Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Holy Cross
Sands Scores 7, Fedorjaka Gets 100th BU Win as Bison Storm Past Crusaders 18-12
3/12/2016 5:35:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
WORCESTER, Mass. -- Sophomore Will Sands scored a career-high seven goals, and the Bucknell men's lacrosse team turned the game around with a 13-2 second-half run in an 18-12 Patriot League victory over Holy Cross on Saturday afternoon. The Bison stopped a two-game losing streak and improved to 4-2 overall, 1-2 in the conference, and they gave head coach Frank Fedorjaka his 100th Bucknell win.
Bucknell was on the ropes early against a feisty Holy Cross (0-7, 0-3 PL) team that was still looking for its first win, but had suffered three one-goal losses against the likes of Loyola, Lehigh and Harvard. The Crusaders led 7-2 into the final stages of the second quarter before the Bison closed within 7-5 at intermission. Holy Cross then scored the first two goals of the third quarter, but it was all Bucknell from there. The Bison scored 13 of the game's next 15 goals to completely flip the game around.
Sands had four goals and an assist in that second-half surge, while Tommy O'Connor had three of his four goals on the day along with two assists over that span. Thomas Flibotte added two goals and an assist, and Sean Doyle had a pair of assists for the Bison, who are now 26-0 all-time against Holy Cross.
Also playing critical roles in the victory were freshman faceoff specialist Jarett Witzal, who went 18-for-30 in the game and 7-for-9 in the fourth quarter; senior LSM Alex Spring, who collected a career-high 10 ground balls; and freshman goalie Christian Klipstein, who overcome some early struggles to record seven of his 12 saves in the fourth quarter, including a marvelous two-save flurry from close range while Bucknell was protecting a one-goal lead.
Sands' seven goals were one shy of the Bucknell single-game record. Three Bison players have scored eight in a game, including Ryan Klipstein against Lafayette in 2010. The older brother of Christian, Ryan watched the game from the Holy Cross sideline, where he is now an assistant coach under former Bison assistant Judd Lattimore.
Jon Vogel led Holy Cross with five goals, while Marc Buermann had three goals and two assists.
Buermann's goal with one second left in the first quarter gave Holy Cross a 5-2 lead, and then Buermann and Vogel scored in the opening five minutes of the second to make it 7-2. O'Connor, Sands, and Connor O'Hara all scored in a three-minute span late in the period to get the Bison within two at the break, but two quick strikes from Vogel in the opening minutes of the third quarter upped the margin back to four.
Bucknell's deficit was still three at 10-7 when O'Connor's tracer from long range ignited a run of five straight goals. O'Connor made a great feed to Sands sitting on the back door for a man-up goal, and then just 48 seconds later O'Connor earned another assist when his pass back to the top was rifled home by Flibotte, tying the game at 10-all with 2:08 left in the third period.
The Bison defense came up with a takeaway to get possession back, and they held for a final shot in the quarter. Sands broke in from the left side, split two defenders to the front of the crease, and wrapped a shot around goalie Michael Ortlieb to give Bucknell an 11-10 lead with eight seconds left in the period.
Bucknell took its first two-goal lead of the day four minutes into the fourth quarter when Doyle made a great pass through traffic to Sean O'Brien, who finished on his tip-toes before falling into the crease.
Bucknell had a possession to go up by three but could not convert, and instead the Crusaders pulled within 12-11 on another goal by Vogel. The Bison never lost the lead, however. O'Connor scored just inside the far post with a lefty runner from the left flank to make it 13-11, and then junior short-stick defensive midfielder Grayson Helm added a big insurance marker with his first career goal. Klipstein made a good outlet pass out of trouble to Helm, who then sprinted about 50 yards before firing a low shot past Ortlieb to make it 14-11 with 4:57 to play.
Witzal kept winning faceoffs, and Holy Cross was forced to double-team to try to get the ball back. Sands capitalized with two more goals from close range, and reserves Reed Malas and John Reed closed out the Bison scoring. For Reed, a sophomore middie, it was his first career goal.
Vogel added his fifth of the day with one second left on the clock to make the final 18-12.
Bucknell finished with a 43-38 shot advantage and a commanding 34-19 edge in ground balls, as the Bison had bodies flying all over the turf in an effort to come back from the five-goal deficit.
Klipstein had eight of his 12 saves in the second half, including the seven in the fourth quarter. Ortlieb stopped just four shots in the Holy Cross cage.
Fedorjaka is in his 11th season as head coach at Bucknell, where he is now 100-59. Including a five-year stint at Franklin & Marshall, Fedorjaka is 139-90 in his head coaching career.
The Bison will play two straight games at home against top-20 competition. They host No. 12/13 Villanova in a non-league game on Tuesday at 3 p.m., and then No. 18/19 Boston University comes in for a key Patriot League contest next Saturday at 1 p.m.
