Bucknell University Athletics
Christian Klipstein Doubles Up as PL Goalie and Rookie of Week
3/21/2016 3:40:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- After posting 37 saves against a pair of nationally ranked opponents last week, Bucknell freshman goalie Christian Klipstein has been named both the Corvias Patriot League Goalie of the Week and Rookie of the Week. This is already the second career Goalie of the Week citation for Klipstein, who also claimed that award on Feb. 8 after an outstanding performance against Delaware in the season opener.
Last week, Klipstein piled up 23 saves in a 12-8 loss No. 6/7 Villanova, which came in as the second-highest-scoring team in the country, and then he logged another 14 stops in a 13-6 Patriot League win over 16th-ranked Boston University. Klipstein registered a .673 save percentage for the week, upping his season mark to .567. That is the best save percentage in the Patriot League and the 10th-best in the nation.
Klipstein's 23-save performance against Villanova marked the highest total by a Bison goalie since Hall-of-Famer Justin Sussman had 26 against Hobart in 2001. No Bucknell netminder had made as many as 20 saves in a game since 2003, when Sussman had 20 in back-to-back games against North Carolina and Harvard.
The 23 saves are tied for the most in any game in all of Division I lacrosse this season. The only other goalie to record 23 saves in a game is Fairfield's Tyler Behring, doing so coincidentally against Bucknell back on Feb. 20 in a game where the Bison took 60 shots and won 13-8.
In the important Patriot League win over Boston University on Saturday, Klipstein backstopped a terrific all-around defensive effort by the Bison. He made five of his 14 saves while preserving a lead in the fourth quarter, and after falling behind 4-2, the Bucknell defense allowed only two more goals over the final 41 minutes of the contest.
The Bison are now 5-3 overall and 2-2 in the Patriot League heading into a key stretch of back-to-back road conference games against Loyola and Army West Point.
