Loyola and get some help in order to finish third or fourth.
The Bison snapped a three-game losing streak with a wild 14-13 win over Lafayette last Saturday. Alex Ryan, who will be one of nine seniors recognized prior to Friday night's game, scored the tiebreaking goal with 23 seconds left in regulation to send Bucknell to that critical win.
Will Sands, a freshman attackman and Bucknell's leading scorer, had three goals and an assist against the Leopards, and he now has eight goals in his last two contests. For the season, Sands paces the squad with 34 points on 20 goals and 14 assists.
David Dickson (11-20-31), Ryan Joseph (23-5-28), Sean Doyle (19-5-24), Thomas Flibotte (14-4-18) and Ryan (10-1-11) are other top scorers for the Bison. Alex Spring leads the team in both ground balls (63) and caused turnovers (22).
Bucknell is looking to solidify its normally stout defense heading into the postseason. The Bison have allowed 10 or more goals in each of its last four games after doing so only twice in its first eight contests. Last week they snapped a 14-game losing streak in games in which the opponent posted double-digit goals.
The defense will be challenged by a potent Loyola offense that averages 11.4 goals per game. The Greyhounds are one of just four teams in the country to boast three 40-point scorers in Zach Herreweyers (40-4-44), Brian Sherlock (28-14-42) and Nikko Pontrello (17-24-41). Romar Dennis (16-11-27), Tyler Albrecht (21-4-25) and Zack Sirico (8-17-25) have also filled up the stat sheet.
Loyola starts a freshman goalie in Grant Limone, who has a .551 save percentage and 9.72 goals-against average in 11 appearances. Behind Graham Savio the Greyhounds are winning 56.3 percent of their draws. Man-down defense has been an Achilles heel for Loyola, as opponents are 15-for-31 (.484) on EMO.
Bucknell is 0-4 all-time against Loyola, with three of the meetings coming from 1981-83. Last year the two teams met as Patriot League cohorts for the first time, and the Greyhounds won 13-5 in Baltimore behind six goals from Brian Schultz.
Senior Night ceremonies will begin at 6:30 on Friday evening. Dickson, Joseph, Ryan, Sam Grinberg, Cam Buglione, Mike Ondrusek, Ben Kellar, Gavin Sullivan and Frank Morelli will all be honored prior to the regular-season finale.
