Author: Cooper Sutton

By Thomas Walter

Writer

The women’s rowing team edged out Navy 33-28 this past weekend to take the Patriot League title. The varsity eight and second varsity eight both won their events while the varsity four ended in fourth place. While those three varsity squads were celebrating their sixth consecutive Patriot League Title, the varsity lightweights took on two nationally ranked opponents, No.1 Princeton and No. 4 Radcliffe.

In the Patriot Leagues, the varsity eight won their tight race by three seconds over Colgate.

“We were racing past the 500-meter mark, where my teammates were cheering from their boats in the warm down lanes,” Tori Dudley ’11 said. “We gained momentum through these cheers.”

The second varsity eight held off Navy by two seconds to secure another win and 12 more points for the Bison. The varsity four finished up the competition by coming in fourth place, 12 seconds behind first-place Navy. But the Bison had already earned enough points to secure the win.

“The win couldn’t have happened without the eight other people in the boat, or rather the 50-plus more women on the team,” Dudley said. “We all push each other. I am happy that I could represent the team. I am honored to be a part of something so special in this program’s history.”

The varsity lightweight team also raced just outside of Boston this weekend as they went to face off against Princeton and Radcliffe. The Bison ultimately fell to both, finishing 20 seconds behind Princeton and 13 seconds behind Radcliffe.

The team will compete against Duke and Iowa in Ithaca, N.Y. this weekend.

By Eric Brod

Senior Writer

Despite facing deficits of 4-1 and 5-2 in Saturday’s regular season finale against No. 16 Colgate, the No. 12 Orange and Blue men’s lacrosse team rallied for a 12-7 victory, capping off an undefeated 6-0 season in league play and securing the right to host the Patriot League Tournament.

The Bison offensive attack was led by Mike Danylyshyn ’11, who tied his career highs with four goals and five points in the contest, and Todd Heritage ’14, who recorded yet another hat trick.

“We knew what we had to do and we executed, and my teammates did a great job of finding me when I was cutting, setting me up perfectly for great shots,” Heritage said. “Our coaches did an amazing job of preparing us during the week.”

The game started off poorly for the Bison when Colgate won the opening faceoff and scored just 34 seconds in. The Raiders eventually extended their lead to 5-2, but after that Colgate did not score again for over 38 minutes of game time. Nick Gantsoudes ’12 and Heritage each scored a goal in the final minute of the first quarter, cutting the deficit to 5-4. A goal from Danylyshyn in the second half brought the Bison even at 5-5 going into halftime.

The Bison came out of the locker room scorching, completely dominating the third quarter as they stormed back to take a commanding 9-5 lead that was extended to 11-5 early in the fourth quarter. Colgate closed the gap to 11-7, but Gantsoudes tallied the final goal of the contest to cap an impressive regular season for the Bison.

Goalie Kyle Feeney ’13 was solid in goal again, recording 10 saves in the contest.

The season was one of the best in program history, reaching the 12-win plateau for only the second time. After completing an undefeated season in the league, the team will host Lehigh tonight in the Patriot League Tournament semifinal match. Faceoff is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.

“I know it will be an amazing atmosphere and that the energy will be high and those are the types of games that I love to play in,” Heritage said.

By Andrew Arnao

Writer

The women’s lacrosse team fell to Colgate 20-7 on Saturday in its season finale, finishing with a 3-13 record for the year.

“Even though we didn’t come out with a win, it was great to end the season on a positive note, looking toward the future,” Amanda Ayers ’14 said. “While we will greatly miss our seniors, we are excited about how good our young team will be in the years to come and the awesome freshman class of recruits coming in next year.”

Madison Hurwitz ’13 and Katelyn Miller ’14 had two goals each, while Andrea Feldman ’14, Sophie Kleinert ’14 and Adrienne Wendling ’13 scored a goal apiece. Miller and Kerri Althouse ’14 led the team with four ground balls, while Wendling and Lindsey Ferro ’14 led with three draw controls.

Senior goalie Alyssa DeLorenz ’11 had 15 saves and finished the season with 205 total. She finishes her collegiate career with 689 saves.

The Raiders started off the game by scoring two goals, but Kleinert and Miller tied it up with back-to-back goals. Miller added her second goal after Colgate scored two more, but the Raiders went on to score 13 of the next 14 goals, putting the game out of reach by the end of the first half.

“It was great to play a tough team in the league to finish off the season,” Kleinert said. “We are really going to miss our seniors both on and off the field.”

The Raiders finished with a 45-15 shot advantage, 21-7 draw control advantage and 23-12 advantage in ground balls. Colgate also had eight turnovers compared to the Bison’s 13.

By Lindsay Regruto

Staff Writer

With a six-hit shutout, Bridget Gates ’13 led the women’s softball team to a win on Sunday’s Senior Day against Lafayette to give Head Coach Heather Rakosik her 200th career victory. The Bison ended the series against the Leopards 1-3.

Allowing no more than one hit in any inning, Gates successfully held off the Leopards in game two of the double header on Sunday for a 1-0 win. The sole Bison run of the game came in the second inning. Kathryn Wilkinson ’13 reached base and advanced into scoring position off a double by Mary Horton ’13. Jessie Snyder ’11 later brought Wilkinson home with a hard-driven single. Snyder ended the game going a solid three for three at the plate.

Before the night’s win, the Orange and Blue suffered a 5-4 loss to open the series against Lafayette. The Leopards were the first to clear the goose egg off the board, plating two runs in the first three innings. The Bison evened up the score when Lauren Fry ’11 was brought home with a homerun by Alison Ford ’11. It was her fourth home run of the season and 14th of her career, and she currently leads all current Bison in home runs. The teams went back and forth as both put up a run in the fourth. Lafayette pulled ahead in the fifth, bringing in two runs. The Bison answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the sixth but could not bring another around, resulting in a close loss to the Leopards.

The series continued on Monday as the Bison suffered a 3-0 loss in the first game of the day. Neither put a run on the board by the fourth inning, but Lafayette scored one run in the beginning of the fifth. It looked close as the Bison defense gained two outs, but the Leopards would score two more runs before the third out. The Orange and Blue were unable to score in the sixth but also prevented Lafayette from posting any more runs. The offense could not rally, dropping the game to Lafayette in the top of the seventh.

The Orange and Blue ended the series with 5-2 loss to the Leopards in game two of the day. Lafayette brought one run around in the third to take a small lead over the Bison. The Orange and Blue responded with RBIs by Fry and Ford to take the lead over Lafayette in the sixth. The Bison defense was unable to hold off the Leopards, though, allowing four runs in the bottom of the sixth. The team was unable to rally in the seventh, resulting in a Leopards’ win.

Ford finished with three RBIs in the series to give her a total of 96 career RBIs and tie her for second in program history.

The Orange and Blue finish Patriot League play this weekend at West Point against Army.

By Chris McCree

Writer

The baseball team came away with three crucial wins this weekend during its four-game series at Lehigh. Powered by the impressive play of Doug Shribman ’11, the Bison offense exploded for 40 runs over the four games, giving the team more than enough support to take down the Mountain Hawks and regain ground in the Patriot League.

“The series was very important for us. We were playing to keep our postseason hopes alive and we put ourselves in a good position to make the playoffs,” Jack Boehm ’12 said.

On Saturday, the Bison split their fourth consecutive doubleheader, winning the first game 10-3 but losing the second 8-4. In their game-one victory, the Bison held a slim one-run lead after three innings but plated six unanswered runs over the next four. Bob Donato ’12 and Shribman anchored the Bison offense with three hits apiece, and Alex Cillo ’12 came away with the win, pitching 3.1 scoreless innings of relief.

Game two featured a late-inning collapse by the Orange and Blue. Going into the bottom of the eighth, the game was knotted at four apiece, but a two-out rally by the Mountain Hawks gave them the four-run victory.

The Orange and Blue responded to the game-two loss with two lopsided victories on Sunday. The Bison outscored the Mountain Hawks 26-11 over the two games, winning game one 15-5 and game two 11-6.

“The key to our success was our offense,” Boehm said.

Drew Constable ’11 and Donato combined for three home runs and nine of the team’s 29 hits. Shribman was the star of the day though, going 6-11 with three home runs and seven RBIs to move within 10 of the program’s all-time record.

“When Doug is hitting like he did this weekend, our whole team feels a lot more confident. He’s a really explosive player, when he hits our whole team hits,” Boehm said.

The team also received a great performance from its bullpen. The combination of Eric Jarrett ’11, Cillo, Dan Goldstein ’13 and Steve Carlin ’11 allowed just three runs over six innings of play.

“The whole team was working together, pitchers and hitters, to keep the momentum with us which is a big reason we were able to win three out of the four games,” Cillo said.

The Bison now stand tied with the Mountain Hawks for the final spot in the Patriot League playoffs. Each team will play its final Patriot League series of the season, and the outcomes will decide which team will make it to the postseason. The Bison will play host to first place Army, but they aren’t at all intimidated.

“We stand a pretty good chance making the playoffs if we keep playing the way that we did this past weekend,” Cillo said. “We generally have success against Army, and with the series being here this year, we have the home field advantage. Winning three out of four this coming weekend will guarantee that we make the Patriot League Tournament.”

By Colin Fields

Writer

The men’s track and field squad was victorious this past weekend at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium in its final home meet of the season. The Orange and Blue were victorious in 12 individual events on Saturday. Among the winners were Robert Arent ’12 and Justin Hicks ’13, who won three events each. The Bison throwers continued their success with four individual victories and several personal records.

The Bison dismantled the five other competitors at the challenge, finishing with 256 points, which was double the 128 points that second place Duquesne tallied. Lock Haven finished close behind Duquesne with 122 points.

Arent won handily in the 110-meter hurdles, crossing the line at 14.67 seconds, well ahead of the other runners, none of which finished in under 15 seconds. He continued his success by winning the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 54.09 seconds. Arent was a member of a victorious 4×400 relay that produced a victorious time of 3:18.20.

Hicks was also a member of the 4×400 team but picked up wins of his own in the 100 and 200 meters. In the 100, the sophomore squeaked out a victory in 11.02 seconds, just ahead of teammate Marlon Woods ’11. Hicks was also victorious in the 200 meters, where he won with 22.22.

The Bison throwers, who have been a huge part of the team’s success this season, were at it again Saturday and picked up four individual victories. Leonard Joseph ’13 set a personal record in the hammer throw with a toss of 193 feet, one inch. The toss earned him first place in the hammer throw and fifth place in school history. Luke Webster ’13 followed with a victory in the discus and his own personal record. Webster obliterated his previous personal record with a mark of 162-2, good for fourth in school history.

“The personal record felt great. It feels awesome when all the hard work from earlier in the year starts to pay off, especially heading into the championship portion of the season.  The win was just icing on the cake,” Webster said.

Ted Heitzman ’12 also picked up a victory in the javelin with a mark of 228-5. He was joined by Quinten Marcott ’13 who won the shot-put at 50-11.5. Marcott and teammates Tom Barr ’12 and Zachary Shapiro ’11 completed a Bison sweep of the shot-put by taking the top three spots.

Robert Yamnicky ’13 and Drew Fitzgerald ’11 were the last of the 12 victors Saturday. Yamnicky picked up gold in the steeplechase and Fitzgerald picked up a win in the pole vault.

“The outdoor season is short, making every practice and competition very important. Personally, as a senior, each meet takes on a little more meaning and I hope to make the best of it and win another team championship,” Fitzgerald said.

By Eric Brod

Senior Writer

For the third straight year, the women’s track and field dominated the Bucknell Team Challenge en route to team victory in the six-team field.

In the field, Kat Folger ’12 earned her first victory of the season in the javelin with a throw of 144 feet, three inches.

“Winning the javelin throw for the first time this season was rewarding because I’ve worked very hard this year to improve my technique,” Folger said. “I had my best series of throws this year and was very happy with the outcome.”

Close behind in second was teammate Laura Rycek ’11 with a throw of 143 feet, 11 inches.

“Having a teammate like Laura is invaluable,” Folger said. “Laura is a great javelin thrower with an excellent work ethic, and she has helped me tremendously to raise my level of performance by pushing me to strive to work harder every day at practice and throw competitively in meets.”

The Orange and Blue continued their impressive season on the track, led by Emily Liggett ’12 in the 3,000 meter race. Liggett finished second in the event with a career-best time of 9:58.10.

“The whole race I just focused on staying with the leader, more so than getting a certain split time,” Liggett said. “As for pacing, the first half of the race felt very even and controlled, which probably allowed me to have more of a kick at the end.”

Teammates Sarah Moniz ’11 and Caroline Tolli ’13 finished first and second in the 1,500-meter race in 4:36.27 and 4:37.26, respectively.

Kelly Grosskurth ’12 kept the momentum going for the long-distance squad with her first place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 11:08.2.

“I learned from the previous weekend’s race that I needed to push through the last 1,000 meters when the pace starts to slow,” Grosskurth said. “The steeplechase is a race where endurance is key and going out too fast can be detrimental and the last 1,000 meters is where you have to dig deep and just stay mentally strong. So that is what I did running faster splits the last 1,000 meters.”

In the 800-meter race, Hana Casalnova ’14, Beth Braunegg ’14, Erin Holbrook ’14 and Chelsea Lodato ’14 swept the top four places.

The team returns to action this weekend in both the Penn Relays and Bloomsburg’s Maroon and Gold Open.

By Joyce Novacek

Writer

Lauren Lucido ’11 broke the all-time program record for both singles’ victories and doubles’ victories, but the third-seeded Orange and Blue women’s tennis team was defeated by second-seeded Navy 4-2 in the Patriot League semifinals at Brigade Sports Complex in Annapolis, Md. on Saturday afternoon. The Bison concluded their 2010-2011 season with a record of 10-11.

“As our team went into the semi-final match versus Navy, we had nothing to lose and we definitely fought with everything we had,” Lauren Rottkamp ’11 said. “Overall, the biggest lesson that we learned this year is to have a high level of intensity throughout the year, so that in important matches, each one of us can execute and perform to the best of our abilities.”

Lucido and Dumitrita Iepuras ’12 defeated a pair of midshipmen easily at first doubles, 8-1. This double’s victory concluded collegiate doubles play for the senior who ended her career with an 83-35 record in doubles. The previous best doubles record was 82-42 by Veronica Brown, who had been in the top spot of the program annals since 2006.

Lucido’s success continued in singles play where she quickly defeated Amanda Griffin in first singles 6-4, 6-4. This victory advanced Lucido into the top spot on the record list. The senior finishes her singles career with a record of 87-36, only one game over the previous record holder, Tanya Sichko, who had gone 86-40 in her career that ended in 2005.

Lucido had already set the program record for total wins on April 2 against Colgate.

Rottkamp also performed well in singles play, defeating Navy’s Stephanie Ton at third singles 6-2, 7-6. With this singles win, Rottkamp claims 12th all-time in program singles, with an overall career record of 48-43.

Despite some close competition, the Bison were not able to win any other singles matches, and, other than Lucido and Iepuras, found no more success in doubles either.

“All of the singles and doubles matches were very close, yet it was just not our day to win the overall match,” Rottkamp said. “Although we struggled in the beginning of the season with some tough matches, we learned how to fight with everything we had and we all stepped up our performance as we moved into conference play and the Patriot League tournament.”

This match concluded the season for the Bison, marking the first time in seven seasons that the Bison did not advance to the Patriot League Championship. Dara Dwojewski ’11, Rottkamp and Lucido are three seniors on the roster who the Bison will miss next year.

By Cooper Sutton

Sports Editor

Billy Eisenreich ’12

Men’s Lacrosse

 

Biography

Position: Attack

Class: Junior

Hometown: Chatham, N.J.

Major: Economics

 

Statistics

Goals: 4

Assists: 4

Shots: 7

Shots on Goal: 5

 

In the men’s lacrosse team’s epic fourth-quarter comeback last weekend, Billy Eisenreich ’12 scored four goals, including the final three goals of the game, to keep the Bison undefeated. The win keeps the Bison tied for first in the Patriot League.

Eisenreich was involved in two-thirds of the Bison offense on the day, also accounting for four assists. The eight total points is a career-high for the junior, adding to an already terrific season.

Despite being slowed by injuries, he is still having a breakthrough season. He ranks sixth in the Patriot League for both points and assists per game and ninth in goals per game.

The Bison will need Eisenreich to continue his great play next week as they take on Colgate in a game that will decide the host of the Patriot League Tournament.