Author: Alex Wagner

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Cross Country Cross Country Men Sports Women

Cross country divides forces

 

Edward Louie | The Bucknellian
Bison runners forge a path at the front of the pack. Pre-Nationals proved to be a tougher test for the Orange and Blue than the Gettysburg Invitational.

Billy Tyler
Contributing Writer

The men’s and women’s cross country teams divided their squads last weekend to compete at both Pre-Nationals in Louisville, Ky. and the Gettysburg Invitational in Gettysburg, Pa. The divided teams produced varying results at two premier events with extremely competitive fields.

Pre-Nationals, featuring a strong national caliber field, presented a tough test for the Orange and Blue. The men’s team goal to finish in the top half of the competitive field was hindered by some bad luck, in the form of several falls early in the race to key runners, including Glen Williams ’15 and D.J. Krystek ’13. John Dugan ’15 managed to finish the eight-kilometer course strongly coming in 146th place with a time of 24:48.3. He was followed by Michael McGowan ’15 in 177th (25:05.1), Charles Seigneur ’13 in 188th (25:08.4), Andrew Garcia-Garrison ’15 in 190th (25:10.1) and Tyler Erhard ’14 in 243rd (25:54.7).

“[The falls] really cost our team quite a bit,” head coach Kevin Donner said.

Donner is still confident his team gained valuable experience from the event and will bounce back to perform well at the Patriot League Championships.

The women’s team had similar results in the event, which featured a fast and aggressive field. The quick pace left several members of the Bison struggling to sustain the tempo in the last bit of the six-kilometer race. Leading the way for the Bison was Caroline Tolli ’13, who finished 13th overall with a time of 21:47.

Both teams fared better at the Gettysburg Invitational. The men’s team had a second place finish out a field of 35 teams. The team also had two members finish in the top 20 in of the eight-kilometer race, with Andrew Kuchta ’16 (26:02) and David Strauss ’14 (26:09) taking ninth and 18th place, respectively. The Bison finished the event with a total of 70 points, second only to Lock Haven with 50 points.

The women’s team had an equally strong result at the event, taking the third place spot in a field of 36 schools. Just as with the men’s team, the women’s team was led by members finishing in the top 20, with Becky Snelson ’15 (23:13) taking 17th place and Emily Waksmunski ’14 (23:18) taking 19th place.

“Overall, everyone ran really well this weekend, and I think it was a good confidence booster to have this as our last meet before Leagues,” Snelson said.

Many of these reserves provided solid results and several were able to earn spots on the travel roster for the team’s next event, the Patriot League Championships, which will take place on Oct. 27 in Hamilton, N.Y.

Categories
Men Sports Tennis Tennis Women

Tennis duos shine

 

Chloe Chou | The Bucknellian
Maria Cioffi ’16 extends to reach the ball. She had a strong weekend for the Bison individually and in her double play with Elenca Vidrascu ’14

Alex Wagner

Sports Editor

Men’s tennis teammates Chris Tortora ’14 and Jonathan DeFrancesch ’15 and women’s tennis teammates Maria Cioffi ’16 and Elena Vidrascu ’14 saw success in doubles and singles play in the Lehigh Invitational last weekend.

Tortora and DeFrancesch together accounted for seven of the team’s 15 wins over the weekend after each went 2-0 in singles play as well as combining for a 3-0 doubles record, including a highly-contested 9-7 win over Lehigh.

“This was the second tournament that Johnny [DeFrancesch] and I have played together in, and we keep making strides in improvement,” Tortora said. “Johnny is an energetic player and that really helped me get my blood flowing. We beat our opponents more so because of our high levels of intensity than anything else.”

Evan Zimmer ’13 also had a good weekend as his 1-1 singles record and 2-1 doubles record with partner Josh Katten ’13 moved him up three spots to fourth place on the Bison’s all-time win list. He is now 119-63 in his career with the Orange and Blue.

“This weekend went very well for not only me, but the team as a whole,” Tortora said.  “We got to match up our lineup versus some quality opponents and we fared very well. I was able to be effective with my serve and I stayed mentally tough throughout all of my matches.”

On the women’s side, Cioffi and Vidrascu had similar success as a duo and as singles. They went 2-1 in doubles after two tight 9-8 wins against Lehigh opponents. They are now 10-3 together on the season. Cioffi also went 2-0 in singles with defeats of Delaware and Lehigh.

Although Vidrascu was unable to get a win in singles, her doubles success moved her up to a tie for 18th place on the Bison’s career wins list, as her record is now 38-35.

Jen Bush ’15, Christie Schneider ’15 and Stephanie Pino ’16 were also able to contribute to the Orange and Blue’s success as they each earned a singles victory against Lehigh.

The men’s team will be back in action from Oct. 18-22 as Zimmer, Katten and Kelly Morque ’13 head to Charlottesville, Va. for the ITA Regional Championships. The women’s team will not be competing until the start of dual play on Feb. 2.

Categories
Sports Volleyball Women

Volleyball struggles against PL rivals

 

Heather Oros | The Bucknellian
The Bison move quickly to cover their side of the court. Over the weekend, American and Navy found a number of holes in the Bison’s defense.

Katherine Harris
Writer

The women’s volleyball team wrapped up its first round of Patriot League play last weekend, ending in losses to both American and Navy at home.

The Bison went up against a tough American team on Oct. 12. While they put up a strong fight in pushing the Eagles to four sets, the team ended with a loss for the night. Since the Orange and Blue have lost in straight sets in their last four meetings with American, they considered their performance to be a definite step in the right direction.

“This past weekend we came out really strong against American. We truly gave it our all but still weren’t able to come through with the W. We made American earn every point that they received on the scoreboard,” Claire Healy ’16 said.

Many individuals performed strongly for the Bison in the match. Morgan Mientus ’14 recorded her first double-double of the season with 15 digs and 13 kills, while Karen Campbell ’16 racked up 10 kills and four blocks. Healy recorded 11 kills, Meghan Wentzel ’16 totaled 28 assists and Katie Price ’16 brought in a career-high 20 digs on the night.

The Orange and Blue then hosted Navy on Oct. 13. The team struggled to bring the same intensity as the previous night and lost in three straight sets to the Midshipmen.

“We just have this issue where not everyone is ‘on’ on the same night. Some of us will be playing so well one game and then struggle the next,” Mientus said.

Mientus racked up nine kills and six digs on the day, while Healy gained her fourth double-double of the season, recording 13 kills and 11 digs. Wentzel also once again led the Bison in assists for the match, this time bringing in 13 for the team.

The Bison will begin their second round of Patriot League play tonight at 7 p.m. as they host Lehigh. Though they lost 3-1 in their first meeting with the Mountain Hawks, the team is confident that this could be the game to break their losing streak.

“We definitely need some consistency and hopefully the juniors and sophomores can step into the starting line up a bit more and use our experience to provide more consistency,” Mientus said. “Going into the second half of Patriot League play, I hope we can redeem ourselves and show the teams that we are indeed a force to be reckoned with!”

Categories
Sports

Athlete of the Week: Matt Napleton ’13

Alex Wagner
Sports Editor

 

Player Profile 

Matt Napleton

Senior

Oak Park, Ill.

Economics and Political Science

 

Season stats:

14 starts in 14 games

128 saves in 416 minutes played

.487 save percentage

 

Matt Napleton ’13 was a focal point of the men’s water polo team as they added two wins to their official record over the course of last weekend. Going into the contests on a five game losing streak meant that the senior leaders on the team needed to step up and bring it to an end. Napleton did just that.

In the first game against MIT, he had seven saves to help keep the opponent’s attack in check. Against Harvard, Napleton was exceptional, racking up 21 saves to keep the Orange and Blue in the game. His performance led him to become the first Bison since 2001 to have at least 20 saves in a game. In addition, his save total on the day was just three short of equaling the program record for saves in a game.

“We were happy to come out of this weekend 4-0, but we have some issues we need to address if we’re going to win the key games we have in the next couple weeks. Our offense started to come together this weekend. Mike [Kimble ’14] and Jack [Else ’14] did a great job at center to let us get into our extra man offense. Our defense needs to improve; we can’t allow ourselves to get ejected and give the other team easy scoring chances,” Napleton said.

Despite the team’s strong performance, Napleton knows they still need to continue improving.

“Going forward, we can use this weekend to identify our weaknesses and work to fix them. Everyone on this team has areas they can improve in, and we need to do so,” Napleton said.

Categories
Beyond the Bison Sports

Beyond the Bison: Mission Accomplished

Julian Dorey
Writer

Last weekend, the Eagles beat the Giants.

Okay, that was just the Birds fan in me gloating a bit. The real story of the evening was Brian Dawkins’ induction into the Eagles Hall of Fame.

Last spring, the nine-time Pro Bowl safety walked away from the game he revolutionized and brought to a close a truly remarkable career.

For 16 years, Dawkins roamed the NFL’s proverbial outfield like a ticking time bomb, daring quarterbacks to throw the ball anywhere within his jurisdiction. He finished his career with more than 25 sacks and more than 35 interceptions, joining an elite few in the NFL’s history who have accomplished that feat.

More importantly, Dawkins was the unquestioned team leader of an Eagles franchise that dominated the NFC East for much of the last decade and made a trip to the Super Bowl in 2005.

A great player on the field, Dawkins was an even greater person off of it. He was one of the few out-of-town professional athletes in Philadelphia who truly understood the passion, intensity and expectations of its fan base.

During the Eagles-Giants game on Sunday, the team he carried honored him in the best way they could. Dawkins’ signature No. 20 jersey was retired and an enormous mural was unveiled at the northern end of the stadium.

In football, jerseys don’t often get retired. With 53 men to fill out a roster every year, there are already limited options when it comes to picking digits. Dawkins hasn’t even been out of the league for a year yet.

As the current Eagles players took the field on Sunday night, “Weapon X” (as Dawkins was called) did one more “transformation” dance out of the team tunnel. Donning the very jersey he graced for 13 years in Philadelphia, Dawkins crawled, shook and danced his way towards the 50-yard line to a thunderous roar from the Philly faithful.

At halftime, Dawkins got to say thank you one more time as his honorary mural was officially unveiled.

The emotion he played with has not left him and his passion for the game is still evident. He was a privilege to watch for all NFL fans, and his punishing playing style may never be seen again in light of the new player safety measures taken by the NFL.

The Eagles won a nail-biter, 19-17, but Brian Dawkins was the real winner that night.

Categories
Football Men Sports

Football drops another close contest: Bison unable to convert on final drive

Eric Brod
Senior writer

The Bison have been led by their defense so far this season, but the offense once again failed to deliver as the Orange and Blue dropped their third straight contest, a 15-10 decision at the hands of Cornell. The Bison are now 1-3 on the season. While the Bison were able to move inside the Big Red 15-yard line in the final minute, the offense was unable to cross the goal line for the go-ahead score.

After the defense forced Cornell to punt after a three and out, the Bison returned the punt near midfield with 3:20 left to play in the game, trailing 15-10. After three straight Brandon Wesley ’14 completions brought the Orange and Blue to the Cornell 28-yard line, Tyler Smith ’13 converted on a 4th-and-1 on the ensuing series to keep the Bison comeback drive alive. Unfortunately, the Bison were unable to convert a first down on the next series, sealing their fate.

“Our offense must do a better job of sustaining drives and converting possessions,” Head coach Joe Susan said. “As a team, we will keep working to put ourselves in position to make more explosive plays.”

The defense, led by a career-high 12 tackles from linebacker Evan Byers ’15, kept Big Red quarterback Jeff Mathews in check, holding him to 27-46 passing for 278 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. Byers attributes many factors to his success this season.

“Just using all of last year as a learning experience and to find out what college football is all about. Coach Pennypacker, the linebackers coach, and also Beau Traber [’13], the other starting linebacker, have helped me a great amount in improving from last year to this year,” Byers said. “Also the defensive line and the secondary have been doing a great job making it easier for me to get tackles and put pressure on the QB.”

Coming into play, the Cornell offense was averaging 36 points per game, while Mathews had thrown seven touchdowns in his previous two games.

“The most important part is [Byers’] work ethic, on and off the field. He is a high motor player. This is consistent with how he trains and how he prepares for a game,” Susan said. “I am sure Evan will continue to develop into one of the better linebackers in the league.”

The defense also received a huge contribution from safety Ryan Morgan ’14, who had eight tackles and one interception. Traber also contributed eight tackles.

The Orange and Blue took an early lead on a two-yard run by running back Jeremiah Young ’13, his first score of the year. The play was set up by a 63-yard run by Charles Thompson ’14. Cornell responded with the game’s next 15 points. The Bison next scored on a 29-yard field goal by Sean Cobelli ’14 with 5:14 remaining in the game.

Wesley had a solid day passing, going 19-29 for 135 yards. Victor Walker ’14 proved to be the go to man again, catching eight passes for 57 yards. Smith returned to rush for 44 yards on 12 carries. The Bison were once again plagued by penalties, committing six for 75 yards. Cornell outgained the Bison on offense 361-286.

The Bison will return tomorrow against Patriot League rival Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass.

“We need to capitalize on all the chances we get this weekend and when the time comes to make those plays, we need to make them,” Byers said. “The defense needs to create more turnovers so that we can win the turnover battle and allow our offense to have the ball more.”

Susan knows the offense must generate sustained drives early to ignite the squad as it looks to earn its second win of the season.

“We have to continue to work to improve our ability to put points on the board. Smith will be closer to 100 percent, and with the combination of Tyler, Young and Thompson, we must be a better run team,” Susan said.

Categories
Soccer Sports Women

Women’s soccer falls two times

Ajan Caneda
Copy Editor

The women’s soccer team struggled this past week, falling 4-1 against Colgate in its Patriot League opener on Sept. 29. On Oct. 2, the Orange and Blue put up a valiant effort against No. 4 Penn State, but were unable to contain the offensive attack of the Nittany Lions, suffering a 3-1 loss in Happy Valley.

During this season, the Bison (7-6) have gotten off to early leads that have allowed them to control the tempo of the game. In the Orange and Blue’s home conference opener, Colgate struck first, scoring its first goal in the ninth minute of the match. The Raiders continued to pressure the Orange and Blue, reeling off 14 shot attempts and six corner kicks in the first half. A Bison own goal pushed the lead to 2-0 at halftime.

“It was a pretty tough game, and Colgate finished their best chances, while we struggled a bit in that area,” Courtney Nelson ’15 said.

In the second half, Cassie Denger ’15 offered a cross-pass to Evelyn Nicinski ’15, who nailed a goal off of a leaping volley. The Orange and Blue were able to outshoot Colgate 11-10 in the second half. Unfortunately, the Raiders answered with back to back goals in the 56th and 59th minute to seal the game.

Nicinski led the Bison with four shot attempts. Nelson, Kayla Yee ’13 and Chelsey Garkowski ’14 each had three. Goalie Sandita McDermott ’13 finished a complete game with seven saves.

“We can’t let this one defeat keep us down; Colgate is a good team, but we haven’t peaked yet and will keep on improving,” Nelson said.

Following the loss, the Orange and Blue traveled to State College to face Penn State. The Bison were strong defensively, holding the Nittany Lions scoreless for a majority of the first half. A Bison foul led to a penalty kick goal for Penn State, giving them the lead at halftime.

After a Penn State goal in the 58th minute, the Bison countered with a goal from midfielder Jenna Tryon ’13, her first since her first year. Midfielder Taryn Boucher ’13 had a chance for the equalizer down the stretch but was unable to convert. The Nittany Lions scored their final goal in the 74th minute off a cross pass to finish a 3-1 victory.

McDermott had 11 saves, off of 20 Penn State shot attempts, 14 of which were on goal. This is only the second time this season that the Bison have lost consecutive games.

This was the last non-conference game for the Bison, and they look to regain momentum as they return home for two Patriot League contests this weekend. The Orange and Blue face Holy Cross today at 7 p.m., followed by a match against Army on Sunday at 1 p.m.

“As a team, we will be picking each other up and working on communication as we prepare for Holy Cross this weekend,” Nelson said.

Categories
Men Sports Tennis

Men’s tennis racks up wins at home

Chris McCree
Sports Editor

The men’s tennis team posted 17 wins over two days at the Bucknell Invitational this past weekend, going 8-1 on the first day and 9-4 on day two. The Orange and Blue had their most success in doubles, winning eight of nine matches with the only loss occurring in a head-to-head match featuring two Bison duos. Octavio Canibe ’15 and Kelly Morque ’13 will face Josh Katten ’13 and Evan Zimmer ’13 in the doubles championship later in the week.

“What stood out to me this weekend is how versatile we are in certain areas,” Katten said. “For one, we have some very strong doubles players; it just takes the right combinations to produce wins. I was also very impressed with our team’s resiliency. This was our fourth straight weekend of matches, and we were able to fight through some of the weariness that comes with playing many matches.”

In singles, the Bison dominated in the first round but could not find the same level of success during the quarterfinals. Zimmer and Canibe pulled out tiebreak wins in the Flight A singles on day one, but lost in the next round. Both of Zimmer’s matches were decided in tiebreakers.

In Flight B singles, the Orange and Blue had more success as Chris Tortora ’14 and Jonathan DeFrancesch ’15 each won two matches to advance to the finals. Both players won in straight sets on day one but needed a tiebreak set in the semifinals to overcome opponents from Duquesne.

“As a whole, our team’s performance was promising, but as always there is much room for improvement,” Katten said. “Unfortunately, at the moment we are dealing with quite a few injuries, so while we had some solid individual performances, as a whole we are missing some important pieces.”

With two all-Bison finals, the Orange and Blue will increase their title tally to four for the fall season. The team has two tournaments remaining on the season and then will start up its spring campaign in February.

“The fall matches are often a good indicator of how we will perform in the spring,” Katten said. “However, this year we have a tough fall schedule which may induce some losses but in the long run will strengthen our team. I think as a unit we have high expectations for our spring slate, but we need to be mindful that it is a process and the league champion is often the team that grows the most throughout the year.”

The Bison will return to action next weekend from Oct. 12-14 at the Lehigh Invitational in Bethlehem, Pa.

Categories
Men Soccer Sports

Men’s soccer held scoreless at American

Chris McCree
Sports Editor

The men’s soccer team recorded its first league loss this weekend at American in a tight defensive contest ending in a 1-0 loss for the Orange and Blue. The Bison out shot the Eagles 13-4, but a 44th minute scramble between goalie Mike Lansing ’16 and American’s Dale McDonald resulted in the game’s lone goal.

“The difference between winning and losing a Patriot League game is so small,” head coach Brendan Nash said. “We made the one necessary play to win at Lehigh, and American made the one necessary play this past weekend. It can be frustrating to have a game decided on just one play, but that is what makes the Patriot League so special.”

Holding the Eagles to just two shots for the majority of the first half, the Orange and Blue surrendered its only goal off of a long pass resulting in a mad dash between Lansing and McDonald. Arriving just before Lansing could get his hands on the ball, McDonald was able to poke it by, giving the Eagles the lead right before halftime.

In the second half, the Bison continued to pressure the Eagles defense, recording seven of its 13 shots and earning four corner kicks. Despite their efforts, the Bison could not find the back of the net and saw their regular season losing-streak against American increase to four years.

“I am really not sure there is much to improve upon from this past weekend,” Nash said. “We executed our game plan and held AU to just four shots on their home field.”

For the game, Brendan Burgdorf ’13 and CK Kumah ’13 led the Bison with four and three shots, respectively. The Orange and Blue’s best attempt came off of a breakaway from Burgdorf, but his shot sailed just over the crossbar. The Bison also had three shots denied by the posts and five stopped by the American goalkeeper.

“We just have to make sure we do not let the loss affect us mentally,” Nash said. “There is still a lot of PL soccer yet to play, and we have not even played a home league match yet. So the student-athletes just need to keep working hard to improve and I believe things will work out in the long term.”

The team will host Navy this weekend at Emmitt Field tomorrow at 2 p.m.

Categories
Men Sports Swimming & Diving Swimming & Diving Women

Swimming opens season

Lauren Boone
Contributing Writer

The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams began their season against UMBC in Baltimore last weekend with the men winning eight races and the women winning seven.  The meet was not scored, so as to give the teams a chance to experience competition early in the season.

For the women, Emma Levendoski ’16 led her team with the most wins in her first collegiate competition. She took first in the 50, 100 and 200 backstroke, while Kelly Pontecorvo ’14 won the 500 and 1,000 freestyle. To round out the first place finishes for the Bison, Lauren Perry ’15 won the 200 freestyle and Elizabeth Porcellio ’13 won the 200 individual medley (IM). Additionally, Perry was the runner-up in the 50 freestyle, while Porcellio finished second in the 100 and 400 IM.

“Overall, the meet was a success and a good start to the season. It was a low stress meet so it was really just a good way for me, as a freshman, to see how the team works in a meet situation. Everyone swam as well as they expected to and we all had a great time,” Levendoski said.

On the men’s side, Cameron James ’16 proved himself with a trifecta of victories, winning the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle heats. Mike Nicholson ’14 won the 200 and 400 IM races, while Trevor Reitz ’14 won the 50 butterfly. Ben Seketa ’15 won the 200 breaststroke and Christian Treat ’13 won the 100 breaststroke.

“I think the meet this past weekend was a great first step in our season. We wanted to start off well as a team, and I feel we did just that,” James said. “This was my first competition as a member of the men’s swimming team, so I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to prove myself. However, it is still early in our season, which means we have a lot of work ahead of us as a team. Our goal is to get better every week, and we began looking forward to our next contest at the conclusion of Saturday’s competition.”

Additionally, Brian Phillips ’16 placed second in the 1,000 freestyle, JT Nangle ’16 finished second in the 50 backstroke and third in the 100 backstroke and Wes Marberry ’16 took third in the 200 backstroke.

The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will be back in action in two weeks when they travel to Storrs, Conn. to take on UConn on Oct. 20.