Author: Andrew Arnao

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Beyond the Bison Sports

Beyond the Bison: Sports News Across the Nation

 

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons Coach Tom Izzo (left) is nearing the end of another successful season. Izzo may go down as one of the greatest coaches that college basketball has ever seen.
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Coach Tom Izzo (left) is nearing the end of another successful season. Izzo may go down as one of the greatest coaches that college basketball has ever seen.

Julian Dorey

Writer

“More with Less”

I haven’t called him “Tom” in years. To me, Tom Izzo is simply the “Wiz.” In his 18 years manning the ship at Michigan State’s basketball program, the credentials speak for themselves: 16 straight NCAA tournament appearances, seven regular season Big Ten Championships, six Final Four appearances, two national title game appearances and one National Championship in 2000. Izzo has made MSU synonymous with March folklore and he has continually turned over roster after roster successfully. What’s even more impressive is that despite all of that success over the years, he has only ever had one player become an NBA All-Star (Zach Randolph) which makes his accomplishments all the more impressive given the lack of superstar power his teams have had.

Instead, he has relied on coaching up smart, team-oriented leaders like Mateen Cleaves, Drew Neitzel, Kalin Lucas and Draymond Green. Seemingly every season, Michigan State receives love from the AP voters early on, sometimes without much more of a reason than “Izzo has to have something up his sleeve.” While they have spent many seasons fading from their preseason rankings, Izzo has repeatedly gotten his team clicking on all cylinders by February. By March, they’re deadly.

This year Izzo is at it again. After receiving a number three seed from the NCAA Tournament Committee, the Spartans opened up their tournament with a 65-54 win over Valparaiso, and then followed that up with a high-speed beat down of an athletic Memphis team 70-48. With a matchup against Mike Krzyzewski and second-seeded Duke on the horizon, Izzo seems poised for another “joke’s on everyone else” run through the bracket. The Spartans look like one of the most physical teams in the country right now, and they do not turn the ball over.

At this point, a fair question is certainly at hand: if Izzo can make it seven final four appearances and, dare I say, two national titles, will it be fair to call him one of the greatest of all time? Izzo is 439-177 in his 18 seasons as a collegiate head coach (all at MSU), giving him a .713 win percentage. Part of the reason his name is sometimes left out of the “legends” conversation is because guys like Krzyzewski, Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim and North Carolina’s Roy Williams have had more seasons of head coaching, and thus have higher win totals. 

But history remembers greatness. Izzo has already matched Boeheim with one national title, and he has lapped him with six Final Four appearances to Boeheim’s three. With one more national title, Izzo will match Roy Williams in national titles and Final Four appearances, albeit in seven less seasons. Measurables like this surely will not be lost in the annals of college basketball history.

Sparty looks primed for another run at college basketball’s crown, and I don’t mind putting my money on Izzo.

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Men Sports Track & Field Women

Track heads outdoors for start of spring season

Andrew Arnao

Sports Editor

After a brief hiatus, the men’s and women’s track and field teams are getting ready to get back in action as they begin the outdoor portion of their schedule. The preseason so far includes the success of several Bison at the Washington and Lee Carnival last weekend, as well as the Bison receiving high rankings for the upcoming outdoor season.

Three Bison track and field members travelled to Lexington, Va. to participate in the Washington and Lee Carnival. Emma Rice ’15, Michaela Read ’16 and Cody Haupt ’16 performed well at the event, earning top-15 finishes in each of their respective events.

Rice competed in the 100 meter and 200 meter, placing 11th in the 100 meter with a time of 13.20 and placing 13th in the 200 meters with a time of 27.10. Read placed 15th in the pentathlon with a score 3,185 points, while Haupt managed 14th place in the decathlon with a total of 4,787 points.

The Orange and the Blue also fared well in the outdoor preseason polls, with both the men’s and women’s teams earning second place. The men, looking to defend their three consecutive Patriot League titles, scored a 90, closely trailing first-place Navy by two points. The women, winners of three of the last four championships, scored an 89, also trailing first-place Navy by six points. Both the Bison and Navy finished the voting far ahead from the rest of the Patriot League, indicating that the battle for this year’s crown will come down to a close competition between these two teams.

The Bison look to put their right foot forward as they begin their outdoor season this weekend at the UMBC Invitational in Baltimore, Md.

Categories
Lacrosse Men Sports

Men’s lax goes 1-1, achieves highest all-time ranking

 

Ally Boni | The Bucknellian Goalie Kyle Feeney '13 clears the ball in a recent win. The Bison moved up in the national rankings from No. 16 to No. 6 this past week after beating No. 20 Albany and No. 2 Cornell.
Ally Boni | The Bucknellian
Goalie Kyle Feeney ’13 clears the ball in a recent win. The Bison moved up in the national rankings from No. 16 to No. 6 this past week after beating No. 20 Albany and No. 2 Cornell.

Reed Dempsey

Staff Writer

The Orange and Blue traveled to Albany, N.Y. on March 23, where they exploded for a season-high 18-goal performance against the No. 20 University of Albany Great Danes in an 18-12 victory. The Bison also fell to No. 16/17 Penn State 11-3 in a home match on March 26.

Early in the first quarter against Albany, the Bison and Great Danes traded a pair of goals before the Bison added two straight to open up a 3-1 lead. Not to be outdone, Albany mounted a three-goal run over the final minutes of the first quarter and into the second, giving them the advantage. The Orange and Blue quickly responded with an equalizer, but red-hot Albany went back-to-back-to-back, increasing its lead to three goals.

In the early minutes of the second half, the teams brought the game to a 9-6 score in favor of the Great Danes, before Ryan Gutowski ’13 won the ensuing faceoff, rushed the ball down the field and scored his first goal of the season. This began an explosive 6-1 run for the Bison, that included two goals by Brock Ghelfi ’16 and single tallies from Thomas Flibotte ’16, David Dickson ’15 and Peter Burke ’14, giving the Orange and Blue a 12-10 advantage.

The Great Danes scored twice in the opening minute of the final period, in what would be their final goals of the game. Over the final 14 minutes, the Bison defense shut down Albany, as the offense opened up for another six-goal run.

The Orange and Blue were led by four-goal performances from Todd Heritage ’14 and Flibotte, in addition to a career-high seven-point effort by Dickson.

Following this decisive win, the Bison received a bump in the polls, moving up ten spots to No. 6/7, an all-time high. The Orange and Blue faced a quick turnaround as the No. 16/17 Penn State Nittany Lions visited Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.

The two high-powered offenses were overshadowed by strong defensive performances in the first half, as the Bison were only able to capitalize on two extra-man opportunities while the visiting Nittany Lions found the back of the net three times to take a one-goal lead heading into the half.

Several minutes into the third quarter Ghelfi found the back of the net to tie the game at three goals apiece, in what would be the final Bison goal of the game. During the rest of the game, the Orange and Blue were completely shut down by the visiting defense. Heritage linked the offensive drought to Penn State’s style of defense in addition to an inability to execute their normal offensive play.

“We came out and didn’t run our offense exactly how we wanted to. Penn State runs a different defense than most we see during the season,” Heritage said.

At the same time, the opposing offense continued to fire on all cylinders, scoring eight straight goals. Team Captain Kyle Feeney ’13 was obviously disappointed with the team’s performance.

“We came out a little flat … we were in a position we had never been (No. 6 in the nation) and I unfortunately didn’t think we handled it well. We didn’t stay true to who we are as a team,” Feeney said.

Coming off the tough loss, the Bison look to rebound Saturday at 1 p.m. in a Patriot League matchup against Holy Cross at home.

Categories
Softball Sports Women

Softball loses twice to Drexel

Katherine Harris

Senior Writer

After 21 consecutive road games, the women’s softball team faced off against Drexel on March 27 in its first two home games of the season. Unfortunately, the Bison could not get a win in either half of the doubleheader, losing both by a score of 3-1.

In the first game, the Bison offense was led by Cydnee Sanders ’15. Sanders not only posted two singles and a triple, but also scored the only run for the Orange and Blue.

“We had trouble stringing along hits. We have been working on a lot of little things to improve our game, and I think we just have to put it all together now,” Sanders said.

Several other members of the team also performed well in the tight loss. Mary Horton ’13 posted the Bison’s only other two hits in the match. Pitcher Amanda Fazio ’16 also had a good day, pitching a full game and allowing only five hits, with no earned runs.

After a brief break, the Orange and Blue looked for revenge in the second half of the doubleheader. The Bison were hot early and jumped out to a quick lead in the second inning when Sanders got on base with a single and was later driven in on a single by Lauren Swindell ’16. Dana Nielsen ’16 got the loss on the mound. Despite being credited with all three runs, she managed to strike out seven opponents on the day.

The Bison will continue their stretch of home games this weekend when they host Lehigh for doubleheaders starting at 1 p.m. and 12 p.m. on March 30 and March 31, respectively.

Categories
Sports Tennis Women

Women’s tennis wins two matches

Emily Evancho

Writer

The women’s tennis team battled through a shivering start to their season in Fairfax, Va. on March 22 with a 4-2 win over George Mason. Unfortunately, on the following day in Annapolis, Md. the Bison were unable to pull a repeat performance in their first Patriot League match, falling 7-0 to Navy. On March 27, the ladies hit the court again against Mount St. Mary’s, emerging with a 4-3 victory.

Abbreviated by the cold against George Mason, the Orange and Blue had a tricky task in singles play. Stephanie Pino ’16 was the first Bison to strike victory with a 6-3, 6-4 final score. Lydia Colvin ’15 followed Pino’s lead with her own 6-2, 7-6 win. Maria Cioffi ’16 and Elena Vidrascu ’14 struggled in their matches, splitting sets and ending both their matches with super tie breakers. Cioffi and Vidrascu eventually came out on top with Cioffi securing the match’s decision in favor of the Orange and Blue with her 10-6 victory in her tiebreaker.

The next day’s match against Navy did not end in another victory for the Bison. Vidrascu and Cioffi once again played a key role in the match as the Bison’s only win of the day, an 8-7 triumph in the No. 1 doubles match. Navy took the lead in all singles matches and didn’t allow another Bison win. In singles play, the strongest performance was given by Colvin, who lost 7-5, 6-2 after almost taking the first set.

“We normally have really tight matches against Navy. Everyone played well in their matches but it didn’t come out in our favor. If we had to play them again though, I think we’d have a good chance,” Cioffi said.

The women’s tennis team swung back with a victory against Mount St. Mary’s. After falling behind 2-1, singles wins by Cioffi, Colvin and Pino gave the Bison a small 3-2 lead. As the temperatures on the cold day plummeted, the doubles matches got underway, with the match on the line. Victories by Pino/Colvin (8-1) and Jen Bush ’15/Sam Madnick ’16 (8-3) gave the doubles point and the match to the Bison.

The women’s tennis team will return to the court again on April 2, to play against St. Joseph’s in Philadelphia.

Categories
Baseball Men Sports

Baseball suffers several one-run setbacks, goes 1-4

Thomas Walter

Senior Writer

The baseball team dropped three consecutive one-run games to the Delaware Blue Hens last weekend, with the first two games on the road and the final game at home. The Orange and the Blue lost 13-12 in game one, 4-3 in game two and 5-4 in game three. The Bison also split two home games against Binghamton.

The first Delaware game proved to be a heartbreaker for the Bison. Pitcher Bryson Hough ’15 was lit up for 10 runs in 5.2 innings, and the Orange and the Blue went into the top of the eighth inning facing a 13-2 deficit. In a stunning comeback attempt, the Bison scored two runs in the eighth and then unloaded for eight runs in the ninth, but fell excruciatingly short with the bases loaded and could not complete the rally.

In the second game, the Bison entered the eighth inning with a 2-2 tie, but Delaware scored two in the bottom of the inning to take the lead. The Orange and the Blue got one back in the ninth, but once again were stopped short by one run.

Game three seemed like the Bison would finally reverse their bad fortune. Trailing 4-2 going into the bottom of the ninth, the Bison rallied for two runs thanks to RBI hits by Corey Furman ’14 and Carter Bumgardner ’13 to knot the score 4-4. After trading zeros in the 10th, the Bison once again fell behind on a wild pitch, and this time could not tie it up as they suffered their final loss to Delaware.

Furman hit in all three games and was able to extend his current team-leading six-game hitting streak. Bumgardner also performed well, going 7-13 in the three games with the Blue Hens. Bumgardner scored a pair of runs in game one, and had a clutch RBI in game three to complete a two-run rally and send the final game in this series to extra innings.

Things began to get a little better as the Orange and Blue won the first game versus Binghamton 3-1. Behind strong pitching from Andrew Andreychik ’16 and RBIs from Robb Scott ’13, Rob Krentzman ’15 and Brett Ashley ’14, the Bison were able to break their seven-game losing streak.

In game two, the Bison again came back from a deficit as they erased a three-run Binghamton lead in the sixth inning, only to cough up the lead in the seventh and drop another one-run game.

The Orange and Blue will head into Patriot League play this weekend on the road against Holy Cross.

Categories
Men Sports Tennis

Men’s tennis records multiple wins thanks to Bybel, Zimmer

Lauren Boone

Staff Writer

The men’s tennis team faced three tough competitors this past week, with two road matchups last weekend against George Mason and Navy and a home match against Mount St. Mary’s on March 27. After the matches, the Orange and Blue improved their overall season record to 8-5 with a 4-3 victory over George Mason, a 5-2 loss to Navy and a 5-2 win over Mount St. Mary’s.

The Bison clinched the win over George Mason on March 22 thanks to the doubles team of Octavio Canibe ’15 and Aidan Lynch ’14. They pulled out a 9-7 win, claiming the doubles point that won the overall match.

The meeting began with singles matches, with Evan Zimmer ’13, Josh Katten ’13 and Nick Bybel ’16 all claiming victories for the Bison. At first, the Bison led the singles matches with three points to the Patriots’ sole point, but George Mason managed to gather a couple of points to tie up the score leading into the doubles play.

The Patriots kept the momentum leading into doubles. On the No. 2 court, they defeated Kelly Morque ’13 and Zimmer 8-3. But the Bison were able to claim the last two doubles matches to win the overall match. At No. 1 doubles, Bybel and Katten won with a score of 8-6. Finally, the Orange and Blue claimed the winning point at No. 3 doubles (9-7).

“George Mason was a pretty crazy match. We played in 40 degree weather and we’re in a battle with the wind as much as we were our opponents. Although it came down to the doubles point, this was an exciting win for our team. Getting a win under the unusual circumstances in a true battle is great and helps motivate our team. It was exciting being the last match on with everything coming down to Octavio [Canibe] and I winning or losing. I’m glad we came out on top,” Lynch said.

Unfortunately, the Bison were not able to the take the momentum from the George Mason win into their first Patriot League match of the season against Navy. Bybel recorded a singles victory and partnered with Katten for an 8-6 doubles victory. Kyle Rosen ’14 recorded the only other singles win with a score of 6-2, 6-3. Bybel’s singles win against Navy tied him for most singles victories this season on the team, but it was not enough as the Bison remained winless in 37 tries against Navy.

Against Mount St. Mary’s, Zimmer proved to be the hero by securing the match-winning point with victories in both singles and doubles, with Lynch as his partner. Bybel and Katten also won their doubles match, while Bybel, Canibe and Morque recorded singles wins.

The next game for the men’s tennis team will be on the road against Saint Joseph’s on April 2.

Categories
Basketball Men Sports

Men’s basketball’s season ended by Butler

 

Raffi Berberian | The Bucknellian Joe Willman '13 (center left) scored a career high of 20 points against Butler in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, but unfortunately it was not enough to clinch another Bison victory.
Raffi Berberian | The Bucknellian
Joe Willman ’13 (center left) scored a career high of 20 points against Butler in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, but unfortunately it was not enough to clinch another Bison victory.

Eric Brod

Senior Writer

A magical season for the 2013 Bison men’s basketball team came to an end on March 21 when the Bison, seeded 11th in the East region of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, fell to sixth-seeded Butler 68-56 at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky. The Orange and Blue finished the season with an outstanding 28-6 record, the most wins by a team in Patriot League history.

Making the sixth tournament appearance in program history, the Orange and Blue got off to a sluggish start offensively, scoring just 14 points in the opening frame. The hero for the Bison in the first half was Joe Willman ’13, who scored eight of the 14 points en route to a career-high 20 points on 10-16 shooting. Willman explains how he was able to get open looks throughout the game.

“Butler hedges ball screens really aggressively and keeps two guys on the ball so I was able to get to open space for open shots,” Willman said. “The guards did a really good job at making passes out of the ball screens. Also, Mike generates a lot of attention so his man was reluctant to leave him, leaving me open.”

Mike Muscala ’13 was stifled throughout the half by Andrew Smith and the Butler defense, limited to nine points for the game on 4-17 shooting. Muscala was still able to grab 10 rebounds. Despite struggling shooting-wise in the first half, the defense, which has been stout all season, held Butler to just 21 points, keeping the deficit at seven heading into the half. Cameron Ayers ’14 discusses what head coach Dave Paulsen’s message was to the team at the half.

“He told us that shots would fall in the second half and that we just need to step up and hit shots,” Ayers said. “We were playing well defensively and only held them to 21 points, so just to keep the defensive intensity up as well.”

Butler extended its lead to 29-18 with 16:35 left in the second half, but the resilient Bison would not go away and staged a comeback. Ignited by a three-point play by Muscala, the Orange and Blue went on a 19-2 run to take a 37-31 lead. The run featured a key jumper by Willman and a transition three by Ayers, who finished with nine points on 3-10 shooting for the game. Butler responded with a run of their own, but Ryan Frazier ’16 came back with a huge three-point play to take back the lead at 40-39.

Butler would take control for the rest of the game as they outscored the Orange and Blue by 12 en route to the third round of the tournament, where they would lose 64-62 to three-seeded Marquette. Ayers discusses what made Butler such a tough matchup for the team.

“They are a very physical team and they don’t make too many mistakes and won’t beat themselves,” Ayers said. “They are very disciplined on defense and make you run your offense to perfection.”

After being inserted into the starting lineup just last month, point guard Steven Kaspar ’15 continued his strong play with six points, six assists and six rebounds in a career-high 32 minutes of action. He also helped lead the defense in holding Butler to just 36 percent shooting, which came into the game shooting 45 percent for the season. The Bulldogs’ defense was also strong, limiting the Bison to just 37 percent from the field.

Despite the loss, the Orange and Blue completed arguably the most successful season in program history. The senior class of Bryson Johnson, Muscala, Willman and Colin Klebon won 92 games in their career, the most in the history of the program. Muscala finished his career as the Bison’s all-time leading scorer (2,036) and second in rebounds (1,093). Johnson, who finished with nine points in the Butler game, leaves as the Patriot League’s record holder for three point baskets in a career (323).

“We are proud of a lot of things over the past four years. We are proud to have won as many games as we did along with setting the records we did with a great group of guys, playing for unbelievable coaches,” Willman said. 

While the Bison are losing much of their veteran core from this year, the future looks bright for the program in the years moving forward. Players such as Ayers, Kaspar, Frazier, Dom Hoffman ’16, Ryan Hill ’14 and Chris Hass ’16 will have the Orange and Blue competitive for next year.

“I’m looking forward to another good season next year with a great group of guys. It is going to be extremely difficult to replace the seniors, obviously because they were a huge part of our success on and off the court, but we are going to have to do it collectively,” Ayers said. “This summer and next fall we all are going to have to improve individually but once we all get back together I think we will surprise a lot of people and have a successful year.”

Categories
Lacrosse Sports Women

Women’s lacrosse drops two games

Ajan Caneda

Copy Editor

The women’s lacrosse team scored 17 goals this past weekend, but the Bison were unsuccessful in both of their contests, falling to Duquesne 18-9 at home on March 26 after suffering a 14-8 road loss to Lehigh on March 23.

Against Duquesne, the Bison were down 9-2 at halftime with Madison Hurwitz ’13 scoring the only two goals for the Orange and Blue. After the Dukes opened the scoring in the second half, the Bison went on a 4-1 run with goals from Sam Rickels ’16, Ryan Wenk ’13, Katelyn Miller ’14 and Sophie Kleinert ’14. It would not be enough to stop the offensive attack of Duquesne, as it scored six unanswered goals to put the game out of reach.

Hurwitz had a season-high four goals, while Miller added two goals and an assist for the Bison. The Dukes outshot the Orange and Blue 27-17 in the game. Goalie Caroline O’Neill ’15 finished with five saves.

At Lehigh, seven players registered goals for the Bison, including two from Emily Kookogey ’15. The Orange and Blue also had a 24-23 shot advantage, but a 5-0 second half run led the Mountain Hawks to victory.

Kleinert scored the initial goal at the 27:19 mark of the first half, but Lehigh answered with five straight goals. Kookogey’s two goals, along with scores from Rickels and Wenk were part of a 4-2 Bison run that trimmed Lehigh’s halftime lead to 7-5.

Cori Thielemann ’15 capitalized on a free position shot and scored her first goal of the match to make it a two-goal game, but the Bison were held scoreless for nearly 25 minutes, as Lehigh scored five more straight goals. Emily Becker ’16 ended the game with a goal of her own off an assist from Hurwitz.

Adrienne Wendling ’13 finished with four ground balls and forced two turnovers, while Rickels registered four draw controls.

The Bison look to pick up their first conference win when they travel to Washington, D.C. to face American on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Categories
Club/Intramural Men's Rowing Sports

Rowing teams look for repeat of last year’s successes

 

Scott Waters | The Bucknellian The varsity eight of the men's crew team trained during the team's winter break training trip in Orlando, Fla.
Scott Waters | The Bucknellian
The varsity eight of the men’s crew team trained during the team’s winter break training trip in Orlando, Fla.

Billy Tyler

Assistant Sports Editor

The men’s crew and women’s rowing teams will begin their seasons this upcoming weekend at the Murphy Cup Regatta. Both teams are coming off highly successful seasons; the women’s team is the defending Patriot League Champion and the men’s team won the silver medal at the ACRA National Championships.

The women’s rowing team has very high expectations for this season. The seven-time defending Patriot League champions have been ranked first in the league’s Preseason Poll. Additionally, the team looks to repeat as overall team champions in the Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta and improve its performance at the season-ending NCAA and IRA regattas.

The team has a difficult road ahead of them en route to an eighth straight Patriot League title. The team’s challenging schedule features dual races against Drexel, Penn, Columbia, Georgetown Lightweights, Princeton Lightweights and Delaware, as well as the Knecht Cup, Dad Vail, Patriot League Championship and IRA Lightweight regattas.

“The women have been working very hard and we have a challenging racing schedule so it will be great to see the team in action soon,” head coach Stephen Kish said.

The men’s crew team also has high expectations after coming off a historic season, which concluded with silver medal performances at both the ECAC and ACRA National Championships. The team has been training hard over the winter in preparation for the season.

“Throughout winter training, our freshmen and sophomores pushed our upperclassmen on the ergs and on the water, which had created a great on-water racing dynamic. I expect this trend to continue with young talent taking seats in the top two eight’s and those two eight’s to vie for medals at our championship regattas,” head coach Al Monte said.

The team recently returned from a Spring Break training trip in Columbia, S.C. and is ready to kick off its spring schedule, which is filled with tough competition and includes dual races against Hobart, Drexel, Williams and Holy Cross and regatta appearances at the Murphy Cup, San Diego Crew Classic, Knecht Cup, ECAC Championship and the ACRA National Championships.

The Murphy Cup Regatta will be held Saturday on the Cooper River in Camden, New Jersey.