Author: cdm016

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Men Sports Track & Field

Men’s track records 12 individual wins

By Colin Fields

Staff Writer

The men’s track team, the defending Indoor and Outdoor Patriot League champion, racked up 12 individual victories at the Bucknell Team Challenge at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium last weekend. The Bison compiled 292.5 points, just under the rest of the field combined, in one of their best performances of the year.

The Orange and Blue throwers have been stellar all year long and Saturday was no different. Luke Webster ’13 came just six inches short of the school discus record that has stood for nearly 35 years with a toss of 168’ 6’’. Webster’s toss put him in both second in the meet and second in the school record books. Tom Barr ’12 also performed well in the discus; the shot put record holder put up a toss of 162’ 3’’, breaking the 160-foot mark for the first time in his career in the discus. Barr also posted a career best in the hammer throw, with a toss of 182’ 11’’. He was bested by teammate Leonard Joseph ’13 whose toss of 204’ 5’’ moved him to third place in Bison history.

“I would say that the start our team has had is encouraging because most of our athletes, if not all, are not peaking yet, but they are performing extremely well. Having two consecutive home meets allows us to capitalize on a familiar environment as well as a larger audience than we typically have,” Joseph said.

Jason Brown ’13, Nathaniel Witter ’14 and Alex Prieto ’14 picked up wins in the high jump, pole vault and the long jump. Andrew Powell ’12 and Kevin Keller ’15 also picked up second-place finishes for the Bison.

Christian Lupica ’15 took first in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 14.7 seconds and teammates Robert Arent ’12, Dan Mularz ’12 and Powell helped fill four of the top five spots in the event.

“Being able to have our two meets at home is definitely a nice perk. We train on the track every day so we are familiar with running on it, and not having to worry about travel time and living out of a hotel makes it a lot easier to have a flexible routine and eat/sleep/warm-up in a way that is best for you,” Lupica said.

Several Bison will compete this weekend in the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, while the test of the team will travel today to Bloomsburg for the Maroon & Gold Invitational. These are the last events for the Bison until the Patriot League Outdoor Championships on May 4-5 in Worcester, Mass.

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Softball Sports Women

Softball takes first PL series

By Cooper Mead
Writer

Laura Sandford ’13 hit a walk-off single to give the softball team its first Patriot League win of the season against Holy Cross last Friday. The win broke a 13-game losing streak for the Orange and Blue. The Bison took three of four games against the Crusaders over the weekend series to keep their playoff hopes alive.

After the Bison lost the series opener 6-1, the second game initially seemed to be heading the same way. Holy Cross jumped ahead from the beginning, scoring two runs in the top of the first, and took a 3-1 lead into the seventh inning.

Alex Wells ’15 got things going for the Bison with a lead-off single up the middle. She was replaced on the bases by pinch runner Kasey Segiel ’14 who eventually scored on a Mary Horton ’13 triple. Meredith Dickson ’12 then hit Horton in with a single up the middle to tie the game and send it into extra innings.

In the ninth inning, Cydnee Sanders ’15 doubled to right-center field and the Crusaders intentionally walked Horton, who was two-for-three with two runs and an RBI on the day. Dickson loaded the bases with a bouncing single, which brought up Sandford, whose single gave the Bison a 4-3 win. Sandford completed the game two-for-five with two RBIs.

The victory, in addition to ending the consecutive games lost streak, ended a 14-game conference losing streak that began last season.

“Our defense was solid, pitching was great and our hitting was on point,” Courtney Conover ’14 said. “These games definitely boosted the team morale going into next weekend.”

The Bison win was aided by Bridget Gates who began pitching in the third inning and completed 6.1 innings allowing only one hit and no runs. She also struck out three batters and did not allow a walk. 

On Saturday, the Bison defeated the Crusaders 4-2 and 3-2 and brought their record to 9-32 overall and 3-13 in the Patriot League. In the first game, the Bison pulled ahead in the first inning, but the Crusaders came storming back in the top of the second with a two-run home run from Nicole Ortiz. Later in the second inning, Nikki Silva ’15 scored an unearned run for the Bison. Tori Robinson ’15 then hit a triple in the fourth inning and later scored.

In the final game of the series, Mallory Lyons ’14 hit a line drive down the left-field line with Horton on third in the eighth inning, giving the Bison another walk-off win.

Colie Escobar ’15 had a phenomenal series for the Bison, going four-for-six (.667) and scoring two runs in three games. Sandford also hit eight-for-15 (.533) with one run and two RBIs. Dickson, who was recognized for Senior Day, hit .400 in her final weekend at home.

“Our team had a wonderful weekend. It was my final time playing on our field. We had two exciting extra-inning wins in which multiple players contributed. Our defense was phenomenal, making some of the ‘special’ plays. Our YOLO attitude finally showed through,” Dickson said. 

The victories gave the Bison three consecutive wins for the first time this season. The team hopes to bring its momentum to Easton, Pa. as it takes on the Lafayette Leopards on in a four-game series this weekend.

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Baseball Men Sports

Baseball suffers sweep to Army

By Andrew Arnao
Writer

The baseball team had a rough weekend after getting swept at Army, but managed to end the week on a positive note after winning game two of a home doubleheader against St. Bonaventure. Bison pitcher Bryson Hough ’15 was also named Patriot League Rookie of the Week.

“The Army series was a highly competitive one,” head coach Gene Depew said. “There was outstanding pitching on both sides. Army was successful because they played very solid defense throughout and we did not.”

The first two games against Army on Saturday were both pitching duels, with the Bison being defeated by final scores of 1-0 and 2-1. All of Army’s runs were unearned, spoiling dominant pitching efforts from both Dan Weigel ’14 and Hough. Weigel threw a complete game while allowing only four hits, while Hough pitched 7.1 innings and surrendered seven hits. The Bison offense struggled to score runs, with the only Bison lead coming from a first-inning RBI single by second baseman Travis Clark ’13 in game two.

“The series against Army this past weekend was really disappointing,” left fielder Matt Busch ’13 said. “Although our pitching was very good, our offense did not show up in any of the games. It’s really hard to lose three one-run games in a weekend, especially with our pitching staff doing so well.”

Game three saw the Bison fall victim to a no-hitter at the hands of Army pitcher Logan Lee, who carried a perfect game into the last inning until issuing a lead-off walk to center fielder Bob Donato ’12. The Black Knights won by a final score of 8-0.

Game four was perhaps the most painful for the Bison, as they fell by a final score of 2-1 after 15 innings, tied for the second-longest game in program history. Despite loading the bases in the 12th, 13th and 15th innings, the Orange and the Blue were unable to pull ahead. The winning run hit off Russell Seidell ’12 was unearned, ruining fantastic pitching efforts by Ryan Ebner ’12 and Alex Cillo ’12, who went a combined 13 innings while giving up only one run.

“Our pitching staff did a remarkable job shutting down the Army offense and giving our team the chance to win every game,” first baseman Luke Lombardi ’14 said. “A few timely hits separated us from what could have easily been a 3-1 weekend.”

The Bison endured another excruciating loss as they fell to St. Bonaventure 6-5 on Tuesday, with the Bonnies scoring the winning run in the top of the seventh inning. After falling behind 4-0, the Bison managed to climb back and tie the score 5-5, but were unable tack on any more runs.

The Bison rebounded nicely in game two, with six pitchers combining to throw a two-hit shutout in an eventual 5-0 victory. The game was highlighted by an unassisted triple play by shortstop Greg Wasikowski ’15 in the fourth inning. Wasikowski also led the Bison offense in RBIs, with two.

The Bison will face Lafayette in a four-game series over the last weekend of the regular season. They need two wins to clinch a spot in the Patriot League Tournament for the fifth straight year.

“We need to finish the last week of our regular season by getting back to making plays defensively and by getting some offensive momentum going,” Depew said. “As usual the postseason teams will be decided this last weekend of the season, and we are in control of our own destiny by having to beat Lafayette to make the four-team tournament.”

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Sports Tennis Women

Women’s tennis falls in semifinals

By Lindsay Regruto

Senior Writer

The women’s tennis team defeated Lehigh in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament last weekend before falling in the semifinals to Navy. The Bison followed its semifinal loss with a 6-3 win over Bloomsburg. 

“It was a challenging season in terms of injuries and such. We have a very young, talented squad,” head coach Rebecca Helt said. “Everyone worked hard to improve their fitness, their level of play on court and their mental toughness.”

Against Lehigh, the Bison were able to pull off an outstanding 4-0 win on Friday to advance to the semifinals. Dumitrita Iepuras ’12 and Elizabeth Morgan ’14 took a decisive 8-4 win at the No. 3 doubles position, while Elena Vidrascu ’14 and Daria Tuzhikova ’13 followed with an 8-6 win at the No. 1 position. Lydia Colvin ’15 and Courtney Casey ’12 were tied 6-6 when the doubles point was given to the Bison.

“Despite the score, the match against Lehigh was not easy, and therefore, it was a well-deserved win,” Iepuras said. “Even though I did not get to finish my match, I was proud of my teammates who helped us move forward into the semifinals.”

In singles play, both Colvin and Casey played strong matches, claiming a pair of wins at the No. 3 and No. 5 spots respectively. Tuzhikova defeated her opponent 6-2, 6-1 at the No. 4 singles spot to seal the win for the Bison. Iepuras, Vidrascu and Christie Schneider ’15 were all still playing when the Orange and Blue claimed the victory.

The following day, Casey and Colvin battled it out at the No. 2 doubles spot, earning an 8-6 win, while Vidrascu and Tuzhikova lost a close back-and-forth match at the No. 1 spot 9-7. The Bison tried to battle back in the singles matches but couldn’t overcome Navy’s momentum. The Mids knocked out the Orange and Blue 4-0 to advance to the finals.

“During the most challenging times of our season, these women pushed each other yet supported each other. It’s about the entire process, the work, the sacrifice, the communication, the effort and the personal growth that each athlete experiences that really represents a team,” Helt said. “I’m proud of each and every student-athlete on this team and I hope they feel that same sense of pride.”

Categories
Lacrosse Sports Women

Women’s lacrosse ends season with split

By Ajan Caneda
Writer

Behind a four-goal performance from Madison Hurwitz ’13, the women’s lacrosse team pulled off a 21-9 victory at home last Tuesday against Howard as it closed out the season with a 5-12 overall record. Arriana Sajjad ’15 ended the regular season with 38 goals and 51 points, both first-year records.

After some slow starts this season, the Bison were motivated to pull ahead early. Five different players scored the first five goals for the Orange and Blue. Hurwitz, off assists from Katelyn Miller ’14 and Molly Ford ’14, then nailed two straight goals that gave the Bison a 7-2 lead. The active passing kept Howard out of reach, as Lindsey Ferro ’14 had two straight assists that led to goals from Emily Kookogey ’15 and Sajjad. The Bison were ahead 11-4 at halftime.

The offense continued to dominate as it went on to score five more goals in the first 12 minutes of the second half, including one from Carly Downs ’15, her first of the season. Howard answered with two goals of its own to pull back within 10. But the Orange and Blue would end all hopes of a comeback with goals from Downs and Blair McDonald ’15. Claire Doyle ’15 scored her first career goal at the 0:28 remaining mark, while Sajjad ended the game with another goal.

Sajjad, Miller and Kookegey each finished with hat tricks, and four players had three assists each. But it was not all offense, as the Bison also forced 25 turnovers.

Last Saturday, a 7-0 Colgate run made all the difference, as the Orange and Blue fell to the Raiders 15-8 at home, preventing them from picking up what would have been their first conference win. Sajjad and Miller both posted half tricks in the loss.

Miller opened the game with a goal for the Bison, but Colgate went on a 4-0 run after that initial goal. Sajjad scored two goals within two minutes that cut the deficit to 4-3. Colgate then showcased its streaky offense by nailing four unanswered goals to end the half.

“Colgate is a very polished team. Many of the players are very experienced and have been selected to the All-League team in the past and this season as well,” head coach Randall Goldsborough said. “We did give the ball up many times on the attacking end in the first half with many of those turnovers leading to fast break goals for them.”

The run continued with three straight Colgate goals to start the second half. The Raiders kept the Bison from making a run of their own, holding them to two goals in the first 27 minutes of the half. The offense came too late for the Orange and Blue, who scored four of the last five goals in the game.

“We have the talent. We just need to continue to build our confidence, and that is what we will be focusing on in the fall,” Goldsborough said.

Categories
Lacrosse Men Sports

Men’s lax falls in final seconds

By Reed Dempsey
Writer

With just two seconds remaining in Friday’s game at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium, Colgate broke a 10-10 tie to send the men’s lacrosse team its second straight league loss.

Bison attackman Chase Bailey ’13 opened the day’s scoring off a pass from Nick Gantsoudes ’12 three and a half minutes in. Just a few minutes later, the Raiders’ Peter Baum scored to tie the game at one.

For the rest of the first half, the Orange and Blue kept their defensemen fresh and limited possessions for Colgate’s nationally top-ranked offense. The Bison exploded for five straight goals before Colgate scored just before the half, cutting the lead to 6-2.

“The whole team played near perfect in the first half,” Kyle Feeney ’13 said. “The offense controlled the ball for most of it, limiting Colgate’s possessions and making it easier on the defense.”

The team struggled in the third quarter as Colgate added four goals to tie the game, three of which came in a span of just 70 seconds. The Raiders took their first lead of the day on another Baum goal early in the fourth quarter and quickly followed with a man-up goal to extend their lead to two.

“I think we were far too comfortable with our lead and we had a few too many turnovers,” said David Dickson ’15, who scored his 14th goal of the season in the second quarter. “We needed to stay poised and limit Colgate’s possessions but unfortunately we were unable to do so.”

After relinquishing their lead, the Bison fought back with goals by Todd Heritage ’14, Bailey and Peter Burke ’14, but shortly thereafter, the Raiders gained possessions and scored back-to-back goals to go up 10-9.

With 2:25 left in the game, Burke tied the game with his second straight goal. On the ensuing faceoff, the Raiders were called for an illegal cross check giving the Bison a minute of extra-man offense and a chance to regain the lead. During this time however, Colgate held the ball in its offensive zone, running down the clock in an effort to get the last shot.

With eight seconds left the Raiders got a shot off but Feeney deflected it off the pipe and out of play. Colgate got possession and with just two seconds left, Baum beat Feeney for his third goal of the game and 51st of the season.

With the loss, the Bison will enter the Patriot League tournament as the fourth seed, creating a rematch tonight against the Raiders in Hamilton, N.Y. According to Feeney and Dickson, the Orange and Blue head into this game with the knowledge that they are good enough to beat any opponent. It will just take 60 minutes of solid lacrosse to make that a reality.

 

Categories
Basketball Sports Women

Roussel named head women’s basketball coach

By Thomas Walter

It was an emotional season for the women’s basketball team. After making it to the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament behind the sensational play of Patriot League All-Rookie Team guard Shelby Romine ’14, the expectations coming into this year were high. But after starting off 2-15, the longest tenured coach in the history of the program, Kathy Fedorjaka, announced her resignation.

The Bison’s struggles continued throughout the rest of the season as the team got knocked out in the first round of Patriot League Tournament. But now, hopefully that struggle will be over as a new era of Orange and Blue basketball begins with a new head coach, Aaron Roussell.

Rousell is the product of a comprehensive national search that has taken place over the last several months. Rousell has been the head women’s coach at the University of Chicago for the past eight years, where he earned the most victories in the program’s history with 161-50, including 52-5 over the last two seasons.

“I could not be more excited about the opportunity to lead the women’s basketball program at Bucknell University,” Roussell said. “From both a basketball and an academic standpoint, I believe Bucknell is the ideal fit for me. I am extremely thankful to the University of Chicago, because it has prepared me perfectly for a program like Bucknell and the Patriot League as a whole, which places academics in the highest regard. To be frank, there is no way I would have left Chicago unless it was for a place that shared my values on what the student-athlete experience should be all about.”

With the majority of the 2011-2012 team returning, Rousell will look to continue his coaching success when the women hit the courts next winter.

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Club/Intramural Men's Volleyball Sports

Club volleyball surprises at nationals

By Andrew Lichtenauer

Senior Writer

 

The men’s club volleyball team finished off an impressive 2012 season tying for ninth-place  at the National Collegiate Club Volleyball Division II National Championships. The Bison began the season with the simple hope of rebuilding and developing a competitive squad. As the season progressed, the Orange and Blue realized their competitive potential and became a force to be reckoned with in the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Volleyball Conference (MACVC). I recently spoke with Shane Kiefer ’14, president of the men’s club volleyball team. The following is the conversation we had about the team’s success at Nationals this year:

Q: What were the team’s expectations going in to the season?

A: In terms of our expectations this year, we really didn’t expect to do as well as we did, mainly just because we basically didn’t have a competitive team the past few years. This was the first year in a while that we were able to pay our dues to join the MAC Conference, and after we did that, I was able to start scheduling matches as well as enter us in tournaments. I think a lot of us were just happy that we were actually taking the necessary steps to becoming competitive again.

Q: How often was the team able to hold team practices this season?

A: It was difficult to get practice time this season with varsity sports and intramurals often taking precedence over athletic space, but we usually practiced two times per week on average. Most of the time, it was a late time slot such as 9-11 p.m. If we didn’t have a tournament or match on the weekends, we would usually practice Saturday afternoons as well.

Q: What would you say was the team’s best win of the season?

A: It’s difficult to attribute a specific match as being our best win of the season, but I would have to say that our match against No. 21 Missouri S&T on the second day at Nationals was our best win. We came into the match knowing that if we lost, the highest place we could take at Nationals was 25th, but if we won we couldn’t finish lower than 24th in the nation. It was basically a make or break match for our season, and we came out and got crushed in the first set 25-13 and were down 15-7 in the second set. We ended up making an amazing comeback to win that set, and later finished by winning the final set tiebreak 15-11. We all agreed after the match that it was the best we had ever played, and at the end of the tournament, we had some evidence of that, as Missouri S&T finished by winning the Consolation bracket. In our next match against the No. 6 team in the nation (Adrian U.), we came out and dominated against a great team so I think that the confidence we got from that comeback played a big part in that.

Q: What does a ninth-place finish at Nationals mean for the men’s club volleyball team?

A: We were extremely pleased with our ninth-place finish at Nationals, and I think that our strong finish this year will carry right over into our season next year, since we only lose one senior from the Nationals squad to graduation. We’re already looking forward to making a return trip to Nationals again next year, and I think that our ninth-place finish in the nation this year gave us the confidence that we needed to believe in our abilities and continue making progress as a team.

Q: What do you think the future has in store for the men’s club volleyball team?

A: We definitely believe that we can have an even better season next year and even in years to come after that, as we have a very young team and I have already talked with multiple incoming freshmen who are looking to come in and make a difference next year. Overall, we’re just grateful for the support that we’ve seen from alumni and we’re definitely ready to continue making strides towards leaving a lasting legacy and tradition here on campus after we’re gone. And who knows, maybe bringing home a National Championship is in our future.

Categories
Beyond the Bison Sports

Beyond the Bison: Inconsistent rulings irritate hockey fans

By Winnie Warner
Arts & Life Layout Editor

It’s NHL playoff season and it has started rough. Rough for heartbroken fans, rough for the losing teams, and especially rough for the players at the mercy of the string of dirty hits and scrums that have defined the first round of playoffs.  In the 28 post-season games that were completed by Wednesday night, there were 1,006 penalty minutes, seven injuries caused by dirty plays and eight suspensions. 

At the center of these controversies is the series between longstanding rivals the Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins, whose Game Three resulted in 158 penalty minutes caused by a multitude of scrums, fights, and “chippy” plays.  While Game Three stood out for its more-than-usual rowdiness, it wasn’t that far from the norm of recent Flyers-Penguins games.  The next-to-last regular season match between the two concluded with an end-of-game brawl in which the coaches were climbing over their benches to yell at each other.

Games like these have created the need for the NHL to step in to try and take control of the situation by issuing fines and suspensions. Dirty plays and suspensions are nothing new to the game, but recent years have seen a rise in disputes over hits with intent to injure, such as knee-to-knee hits and “headshots.”

At the helm of this decision process is Brendan Shanahan, the NHL’s Vice President of Hockey and Business Development and lead disciplinarian. Shanahan assesses plays in question based upon the extent of the victim’s injury, whether the play appeared intentional, and whether the player in question possesses a history of similar plays.  Now, Shanahan is garnering some flack from fans who feel that the decision processes is flawed and uneven.  Their main rallying point is one of the most controversial plays in the playoffs so far.  In Game One of the Nashville Predators and Detroit Red Wings series, Predators captain Shea Weber checked veteran Red Wing Henrik Zetterberg into the boards and then proceeded to grab Zetterberg’s head and slam it into the glass, all of which occurred within the last seconds of the game.  Zetterberg fell to the ice immediately, but with the protection of his helmet he sustained no injury.  For this, Weber was only fined $2,500.

Fans are becoming more and more irked as they watch their teams’ players receive suspensions while others, like Weber don’t. Their annoyance deepens into anger when they see their favorite players injured by such play time and again.

When a game becomes marred by the loss of a favorite player to injury, or loss of respect for a favorite player who intentionally causes injury, it loses a bit of fun in watching the sport. The playoffs are inherently watched by a larger audience than regular season games, and the large amount of dirty play does nothing to dissuade those who only see hockey players as barbaric thugs on skates. NHL, it is your time to act!

Categories
Baseball Men Sports

Athlete of the Week: David Duffett

By Chris McCree
Sports Editor

Player Profile:

David Duffett

Senior

Infielder

Hometown: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Major: Mechanical Engineering

Season Statistics:

Avg: .329

GP-GS: 38-38

H: 50

RBIs: 29

SLG percentage: .454

OB percentage: .378

During a weekend of major playoff implications, David Duffett ’12 propelled the men’s baseball team to a 3-1 series win over Lehigh behind his consistent offensive production over the two days. The senior infielder batted .500 over the four games, notching three RBIs and three runs scored against the Mountain Hawks pitching staff. Starting strong in game one, Duffett was the only Orange and Blue player to record multiple hits and was able to get on base at least twice in each of the four contests. During the series finale, Duffett produced his strongest offensive performance of the weekend, going 3-5 to help the Bison to a one-run victory.

“My coaches and teammates put me in great opportunities to contribute to the team and I was fortunate enough to come through for them,” Duffett said. “We knew we were capable of playing well and we were able to put it all together this weekend against Lehigh. The pitching staff did a great job against their offense and we were able to hit well enough to win the series.”

Duffett emerged as one of the team’s most talented players last season when he took over the starting job as a junior. Last season, Duffett ranked second on the team with a .361 batting average during the regular season and recorded 18 multi-hit games. For the Bison, Duffett’s greatest quality is his durability. As a sophomore, Duffett played in 58 of 60 games and currently leads the team in games played with 38 this season.

This season, Duffett has turned his attention to being a good leader for the younger players on the team.

“My role on the team has changed a lot over the past four years,” he said. As a younger guy I always looked to the seniors to lead the team in the late innings, but now I’m one of the guys trying to help the team down the stretch. I would not have made it to this point in my career without all the support from my coaches and teammates over the years.”

Looking ahead, Duffett and the Bison have two key Patriot League series remaining on the schedule. This weekend, the team will travel to West Point to take on Army and then will close out their season at Lafayette one week later.

 

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