Author: Alex Wagner

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Men Sports Water Polo

Men’s water polo goes 0-3 on road

 

Scott Padula

Staff Writer

The men’s water polo team kicked off league play this past weekend with a losses to No. 17 Navy, George Washington and Johns Hopkins. The Orange and Blue, under second year coach John McBride, are now 4-8 on the season and 0-3 in conference play.

To start the road trip, the Bison lost 11-6 to No. 17 Navy. The Orange and Blue were unable to stop the overwhelming Navy offense, allowing three goals in each of the first two quarters and being outscored in the first three. Despite the disappointing result, Jack Else ’14 was fantastic for the Bison, drawing a school record-breaking 10 ejections in the loss. Mike Kimble ’14 led the Orange and Blue in scoring, finding the back of the net twice for the team’s only multi-goal performance. In goal, Matt Napleton ’13 stopped seven shots in 32 minutes of play.

In the team’s second game, the Orange and Blue lost a disappointing game to George Washington, 15-12. The Bison looked flat to start the game, getting outscored 9-2 in the first half. The majority of the deficit was the result of the second quarter, in which the Orange and Blue were held scoreless while allowing five goals. Despite outscoring the Colonials 6-1 in the fourth quarter, the Bison were unable to overcome the seven goal deficit in the second half.

Against the Colonials, Else scored a personal best of seven goals and tallied six more ejections. His seven goals were the most scored by a Bison since 2007. Other multi-point performances came from Kimble, Brian Barron ’13 and Stefan Aleksic ’16. Kimble scored three goals and had an assist, while Aleksic had five assists and Barron two. Napleton was strong in goal again, making eight saves in 32 minutes.

To wrap up the trip, the Orange and Blue went to Baltimore to face Johns Hopkins. The Bison jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter, outscoring the Blue Jays 5-3. The Bison had another weak second quarter where they were held scoreless while allowing four goals. In the second half, the Orange and Blue outscored Johns Hopkins 8-7 but were unable to overcome the two goal deficit. The Bison failed to tie the game in the final possession of the contest, leading to a 14-13 loss.

Barron and Aleksic led the team in scoring with three goals apiece. Else and Kimble also had multi-goal performances with two goals each. In addition, Else recorded seven more ejections, pushing his total to 43 on the season and 148 in his career. Else’s season total is more than three times that of anyone else on the team and his career mark of 148 is now fourth on the Bison’s career ejection total. In the losing effort, Napleton stopped seven shots in 32 minutes of action. Napleton now has 100 saves on the season.

“We came out flat for a couple of the games and our opponents took advantage. The biggest thing we need to fix heading into the Bison Invitational is our attitude and approach to the games. Every time we enter the water, we have to set the tone with physicality and urgency. We’re a talented team and we’re underperforming. It’s time to get angry and do something about it,” co-captain Napleton said.

The Orange and Blue will try to gain momentum this weekend when they host the Bison Invitational on Sept. 29 and 30. The Bison will kick off the invitational against MIT at noon on tomorrow. They will also face the University of Toronto, the Naval Academy’s “B” team and Harvard this weekend.

Categories
Field Hockey Sports Women

Field hockey loses two close games

 

Wilson Hunt | The Bucknellian
Kelly Stefanowicz ’13 moves the ball upfield. The Bison had two very strong showings in their losses.

Andrew Arnao

Senior Writer

The Bison field hockey team fell at home against the No. 17 Michigan Wolverines by a score of 2-0, and also succumbed to a late rally by the Temple Owls in a 5-4 defeat. The Orange and the Blue are now 5-5 in the season.

“We were very happy with the level we are playing, just unhappy with the results,” head coach Jeremy Cook said. “Michigan and Temple beat us last year 5-0 and 4-0, respectively, and this year both games were quite competitive, which we feel shows real progress.”

The Bison defense stifled a tough Michigan offense for 20 minutes before the Wolverines scored their first goal of the game. Despite being behind, the defense continued to repel Michigan, allowing only one more goal in the second half. The Bison offense showed improvement through the second half but were unable to break through in the eventual 2-0 setback.

“Although we lost to Michigan, the game as a whole was a positive one,” midfielder/forward Emily Hitchings ’16 said. “We were able to compete with such a high caliber team. We were able to hold them to only receiving one offensive corner, which was a huge plus.”

Against Temple, the Bison fell behind early in the first half, but battled back and went ahead 3-1 on goals from defender Tayler Siegrist ’13, midfielder Kelly Stefanowicz ’13 and Hitchings. The Owls managed to tie the score in the second half, and despite another goal by Siegrist, Temple scored two more to escape with a 5-4 victory against the Bison.

“The Temple game was a tough loss,” Hitchings said. “We had some dangerous turnovers that affected the outcome of the game. On a positive note, we were able to capitalize in the goal scoring circle, and we scored on three of our penalty corners.”

“The Temple game was very exciting. We ended up going back and forth with them in the second half more than we wanted to, which plays into their strength as a team and exposes a few of our shortcomings,” Cook said.

The Bison will begin Patriot League play with a home game against Colgate tomorrow at 11 a.m. On Sunday, they will head to New Jersey to face Rutgers.

Categories
Football Men Sports

Football falls short against Lafayette

 

Wilson Hunt | The Bucknellian
The Bison line up before the snap. Unfortunately, they were unable to defend their home turf as they fell to Lafayette 20-14 on Saturday.

Eric Brod
Senior Writer

In 2011, the Bison prided themselves on taking care of the football and forcing other teams into mistakes, leading them to have the highest turnover margin in the nation. The Orange and Blue fell victim to such mistakes, turning the ball over three times en route to a 20-14 loss in their home opener Saturday afternoon against Lafayette.

Despite the three turnovers, the Bison showed tremendous fight. Trailing Lafayette 20-7 with 6:44 to play, Brandon Wesley ’14 led the offense on a nine play, 73-yard drive that was capped by Wesley’s 12-yard rushing touchdown that cut the deficit to 20-14. After failing to recover the ensuing onside kick, the Bison were able to force the Leopards to punt, giving the Bison a chance to score the go-ahead touchdown. The offense began the drive at their own 20-yard line, and could not move past midfield as Wesley was unable to connect with receiver Josh Brake ’15 on a 4th-and-21 that sealed the Orange and Blue’s fate.

Throughout the game, the Orange and Blue were uncharacteristically undisciplined, committing eight penalties and three turnovers (two interceptions and one fumble).

“Our offense is built on the run setting up the pass. We need to be better at staying on schedule in early downs to maintain a run-pass conflict,” Head coach Joe Susan said. “Our turnovers are something we must eliminate in order to have a chance as a team. We also need to create turnovers by our defense and special teams. We practice ball security and ball disruption every day. This will change.”

Even in the loss, the defense once again showed why they are one of the top units in the league. The defense, led by a team high 10 tackles from safety Ryan Morgan ’14, held the Leopards to just 11 yards rushing on 31 carries. The team as a whole registered 13 tackles for loss, led by three and a half from safety Lee Marvel ’15. Defensive back Donald Quarles ’13, had a career day with five passes deflected.

“I am impressed by how our defense has stopped the run. We are ranked fourth in the FCS in rushing defense and 28th overall,” Susan said.

Wesley had an up and down day, going 18-33 passing for 239 yards with two touchdowns (one rushing) and two interceptions. He also tied a career high 76 yards rushing.

After trailing 17-7 at halftime, the Bison outgained the Leopards on offense 223-128.

The Orange and Blue will look to rebound tomorrow night at 6 p.m. as they welcome Cornell to Lewisburg.

“Cornell is an offense based on the production of their passing game. Their QB like ours is a three year starter and one of the better QBs we will see this year,” Susan said. “One of the best ways to defend a team like this is our offense moving the ball more effectively and not putting our defense in compromised field position.”

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Men Sports Tennis

Men’s tennis sizees up competition

Cooper Mead

Writer

The Bison traveled to Philadelphia for the Saint Joseph’s Invitational this past weekend, getting off to an explosive start by winning nine of their first 11 matches on day one. Five of those matches were in singles play and two of them were against fellow Patriot League contenders.

Evan Zimmer ’13 defeated Jose Sierra from Saint Joseph’s by a score of 6-4, 6-4 in Flight 1 singles action. Nick Bybel ’16 defeated Thomas O’Brien of Villanova 6-3, 6-3. Bybel and Zimmer also competed in a doubles bout against Lafayette’s Brandon Goldstein and James Oliver, winning 8-1. The duo proceeded through to the quarterfinals and defeated Max Montague and Andreas Urrea of Saint Joseph’s by a score of 8-3.

Partners Josh Katten ’13 and Kelly Morque ’13 also had significant doubles wins as they defeated Army’s Rashad Shelton and Ben Davies by a score of 8-6 and then defeated Hofstra’s Ari Richman and Adrien Bailly by a score of 8-5. Other victories on day one included Katten’s defeat of Kristian Broaddus 6-3, 6-0, and Aidan Lynch ’14 and Jonathan DeFrancesch ’15 also won their singles bouts.

On the second day of the invitational, the Bison emerged with a .500 record on the day. Singles action was highly contested, with three matches going into super tiebreaks.  Zimmer defeated Mark Miller of Villanova 3-6, 6-3, 10-5, but he later lost in the quarterfinals to Skyler Davis of Drexel 6-4, 6-4. Similarly, Octavio Canibe ’15 defeated Max Montague of Saint Joseph’s 3-6, 6-0, 10-5, but fell to Army’s Roman Cacha 6-1, 1-6, 10-4 in his second super tiebreaker of the day in the quarterfinals.

Katten and Lynch tallied victories in the second round against Patriot League opponents, with Lynch beating Army’s Ron Verano 6-2, 6-1 and Katten defeating Chris Matturri of Lafayette 6-4, 6-0. Morque also won his consolation singles match 7-5, 6-4 against Hofstra’s Antonio Pena.

The final day of the Saint Joseph’s Invitational was a struggle for the Bison. Morque and Katten lost to Alex Veronis and Jose Sierra from Saint Joseph’s 9-7 in the quarterfinals. Bybel and Zimmer also failed to defeat Alex Holland and Henry Jang-Milsten from Army, losing 8-3. Despite the doubles struggles, Morque won the Flight 2 singles consolation draw  by defeating Pierre Brondeau of Saint Joseph’s winning the first set 6-2, dropping the second in a tiebreaker, and winning in a super tiebreaker 10-6. He then proceeded to defeat Joseph LaBate from La Salle 6-2, 6-4.

“It was a really up and down weekend for us. We had some solid individual performances across the board, but we never really gained momentum throughout the weekend,” Morque said.

“This was a very good tournament, aside from the injuries,” Lynch said. “Everyone got a lot of matches, which is always important early on in the year. We saw some very good things and hopefully will continue to get better this weekend.”

The Bison will attempt to improve on the week’s performance as they get ready for their last home matches of the fall in the Bucknell Invitational this weekend.

Categories
Tennis Women

Women’s tennis solid at home

 

Chloe Chou | The Bucknellian
Maria Cioffi ’16 and Elena Vidrascu ’14 show their strong team dynamic. They have been a strong doubles team in every competition this season.

Ajan Caneda
Copy Editor

At the Bucknell Invitational last weekend, the women’s tennis team had a solid tournament, taking home the singles crown, the first tournament title of the season for Elena Vidrascu ’14, while Jen Bush ’15 and Stephanie Pino ’16 were runners-up in the doubles final. Colgate, Mount St. Mary’s, Villanova and Bloomsburg joined the Orange and Blue in the three-day tournament.

“This was with no doubt the best tournament weekend I’ve had since coming to Bucknell. I played my usual game this weekend, but the key to my success was that I played the sort of game that my opponents don’t like,” Vidrascu said.

On the first day of action, five Bison players won their first round singles matches, including Lydia Colvin ’15 who defeated Aida Diop from Bloomsburg, 6-1, 6-1, and Maria Cioffi ’16 who won, 6-2, 6-2, against Bloomsburg’s Michelle Perez. Vidrascu, Bush and Pino also picked up first-round victories.

In doubles action, Colvin and Alyssa McAndrew ’15 lost a hard-fought match against Tori Smyth and Allison Kruse from Villanova (8-6), while Bush and Pino dominated Colgate’s Alex Petrini and Jennifer Ho 8-1. The Orange and Blue also picked up consolation victories as Christie Schneider ’15 and Elizabeth Morgan ’14 defeated Bison teammates Claudia Silvers ’15 and Sam Madnick ’16 8-4, while Cioffi and Vidrascu beat a Bloomsburg pair 8-3.

The Orange and Blue continued their success on the second day of the tournament, as Vidrascu and Cioffi moved on to the singles semifinals. Vidrascu was successful in her semi-final match, defeating Mikelle Mancini of Villanova 6-3, 6-2. Unfortunately, Cioffi lost to Villanova’s Tori Smyth 6-2, 6-0.

Bush and Pino advanced to the doubles final with a win over Mount St. Mary’s Carly Landini and Liz Rossi (8-4).

“This was only the second time Jen [Bush] and I have played doubles together and I feel that with each match we are playing better as a doubles team. Our style of play suits each other and we work well together on the court,” Pino said.

On the final day of the tournament, the Orange and Blue appeared in both finals and consolation matches. After dropping the first set 6-1, Vidrascu bounced back to win the second set 6-4 and the eventual tiebreaker 10-8, as she secured the singles title. She and Cioffi also picked up a doubles win against teammates Morgan and Schneider.

“In my final match of the tournament, I lost the first set 6-1 pretty quickly. I remembered how I played against the previous two girls in the tournament and started to do the exact same thing, and it worked,” Visdrascu said. “This win has boosted my confidence tremendously, because I have finally realized the game that I need to play against all types of players.”

The Bison look to continue their strong play as they travel to Philadelphia for the Saint Joseph’s Invitational this weekend.

“Going into the St. Joe’s tournament this coming weekend I will focus on playing well, going for my shots and working on strategy and play,” Pino said.

Categories
Soccer Sports Women

Women’s soccer wins blowout

 

Wilson Hunt | The Bucknellian
Chelsey Garkowski ’14 takes a shot. She scored four goals against Canisius, which ties a program record.

Ajan Caneda

Copy Editor

Forward Chelsey Garkowski ’14 scored four goals that powered the women’s soccer team to a 5-0 victory against Canisius on Sept. 21. Garkowski is the third Bison player in program history to have a four-goal performance and she is one of four players in Division I soccer this season to score four goals. The win marked the Orange and Blue’s largest shutout of the season.

“Chelsey is a great player. She works hard and fights for every ball. She deserved that game and all those goals,” forward Cassie Denger ’15 said.

In a half that featured 21 Bison shot attempts, Garkowski showcased her powerful offense. The Bison got off to another quick start, as Taryn Boucher ’13 delivered a pass up the right wing to Garkowski for the first goal in the seventh minute. Despite 10 saves by the Golden Griffins, the Bison attack was too much to handle, as Bridget Gilmartin ’14 dished an assist to Garkowski for another goal in the 16th minute. Garkowski nailed her third straight goal off an assist from Courtney Nelson ’15 to bring the score to 3-0 at the half.

“We played really well on Friday, and on offense we had great combinations and were able to find the back of the net,” forward Kayla Yee ’13 said. “Chelsey had an amazing game with four incredible goals, and our defense was solid and kept them off the scoreboard.”

Nelson picked up right where she left off in the second half, launching a cross-pass to Yee, which led to the fourth Bison goal in the 56th minute. Garkowski, who had eight shot attempts, capped off an incredible performance as Nelson had her third assist in the game on a chip pass to Garkowski, who found the back of the net in the 62nd minute.

“Our team worked together to win the ball and give our forwards the opportunity to go towards goal. We are so ready to start league play and show everyone in the Patriot League what we are all about,” Denger said.

It was an offensive driven game as the Orange and Blue outshot Canisius 29-20, but the Bison defense prevented the Golden Griffins from finding the net. Goalie Sandita McDermott ’13 secured her fifth shutout of the season with six saves in 68 minutes of action. Jessie Ashworth ’16 finished out the game with a save of her own. Head coach Ben Landis played all 22 field players in the win.

The Bison start Patriot League play at home against Colgate tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. The Orange and Blue will also travel to Penn State on Oct. 2 to face the Nittany Lions at 7 p.m.

“Overall, we are playing great soccer and I still think we can be even better. I know we are all excited for Patriot League play and to start with a win against Colgate,” Yee said.

Categories
Sports Volleyball Women

Volleyball loses two

Katherine Harris

Writer

Last weekend, the women’s volleyball team started its Patriot League season on the road, falling to both Lafayette and Lehigh.

The Bison traveled to Lafayette on Sept. 21 to face off against the Leopards in their Patriot League season opener. While the team lot in four sets, many individuals still had powerful performances on the night. Defense was strong for the Orange and Blue, with Karen Campbell ’16 racking up six blocks, while Kebah Edoho ’13 and Amanda Hall ’15 had five each.

Morgan Mientus ’14 and Claire Healy ’16 put up 24 and 10 digs for the Bison, respectively, while teammate Kat Tauscher ’13 contributed a career-high 12 to go along with 21 assists. Right behind her on offense was Meghan Wentzel ’16 who recorded 17 assists that day.

“We didn’t start out playing strong on Friday,” Healy said. “Our mentality going into the game against Lafayette was that we had it in the bag, but we learned the hard way that we should never go into a match too comfortable.”

The next day was a quick turnaround for the Orange and Blue as they traveled to Lehigh for a match the next afternoon. While the squad posted a strong offensive performance to win the first set, it could not duplicate the effort for the rest of the game, losing 3-1.

Once again, defense was strong for the Bison, with Jessica Serrato ’14, Edoho and Campbell each recording five blocks. Edoho also put up 10 kills on the day, keeping her streak of solid performances intact. Teammates Mientus and Tauscher were also consistent, earning 16 digs and 25 assists, respectively.

“This weekend we got off to a slow start against Lafayette. We unfortunately could not put our preparation into action and didn’t play at our level. However, by the start of our game against Lehigh on Saturday, our team had a whole new mentality which showed in the first three sets of the match,” Serrato said. “While we didn’t pull out the win, we left with a sense of what we are capable of in terms of both physical ability and team dynamics going forward in the league.”

The Bison will regroup and prepare to face their next Patriot League opponent, Army, as they travel to West Point, N.Y. for their match tonight at 7 p.m.

Categories
Beyond the Bison Sports

Beyond the Bison: Sports News Across the Nation

 

Courtesy of nhl-red-light.si.com
Donald Fehr, the NHL Players’ Association’s representative, addresses the press at a news conference.

Julian Dorey
Writer

Just when you thought the National Hockey League had learned its lesson, it struck again.

After seven years of tirelessly rebuilding a sport crushed by the lockout of 2004-05, the league has decided it is necessary to walk down the potentially long lockout road once again. Last week, after a summer of ultimately meaningless talks between the league owners and the Players Association, the owners officially locked the players out.

Why?

When the 2004-05 lockout washed out the entire season, the NHL lost TV sponsorship deals, millions of dollars and millions of fans. It has taken game-enhancing rule changes, exciting new features (like the Winter Classic) and tireless effort from everyone involved with the NHL to bring hockey back within range of its pre-2004 popularity.

Now the NHL is willing to throw all that work away for a few dollars and cents. Frankly, the numbers, demands and disagreements don’t even matter. In the end, everyone involved with the league is making a ton of money and that’s never going to change. What does matter is the stigma the league is willing to create.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. The fans aren’t going to be fooled twice. They are going to look at this situation and see a bunch of prima donnas who can’t figure out how to get along and split millions of dollars fairly every few years.

It may only be September now, but with the lockout officially underway and no urgency emanating from either side to sit down and negotiate, this work-stoppage seems like it could last a while.

The Players’ Association’s representative, Donald Fehr, used to be the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association. His hard-line tactics have been notoriously scrutinized for years–and he does not appear to have outgrown them.

On the other side, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has been running the business since 1993 and has never allowed intense discontent from NHL players to faze him. Much like Fehr, Bettman’s attitude has always been “my way or the highway.” The head-butting that could ensue between the two faces of the respective parties has Vegas booking better and better odds that the season could be cancelled. Again.

The overarching outside opinion is that these guys need to do themselves a favor and get a deal done quickly. Just don’t count me in as being optimistic about that happening.

Categories
Men Sports Water Polo

Water polo goes 1-2 at North/South

Scott Padula
Staff writer

On Sept. 15 and 16, the men’s water polo team competed in the North/South Tournament, going 1-2 on the weekend. The Bison defeated host team Harvard 11-3 before losing to No. 20 St. Francis 7-6 and No. 13 Princeton 13-9. The Orange and Blue are now 4-5 on the season.

The Bison coasted to an easy victory against the Crimson, thanks in part to a tremendous defensive effort. In the first half, the Orange and Blue scored six goals while holding Harvard scoreless. The Bison carried their momentum into the second half, outscoring the Crimson 5-3.

Matt Napleton ’13 was great in goal throughout, allowing a mere three goals with 10 saves in 32 minutes of play. Brian Barron ’13, Alex Nowlin ’14, Andrew Somers ’14 and Stefan Aleksic ’16 each found the back of the net two times. Nowlin added three assists to lead the team in points with a total of five.

In the final game of the invitational, the Orange and Blue fell to the highest-ranked east coast team Princeton 13-9. The game was competitive throughout, with the Bison leading in the first quarter 2-1 and taking a 4-4 tie into the intermission. The Tigers were too much for the Orange and Blue in the second half, particularly the third quarter, scoring five times without allowing a single Bison goal.

Mike Kimble ’14 scored a career-high five goals, while Jack Else ’14 provided a season-high five ejections. In goal, Napleton recorded 10 saves in 32 minutes of action. His effort on the weekend earned him the honor of being the CWPA’s Southern Division Defensive Player of the Week.

The Bison will now shift their focus to conference play by traveling to face Navy, George Washington and Johns Hopkins this weekend.

Categories
Football Men Sports

Bison football training, diet regiment

Sami Shein

Writer

The Bison football team is stronger than ever due to their rigorous summer training and diet regimen.

After numerous players participated in voluntary summer workouts, the entire team reported to campus to start football training camp on Aug. 7. It was not hard for the Orange and Blue to get back into the swing of things since every teammate pushed himself over the summer.

“During camp, we are on a tight schedule that includes practicing, working out, meetings and meals. Our nutrition is monitored to maintain or change our weights so that we will be most effective when we are out on the field,” co-captain Beau Traber ’13 said.

“Our schedule was tough. A typical day was waking up at 7 a.m. and pretty much going to meetings, lifts and practices until curfew. We also had breaks throughout the day to eat and rest,” co-captain Joseph Francis ’13 said.

There was no unified diet for the team, but some players who needed to lose or gain weight for their position were advised to eat certain foods. The players tried to eat about 4,000 calories per day and hydrate as much as possible to feel energized and strong.

The Bison enjoy their intensive training schedules and are not intimidated by the workouts because the training is fairly similar to years before. Since they know what to expect, they set goals in order to improve.

“Everyone’s attitude was focused on taking it day by day and not worrying about what we had to do next,” Francis said.

“This year, camp went well, and we attribute that to all the hard work we have put in since the end of last season,” Traber said.

Due to all their discipline and dedication, the Orange and Blue feel more than ready to take on their opponents this season.