Bucknell Men's Lacrosse Locks Up PL Tournament Berth with 10-8 Win over Colgate

Friday, April 26

Lewisburg, Pa.

7 p.m.

Bucknell University

6-8, 4-4PL

Colgate

4-9, 2-6PL

Colgate

Bucknell

Photo by: Marc Hagemeier

Bucknell Men's Lacrosse Locks Up PL Tournament Berth with 10-8 Win over Colgate

4/26/2019 9:56:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell men's lacrosse team clinched the sixth seed in the Patriot League Tournament with a 10-8 victory over Colgate on Friday night at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.

Needing a win to secure their 13th Patriot League Tournament appearance in the past 15 seasons, the Bison (6-8, 4-4 Patriot League) received a 14-save effort from Christian Klipstein and multi-point outings from six different players to power past the Raiders (4-9, 2-6 Patriot League). Bucknell will ride a four-game winning streak into its Patriot League quarterfinal contest at third-seeded Boston University, which is set for Tuesday, April 30 at 7 p.m.

Tommy Sopko (3g) and Tom Smith (2g-1a) paced the Bison offensively; Smith was one of three seniors to enjoy a multi-point performance on Senior Night, joining Reed Malas (2g) and Ryan Durkin (2a).

Jarett Witzal had a strong night in the x, winning 13 of 22 faceoffs and collecting a game-best nine ground balls. With his seventh victory of the contest, he became the first Bison to win his 600th career faceoff; he also moved to second in school history with 273 career ground balls and became the third Bison to log at least 90 in a single campaign.

At the end of the first quarter, Bucknell and Colgate were locked in a 3-3 tie. The Bison began to pull away in the second quarter, netting three of the frame's four goals to carry a 6-4 lead into the intermission. After the Raiders opened the third quarter's scoring to draw back within one, Will Yorke and Malas found the back of the net in less than a minute window to make it an 8-5 game with 8:52 on the clock. Yorke's goal came following a spectacular kick save by Klipstein to deny a James Caddigan bid.

While Colgate got one back at the 5:12 mark, the Bison pushed their lead back up to three goals with three seconds remaining in the third quarter; Alston Tarry set up Yorke for his second goal of the game with a seeing-eye skip pass through traffic.

Bucknell took its largest lead of the game, a 10-6 edge, after Matt Fedorjaka found Sopko for a transition goal at the fourth quarter's 13:47 mark. Though the Raiders held the Bison scoreless the rest of the way, they were only able to find the back of the net twice, with Caddigan accounting for both goals. Following Caddigan's second strike, which came with 2:50 remaining in regulation, Klipstein made two saves to preserve his team's victory.

Klipstein reached the double digits in saves for the 10th time this season. Seven different Bison caused a turnover, with Conor Shears registering two. Tarry (5) and Smith (3) extended multiple possessions by coming up with loose ground balls.

Colgate was led offensively by Caddigan (4g) and Sam Cleveland (2g-1a). Connor Mullen made 13 saves while absorbing the loss while Parker Baddley caused a game-high three caused turnovers.

The Bison held advantages in shots (42-39), shots on goal (23-22), ground balls (33-26) and faceoffs (13-9); they also turned the ball over seven fewer times and went 18-for-20 on their clears compared to the Raiders' 14-for-19. Bucknell also held Colgate scoreless on four man advantages.

The Bison's upcoming game against the Terriers (10-5, 5-3 Patriot League) will be a rematch of the 2018 Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals. In that game, sixth-seeded Boston University came from behind to top third-seeded, and No. 10 nationally ranked, Bucknell, 12-11, at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.