Bucknell Men's Lacrosse Hosts No. 17/16 Army West Point for Spring Fest

Saturday, March 30

Lewisburg, Pa.

1 p.m.

Bucknell University

#17/16 Army West Point

Photo by: Phil Puccio

Bucknell Men's Lacrosse Hosts No. 17/16 Army West Point for Spring Fest

3/25/2019 11:35:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse

LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell men's lacrosse team hosts No. 17/16 Army West Point on Saturday, March 30 at 1 p.m. in its second-to-last home game of the 2019 campaign.

As part of Spring Fest, activities for children will be held from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on the practice field next to Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. Inflatables, face painting and balloon art are among the activities on tap. The event is free and open to all community members.

The Black Knights will be the Bison's fifth ranked opponent of the season and second in a row at home. Last Saturday, Bucknell dropped a 12-7 decision to No. 6 Loyola despite a 20-save performance by Christian Klipstein.

No. 17/16 Army West Point (7-2, 3-1 Patriot League ) vs. Bucknell (2-7, 1-3 Patriot League)
When: Saturday, March 30 – 1 p.m.
Where: Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium – Lewisburg, Pa.
Internet Video: Patriot League Network
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com
Follow on Twitter: @Bucknell_MLAX

Bucknell at a Glance
• The Bison are currently 2-7 (1-3 Patriot League) following their 12-7 loss to Loyola on March 23.
• In 2018, Bucknell finished 11-4 overall and captured a share of the Patriot League regular-season title by going 7-1 in conference action.
• The Bison reached the double digits in victories for the sixth time in Frank Fedorjaka's tenure as head coach and most notably knocked off eventual national champion Yale (9-8 OT) and then No. 6 Loyola (12-11) on the road. They rose as high as 10th in both the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Coaches' Poll and Inside Lacrosse Maverik Media Listing, their best national ranking since the 2013 campaign.
• Bucknell's captains are seniors Ryan Durkin, Christian Klipstein, Reed Malas and Jarett Witzal. The four first-time captains will lead a team featuring 26 underclassmen.
• Malas represented the Bison on the 2019 Preseason All-Patriot League Team. A year ago, he finished second to Will Sands in assists (12) and fourth to the "Big Three" of Sands, Sean O'Brien and Connor O'Hara in points (34). The "Big Three" was lost to graduation.
• Klipstein is a four-year starter in the cage. An All-Patriot League Second Team goalie in 2017 and 2016, he became the seventh Bison with at least 500 career saves at Boston University on March 16. He posted a goals against average south of 10 in 2016 (8.41) and 2018 (9.11), with his best single-season save percentage of .579 coming as a freshman.
• Witzal is the Bucknell record holder in career faceoff wins (545), single-season faceoff wins (171, 2016), single-game faceoff wins (22, 2016) and single-season faceoff percentage (.6173, 2016). At No. 11/10 Ohio State on Feb. 23, he became the first Bison to win his 500th career faceoff.
• The Bison had a grueling non-conference schedule in 2019. They opened their 52nd campaign on Feb. 2 at No. 3 Maryland, which reached the NCAA title game three years in a row from 2015 to 2017, winning the 2017 edition. They also faced off against No. 11/10 Ohio State, the 2017 NCAA runner-up, on Feb. 23 and No. 15/- North Carolina, the 2016 NCAA champion, on March 12.

Inside the Loyola Box Score
• No. 6 Loyola rode a hot start to a 12-7 victory over Bucknell on March 23 at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. The Greyhounds opened up a 5-0 lead during the first quarter, with two of their goals coming in the final 30 seconds of that frame, and never looked back.
• Christian Klipstein kept the Bison in the game, making a season-best 20 saves. That total was just three shy of his career high, set in 2016 against then No. 6/7 Villanova.
• Pat Spencer, a three-time All-American and Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, paced a potent Loyola attack. He logged eight points on five goals and three assists, with six coming in the first half.
• For Bucknell, Tommy Sopko netted a hat trick, highlighted by a sprawling strike in the fourth quarter. Will Yorke (2g-1a) and Tom Smith (1g-1a) also registered multi-point outings while Drew Wellington filled the stat sheet with five ground balls and a caused turnover.
• The faceoff battle proved to be the difference in the game. Loyola's Bailey Savio was sensational, winning 17 of 23 faceoffs and scooping up a game-best 10 ground balls. Savio won the first five faceoffs of the game and, at halftime, had won 10 of the 12 contested.
• In the second half, the teams traded goals. All but the last Loyola strike, which came with 3:40 remaining in regulation, was answered by a Bucknell tally. But, because of the early hole they had fallen in, the Bison never drew closer than four goals.

No. 17/16 Army West Point at a Glance
• The Black Knights were ranked 17th in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Coaches' Poll and 16th in the Inside Lacrosse Media Listing this week. They will be the Bison's fifth ranked opponent of the 2019 campaign and second in a row at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.
• Army West Point is currently 7-2 (3-1 Patriot League) following their 13-8 win over Colgate on March 23. The Black Knights opened their season with two-straight wins over ranked opponents, downing No. 18/19 UMass (12-11 OT) and No. 8/10 Rutgers (10-9) on the road. One of their two losses came to a ranked team in No. 17/20 Syracuse (8-10).
• The Black Knights, who went 5-8 (2-6 Patriot League) a year ago, were selected to place fifth in the Patriot League in the preseason poll. They were slotted one spot higher than Bucknell.
• Defender Johnny Surdick was recognized on the 2019 Preseason All-Patriot League Team. Surdick, a 2018 Inside Lacrosse and USILA All-American, has logged 39 ground balls and 19 caused turnovers to date, helping the Black Knights hold six of their nine opponents to less than 10 goals.
• Army West Point leads the all-time series with Bucknell, 29-14. The series dates back to 1979, with the teams playing annually since 1988.
• Of the 25 Bison-Black Knight games since 1999, 15 have been decided by a single goal.
• Last year in West Point, N.Y., then No. 16/18 Bucknell dropped then No. 15/20 Army West Point, 10-7, to improve to 5-1 in Patriot League play.
• After the Black Knights trimmed their deficit to 7-6 in the fourth quarter's first minute, the Bison scored three unanswered goals to put the game out of reach. With their victory, they clinched a spot in the 2018 Patriot League tournament and remained locked in a three-way tie for first.
• During the third stanza, Reed Malas completed a hat trick in an eight-minute span to turn a 3-3 deadlock into a 6-4 Bucknell advantage. Malas, who also registered an assist, and Will Sands (2g-2a) both recorded a game-best four points. Sands became the sixth Bison to net 100 career goals with his strike at the 44-second mark of the third quarter.

Category Leaders
• Goals: Will Yorke (20)
• Assists: Reed Malas and Tom Smith (7)
• Points: Will Yorke (26)
• Shots: Will Yorke (71)
• Ground Balls: Jarett Witzal (55)
• Caused Turnovers: Conor Shears (12)
• Face-Off Wins: Jarett Witzal (90)
• Face-Off Percentage: Jarett Witzal (.466)
• Save Percentage: Christian Klipstein (.526)
• Goals Against Average: Christian Klipstein (11.46)
• Saves: Christian Klipstein (112)

Career Milestone Watch
• Christian Klipstein: Needs 10 saves to move to fifth in school history with 531; needs 32 to move to fourth with 553
• Reed Malas: Needs two goals to reach the 50-goal plateau
• Jarett Witzal: Needs 23 ground balls to move into second in school history with 258

Single-Season Milestone Watch
• Jarett Witzal: Needs 14 ground balls to crack Bucknell's top 10 for the second time with 69

A Look Ahead
• The Bison next travel to Marist for their final non-conference game of the 2019 campaign on Tuesday, April 2 at 4 p.m.