Month: February 2012

Categories
Baseball Men Sports

Baseball attempts to recreate 2010 NCAA appearance

Andrew Arnao

Staff Writer

The men’s baseball team will kick off its season on Feb. 18 in Davidson, N.C. against La Salle and Niagara. The Orange and Blue hope to build on their 25-28 record from last year.

“We are looking forward to getting started next weekend,” head coach Gene Depew said. “The warm weather has given us more of an opportunity to be on the field than we ever have had in the past. We have a solid group of seniors who would like to take their second trip to the NCAA Regionals.”

The Bison last made the NCAA Tournament in 2010, after winning the Patriot League tournament for the fifth time in school history. The team advanced to the Patriot League semifinals last season but lost a three-game series to Navy 2-1.

“Our loss to Navy in the playoffs last year has been something driving us during the offseason,” starting pitcher Ryan Ebner ’12 said. “We have a lot of guys with experience, especially since we have 10 seniors, all of whom will be seeing time this year. We also have some underclassmen that have been stepping up, so there will be plenty of competition for starting spots.”

Some of the returning seniors include 2011 All-Patriot League selections Ebner, relief pitcher Alex Cillo ’12, outfielder Bob Donato ’12 and pitcher/outfielder Matt Lamore ’12. Ebner also earned the Patriot League Pitcher of the Year award in 2011.

“We will need our senior pitchers to perform to their best and for some underclassmen to step up and have a great year,” Depew said.

“Our keys to success will be our ability to score runs consistently and to put together a complete game as a pitching staff,” Ebner said. “Our weak point [is] our speed, but we will be able to make up for it by playing smart and doing the little things right offensively.”

The Bison’s first home game is not until March 3, and they will not begin to play Patriot League games until the end of March. Schedule highlights include the Russ Matt Invitational in Florida in mid-March, as well as four-game home-stands against Holy Cross (March 31 and April 1), Lehigh (April 14-15) and a revenge matchup against Navy (April 7-8). The Patriot League Tournament starts in May.

“We have depth at every position and everyone on the team is working hard in practice,” outfielder Matt Busch ’13 said. “Our expectations for this year are winning a conference championship, and the Patriot League playoffs. A lot of the guys feel like anything less than this would be a disappointment. This is our year.”

Categories
Lacrosse Men Sports

Men’s lacrosse team gains confidence

Reed Dempsey

Contributing Writer

The men’s lacrosse team fell to the Ohio State Buckeyes 9-8 in a preseason scrimmage. While the Bison lost, the team remains confident about this season’s prospects.

“It is encouraging that [the game] was so close while we were not playing near our best,” Billy Eisenreich ’12 said.

With promising practices this past week, the team is ready to move into the regular season.

“The scrimmage did exactly what we needed it to, that is, expose some of our weaknesses,” goalie Kyle Feeney ’13 said. “We proved last year we are capable of doing big things.”

This year’s Bison return seven starters and 26 lettermen from the 2011 squad that recorded the most wins in school history (14), the highest national ranking in school history (No. 7), a defense that ranked fifth in the nation and a perfect record in Patriot League play, going 6-0 in the regular season followed by wins against Lehigh and Colgate to take the Patriot League crown. Heading into the 2012 campaign, the Bison are ranked No. 12 in the “Inside Lacrosse” preseason coaches’ poll and are a preseason favorite in the Patriot League.

Last year, the Bison were anchored by a strong defense and this year should be no different. While the Orange and Blue lost several defensemen to graduation, the current squad is ready to step up and continue to play at a high level.

“The defense may be a little different from the past two years, but I believe we can continue to dominate,” Feeney said.

On attack, the Bison return six of their top eight leading scorers from a year ago, including Eisenreich, who was recently selected 21st overall in the Major League Lacrosse Draft.

“We have a lot of potential,” Eisenreich said. “We want to take it all the way to the national championship, hosting and winning the Patriot League Championships along the way.”

Captain Charlie Streep ’12 is still sidelined from an injury he sustained last fall but is optimistic the team will be able to get the job done.

“Eisenreich is going to have an All-American season … he’s one of the most dangerous players to face because he’s impossible to prepare for,” Steep said. “On top of that, attackmen Chase Bailey and Todd Heritage have a natural chemistry that I’ve never seen.”

This Saturday, the Bison welcome the University of Delaware Blue Hens (1-0) to Lewisburg, for a 1 p.m. start at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.

Categories
Lacrosse Men Sports

Men’s lacrosse looks for more than PL title

By Eric Brod
Senior Writer

In sports, heartbreak can either demoralize a team or motivate it to greatness. The latter looks to be the case for the 2012 Bison men’s lacrosse squad, which looks to defend its Patriot League title and avenge its excruciating but inspiring 13-12 overtime loss to eventual national champion Virginia. The Orange and Blue, who finished 14-3 last year, gave the Cavaliers their toughest game of the tournament, something that should not be overlooked going into this season.

The Bison come into the season with high expectations, both within the Patriot League and across the country. The coaches in the Patriot League selected the defending league champions as the preseason favorite with the highest possible vote total, and the Bison are ranked No. 10 in Inside Lacrosse’s 2012 preseason coaches’ poll. With seven starters returning from last year’s team and several other key players looking to step up, the Bison hope to defend their title and make a serious run in the NCAA tournament.

Despite the loss of Alex Lyons ’11 on defense, the team returns a strong defensive core led by Mike Huffner ’13, an honorable mention on the Face-Off Yearbooks All-American listings, Jason Neithamer ’12 and goalie Kyle Feeney ’13. The team also features breakout star Todd Heritage ’14 and co-captain Charlie Streep ’12. Streep is a third-team Inside Lacrosse preseason All-American, but will miss the spring season due to a torn ACL.

Coach Frank Fedorjaka’s squad also has a strong incoming first-year class to complement the veterans on the team. The incoming class looks to provide balance and instant impact for the squad with talented midfielders in Gavin Sullivan ’15 and Joe Kearney ’15. Cam Bulgione ’15 and Ben Kellar ’15 look to add depth to the defense and could provide immediate impact as starters this season.

“I’ve been really impressed with a lot of our younger guys stepping up on both offense and defense and filling in some roles from last year,” Streep said. “Everyone has really worked hard to keep their sticks and bodies sharp so we definitely have a lot to look forward to.”

With one of the most talented and deep teams in program history, the Orange and Blue are poised to capture back-to-back Patriot League Championships and make a name for themselves on the national stage.

The importance of the team sticking together will be key in determining how far the team goes.

“If last season taught us anything it was that this solidarity among the older guys is a necessity if you want everyone to be on the same page and realistically compete for a national championship,” Streep said. “Making sacrifices and holding ourselves and each other accountable for everything, big and small, on and off the field is what really made us successful and hopefully will again this season.”

The Orange and Blue officially kick off their season at home this Saturday against Delaware.

 

Categories
Men Sports Wrestling

Wrestling drops two matches

Scott Padula & Alex Wagner
Writer & Assistant Sports Editor

The Bison wrestling team faced difficult tasks on Sunday and Tuesday as it came away with a tough 23-13 home loss to No. 11 American and a 27-12 loss at Army. Alex Pellicciotti ’14, John Regan ’12, Corey Lear ’13 and Stephen McPeek ’14 posted wins against American, while Lear, McPeek, Austin Miller ’15 and Derrik Russell ’13 won against Army.

The Orange and Blue got off to a rough start on Sunday, trailing 17-0 after a forfeit in the heavyweight class and losses in three other bouts. In the next four matches, the Orange and Blue mounted a comeback to trail 17-13 with two bouts left and an opportunity to win. The Bison were unable to complete the upset, though, as they fell in their final two matches.

“This weekend’s match was a great experience for our team. American is the type of team we need to wrestle not only to see where we are, but wrestling better teams will only make us better at the end of the season. Our team still has work to do in order to get where we want to by the time nationals comes around,” Lear said.

The most impressive win of the day occurred in the 165 lb. weight class where Lear defeated Ganbayar Sanjaa, the third-ranked wrestler in the nation in the 157 lb. weight class. Lear overcame a 4-3 deficit with 30 seconds left in the third period to capture an 8-5 decision.

Beforehand, Regan easily took the 157 lb. weight class for his seventh win in eight matches. Pellicciotti started the comeback with a 6-5 win over Kevin Tao in the 149 lb. weight class, while McPeek captured the final Bison win in the 174 lb. weight class with a 13-9 victory.

“I know wins like that show the team that anything can happen on any given day. We train just as hard as every other Division I program in the country, if not harder. This is the time of the year to take advantage of other teams getting worn out from the long season and to step up. It was a shame we didn’t upset them as a team but it was a good performance and we look to get some team wins this week,” Regan said.

The short turnaround before Tuesday’s matchup proved to be too much for the Bison. Although they won four of the nine bouts, they fell short to Army after a forfeit at the heavyweight spot and two pins against them.

Miller continued to be a consistent wrestler for the Orange and Blue by earning the team a 3-0 lead after winning the opening bout 13-7. Shawn Armato ’15, however, was pinned in his 133 lb. bout, giving Army a 6-3 advantage.

A 4-1 victory by Russell evened everything up, but a pin in the 149 lb. bout and a Bison loss in the 157 lb. bout put the Black Knights ahead once again 15-6. Lear and McPeek, continuing their great form, won back-to-back bouts to bring the Bison back within three points, but Army answered with two wins of their own.  A forfeit at the heavyweight ended things for good.

The Orange and Blue will head to Lock Haven on Friday before they wrap up their regular season with a home match on Sunday against the University of Pennsylvania.

Categories
Basketball Sports Women

Women’s basketball claims conference victory

Ajan Caneda ’15

Staff Writer

The women’s basketball team snapped a 13-game losing streak with a 67-45 rout of Colgate at home on Wednesday night.

The Bison held the Raiders to 27 percent shooting while the Orange and Blue went 42 percent from the field. The Bison led by as much as 22 in the first half before taking a 41-24 lead into halftime. They never slowed the momentum as they picked up their first win since Dec. 6 and their first Patriot League win of the season.

“I was really proud of the effort that our team put out for the entire 40 minutes,” interim head coach Bill Broderick said. “I definitely thought we took another big step in the right direction in reaching our goal of playing our best basketball of the season come Patriot League Tournament time.”

The Bison outscored Colgate 40-16 in points in the paint, 20-1 in points off turnovers, and 22-6 in bench points. The Orange and Blue also had a 58-33 edge in rebounds.

Rachel Voss ’13 was the leading scorer with 16 points while Alyssa Dunn ’13 and Shelby Romine ’14 also scored in double figures. Lindsay Horbatuck ’13 had a near double-double with nine points and 16 rebounds.

The Bison narrowly pulled off their first Patriot League win a game earlier but ended up losing 60-56 at Army on Saturday. It was a close contest from the beginning, as both teams tried to gain the upper hand in the first half. Guard Christina Chukwuedo ’12 nailed a jumper that gave the Orange and Blue their first lead of the game with 6:58 remaining in the first half. The Bison outscored Army 16-8 in points in the paint in the first half but Army scored 16 points off turnovers. The Black Knights carried a 30-27 lead at halftime.

“Going into the Army game we were really fired up after losing by one point to Navy the week before,” Horbatuck said. “Every game we are figuring out our identity more and more. We are realizing what it’s going to take to get to the next level.”

Both teams continued their consistent shooting in the second half. At the 9:07 remaining mark, Voss made a pair of free throws that gave the Orange and Blue a 46-45 lead. Neither team could pull ahead, as the leads stayed in single digits the entire game. The game was knotted at 52-52 with 3:44 left before Army went on an 8-0 run that sealed the victory.

Horbatuck finished with 15 points and seven rebounds. Dunn and Voss were also in double figures with 14 and 10 points, respectively.

“During the last few minutes of the game, we couldn’t seem to get the definitive defensive stops that we needed,” Dunn said. “That coupled with our less-than-ideal execution on the offensive side of the ball left us on the losing end of a hard-fought battle.”

The Bison will look to ride the momentum from their win in their game at Lafayette on Saturday.

Categories
Basketball Featured Men Sports

Men’s basketball continues dominance

Greg Stevenson

Senior Writer

Riding the nation’s longest conference winning streak heading into Wednesday’s matchup against Colgate, the Bison men’s basketball team had no issues extending that run to 19 games, dating back to last season, with a 66-50 victory over the Raiders.

“Colgate is a good team. They have good shooters that can really spread the floor, so that always makes them a dangerous team,” Bryson Johnson ’13 said. “Playing at Colgate is always a difficult challenge too. They always give us a good game when we go up there.”

The story of the contest was the Raiders’ offense, but only for its futility and inability to produce points. A stout Orange and Blue defense forced Colgate to shoot under 20 percent from the field for most of the game. Only until the final minutes, when the game was far from in doubt, did the Raiders break the 20-percent mark.

On the other side of the ball, the Orange and Blue used the same game plan that has helped yield 11 consecutive wins overall—balance. Three Bison scored in double figures, with Bryan Cohen ’12 leading the way with 12 points. Forwards Mike Muscala ’13 and Joe Willman ’13 each added 11 points.

With three out of their next four games against the Patriot League’s toughest competition, head coach Dave Paulsen gave his first-stringers some much needed rest. No starter played more than 24 minutes and all 14 members of the team saw the court for at least three minutes.

In their first contest of their second series of conference play, the Bison held off a stingy Army Black Knights squad, 81-68, at home last Saturday night. The Orange and Blue finished the Black Knights off late to grab the series sweep from the only team in the Patriot League to defeat them last year.

The Bison see the tough win as a blessing, with many stronger opponents left on the schedule.

“I think it prepares us well and showed that we can win games even when we don’t play a pretty game,” Johnson said. “It is important that we do not look ahead of our schedule and just take it game by game.”

Normally the Bison’s defensive stopper, Cohen took charge of the offense, scoring 19 points, his season high. Honored before the game for notching his 1,000th career point last week, Cohen broke a 50-50 tie midway through the second half with a three-point play, giving the Orange and Blue the lead for good.

Unlike their struggles against Colgate, the Bison played one of their best and most efficient games against Army. The Orange and Blue shot a resounding 70 percent from the field in the first half, yet led by just eight at halftime.

Muscala, Johnson and Cameron Ayers ’14 joined Cohen with double-figures in points.

With the heart of their league schedule coming up, the Bison will host Lafayette Saturday night at 7 p.m. on espn3.com and ESPN Full Court in their first of two straight games against Pennsylvania schools on television. Lehigh comes to town Thursday night for their matchup on CBS College Sports.

Despite all of the hype surrounding two tough league contests in front of a national audience, the Bison remain focused on the task at hand—winning a Patriot League regular season title.

“If we do what the coaches have outlined for us and play to our ability, we will be fine,” Johnson said. “But we know if we don’t do those things, then we can lose to anyone in our league.”

Categories
Lacrosse Sports Women

Women’s lax drops opener

Thomas Walter

Writer

The women’s lacrosse team opened its season last weekend with a crushing 25-3 loss to the No. 5 Duke Blue Devils. Coming off a season in which they made it to the Final Four, the Blue Devils did not make it easy for the young Bison squad.

Despite the lopsided defeat, the Orange and Blue starting goalie Caroline O’Neill ’15 was not disheartened.

“Even though the game was extremely challenging, it gave many players the opportunity to step up as leaders and make big plays during crucial parts of the game, despite the scoreboard,” O’Neil said. “The amount of talent that Duke possessed was absolutely eye-opening and incredible to watch, especially for such a young team like us.”

Arriana Sajjad ’15 led the scoring for the Bison with two goals on two shots off the bench. Madison Hurwitz ’13 scored the only other goal of the contest for the Orange and Blue. All three goals were assisted by Chloe Chou ’15.

O’Neill had five saves but allowed 17 goals in the first half. She was replaced by Katherine Fraile ’14, who had two saves and eight goals against in the second half.

Duke dominated almost every statistical category, most notably in shots, out-shooting the Bison 45-8. In addition, the Orange and Blue were only able to recover 10 of the 24 ground balls and committed 18 turnovers to Duke’s 13.

The team has taken away many lessons from this game.

“I think the one thing our team needs to work on in order to have a successful season is transitioning the ball down the midfield to the offense in a quick, efficient manner,” O’Neil said. “We need to have the confidence to make long, risky passes down the field instead of just running the ball through defenders and getting checked.”

The team will have a busy 16-game schedule over the next two months of play. The first of these contests comes on Feb. 15 when the Bison will take on Penn State.

 

Categories
Sports Tennis Women

Women’s tennis falls to Panthers

Lindsay Regruto

Staff Writer

Dumitrita Iepuras ’12 earned the women’s tennis team’s only win on Saturday against Pittsburgh, defeating her singles opponent 1-6, 7-5 (10-7), as the Bison fell to the Panthers 6-1 in their season opener.

“Despite the final scores, I believe that the match against Pittsburgh was very competitive,” Iepuras said. “Even though we lost, this first match of the season was a good experience that made us stronger and more ready for our biggest competitors.”

Iepuras’s win brings her closer to moving up on the team’s all-time victories list, needing only six more wins to put her in eighth place. Courtney Casey ’12 needs only three more wins to move into the top 25 on the all-time victories list. Casey fell to her singles opponent. On the doubles court, Casey and Elena Vidrascu ’14 played a close match against their opponents, but ultimately fell 8-4.

“We knew Pittsburgh was going to be a tough team to play, but it didn’t stop any one of us from giving our best and fighting through till the end,” Vidrascu said. “No one gave up, even when being down score-wise, and I think that is going to be one of our biggest strengths for the season.”

Alyssa McAndrew ’15 and Jen Bush ’15 battled it out in doubles, but fell 8-4 in the end. Lydia Colvin ’15 vied for a second win for the team on the singles court, but could not overcome her Pittsburgh opponent (6-2, 6-4).

The Bison will be back on the court at Saint Francis (Pa.) on Sunday.

 

Categories
Men Sports Tennis

Men’s tennis shines

Cooper Mead ’14

Contributing Writer

The men’s tennis team dominated the Saint Francis Red Flash last Friday in Loretto, Pa., coming away with a 7-0 landslide victory in its first match of the season.

Gregg Cohenca ’12 won in No. 1 singles 6-0, 7-5. Later, Cohenca and partner Evan Zimmer ’13 teamed up to secure a 9-7 victory in the team’s first doubles match. After his two commanding victories, Cohenca leapt over former teammate Zach Hascoe ’10 on the all-time wins list and needs one more win to break into the Bison’s top-10 list. On top of his doubles victory, Zimmer easily defeated Chris Jimenez in fourth singles 6-0, 6-3.

“It was a promising first match and as usual we are still working out the kinks that come with the start of a new season,”  Josh Katten ’13 said. “As a team we have been working hard on and off the court and we can only get better as the season progresses.”

Playing in the No. 5 spot for the Orange and Blue, Katten claimed a hard-earned victory over Lawson Barter, sweeping his Red Flash opponent 6-0 in the first set and winning a tiebreak in the second (5-7, 10-8).

In doubles, the second-year duo of Kyle Rosen ’14 and Scott Bernstein ’14 teamed up to defeat Barter and Juan Andres Pardo of Saint Francis 9-7.

“We’ve put in a lot of great effort thus far in the spring. This team is looking great and will continue to improve,” Aidan Lynch ’14 said.

The Bison will continue to make progress as they prepare for a formidable Penn State team on Feb. 11 and hope to secure their second victory of the spring season.

Categories
Sports Track & Field Women

Women’s track improves

Katherine Harris ’15

Staff Writer

The women’s track and field team once again put together an impressive performance last weekend at the Youngstown State Invitational. With a new school record, along with numerous other top finishes and entrances into the record books, the squad remains consistent in its preparation for the Patriot League Championships, now just two weekends away.

“I thought this weekend was great for our program,” Alex Romanelli ’13 said. “I’m super excited about Leagues in two weeks. Our team has really come a long way since the season has started, and I really believe we’re peaking at the right time.”

The first day of the meet was highlighted by Hana Casalnova ’14 breaking the school record in the 1,000 meters with a time of 1:52.96. With her performance, Casalnova ousted the record time set by teammate Beth Braunegg ’14 just last week by less than one second.

“We continue to get better as a team each and every week, and the Youngstown meet was our best of the season.  School records are very hard to get in an established program like ours, however we do have some very good talent and a critical mass of depth to help push each other in workouts which is part of the process when getting a school record,” head coach Kevin Donner said.

Many other Orange and Blue athletes had strong showings on Friday. With performances that led them both to seventh place in the record books, Jennifer Zymet ’14 finished first in the 500 meters with a career best 1:15.69, and Abby Monaghan ’13 came in second in the weight throw with a distance of 53’ 0’’.

As the meet continued on Saturday, the Bison continued to shine. Caroline Tolli ’13 and Emily Liggett ’12 took first and second in the mile, while Braunegg and Sasha Hornock ’13 won the 800 meters and 60 meters, respectively. Emily Ando ’14 had an impressive pole vault of 11’ 3.75’’, which placed her third in the meet and tied for sixth in the school record books, and Romanelli’s triple jump of 37’ 8.5’’, her personal best, won her second in the meet, as well as putting her ninth in school history.

“I was really happy with how well I jumped, and I’m hoping to keep the momentum going into Patriot League Championships,” Romanelli said. “Every weekend we continue to excel and put up better marks. As a result, we’ve been having great success, and I know we all can’t wait to compete in two weeks.”

On Friday, a small portion of the team also headed down the road to the Susquehanna Crusader Classic. There, Eden Wondra ’15 shined in the pole vault, winning the event with a vault of 9’ 6.25’’. Other noteworthy performers included Zoe Gaston ’15 and Stefanie Spanfeller ’14, who took second and fifth respectively in the mile.

The team will compete Saturday in the Bison Winter Classic, the final meet before the Patriot League Indoor Championships.