Bucknell University Athletics
Men's Lax Elects Four Captains for 2016 Season
1/29/2016 3:13:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The start of the 2016 men's lacrosse season is just over a week away, and head coach Frank Fedorjaka has announced that the team has elected seniors Thomas Flibotte, Zach Henkhaus, Eric Monfort and Alex Spring as team captains.
"We have had a very productive preseason so far, and I am very excited about our team chemistry," said Fedorjaka. "There is a lot of energy and enthusiasm throughout the team, and it starts with our seniors. Any one of our seniors could easily have been a captain and done a great job. Our leadership is strong, and that leads to a lot of optimism as the start of the season approaches."
Flibotte was a rare unanimous selection as captain in a vote of his teammates. A two-time All-Patriot League midfielder, Flibotte will be entering his fourth year as a first-line midfielder for the Bison. He had 16 goals and four assists last season, and he comes into his senior campaign with 64 career goals.
"I am very excited about where Thomas is entering the season," said Fedorjaka. "He is shooting on the run as well as ever, and now he has gotten much better at passing out of double teams. I expect his assist totals to go up this year. As a leader, he is very vocal and very positive with his teammates. He holds everyone accountable, starting with himself."
Henkhaus has played a key role as a short-stick defensive midfielder for the Bison over the previous three seasons. He has 35 career ground balls and 13 caused turnovers in 37 games. Henkhaus has battled some offseason injuries, but he should once again be a big part of Bucknell's d-mid rotation in 2016.
"Zach is a great leader," said Fedorjaka. "He always brings tremendous energy and enthusiasm, and he is a tough and vocal player on the field. He covers well and is very good in transition and on man-down."
Monfort has seemingly played every position on the field except goalie for the Bison over the last four years, and as a senior he is transitioning to close defense. Monfort has taken faceoffs and played both offensive and defensive midfield throughout his career, and now he is projected to be a starting defenseman when the season opens next week.
"Eric has moved to close defense this season, and he has quickly become one of the best on the team," praised Fedorjaka. "He is a very good cover guy who is hard to beat one-on-one. He works hard and is very humble, but at the same time he plays very physically."
Spring is one of the top long-stick defensive midfielders in the nation. Already this winter he has been named Preseason Honorable Mention All-American by Inside Lacrosse and Preseason All-Patriot League, and he was recently selected in the eighth round of the Major League Lacrosse Collegiate Draft by the Florida Launch.
Spring is coming off a terrific junior campaign in which he earned First Team All-Patriot League honors. He led the team in ground balls with 75, which was tied for sixth-most in a season in team history. He has topped the 50-ground-ball mark in each of his first three seasons at Bucknell, and his 185 career GBs already rank second in program history, trailing only Jake Clarke at 297.
"Alex is one of the best ground-ball guys I have ever seen," said Fedorjaka. "He has a good nose for the ball and is hugely important for us as a faceoff wing. Pound-for-pound he is the strongest player on our team. He has fantastic endurance, he knows our defense very well, and we are very happy with his leadership and work ethic."
Bucknell was recently picked to finish fifth out of 10 teams in the Patriot League Preseason Poll. The Bison finished 9-6 overall and 5-3 in the Patriot League last season, falling to Colgate in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals.
The Bison scrimmage Towson and Hobart at Towson this Saturday, and then they open up the 2016 campaign at home on Feb. 6 against Delaware at 2:30 p.m.
