Category: Sports

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Men Sports Tennis

Men’s tennis gets first PL win

Lauren Boone

Senior Writer

The Orange and Blue faced two tough competitors on the road last weekend, claiming a 5-2 victory over Patriot League rival Colgate on April 6 and suffering a 7-0 loss to Binghamton on April 7. The win against Colgate was the Bison’s first win in Patriot League play.

Despite close competition, the Bison swept in doubles play against Colgate. First to finish was the No. 3 doubles team Octavio Canibe ’15 and Kelly Morque ’13, winning 8-3. Next, Aidan Lynch ’14 and Evan Zimmer ’13 claimed victory at the No. 1 doubles position 8-6. Finally, No. 2 doubles team Nick Bybel ’16 and Josh Katten ’13 secured a doubles point for the Bison with a 9-7 victory.

The Orange and Blue kept the momentum going into the singles play, winning the majority of the matches to secure the overall win. Katten secured the first singles win at the No. 4 position 6-3, 6-3. Following Katten, teammates Morque and Zimmer posted singles victories as well. Morque won his match 6-3, 6-2, while Zimmer won 7-5, 6-3. Canibe won his match at the No. 6 position (6-3, 6-1) to secure the overall win for the Bison.

“Our doubles came out solid and stayed tough during key moments,” Zimmer said. “On the singles side, we were broken early in some matches, but were able to stay composed and battle through our opponents. Overall, it turned out to be a great win for the Bison.”

With this victory, the Bison improved their overall season record to 11-5 and their conference record to 1-1. This was also their sixth consecutive victory over Colgate.

Unfortunately, the Bison did not have the same success against Binghamton, ending their four-match winning streak. In doubles play, Bybel and Katten clinched the only victory for the Bison that day (8-6) at the No. 1 doubles position. With this victory, Katten is one match away from tying the Bison record for most combined singles and doubles career wins at 150 matches.

The No. 2 doubles team of Lynch and Ryan Marcil ’14, lost its match 8-6. Morque and Canibe also lost their match 8-1 at the No. 3 doubles position. Some of the singles matches were also close, with Morque, Katten and Lynch all pushing their singles matches to third sets.

“Unfortunately, on Sunday we went up against a tough competitor in Binghamton, but there was plenty positive to take from the loss,” Katten said. “Binghamton has won their conference five years in a row, and while we lost, we were right there in most of the matches. Going forward, it’s important to play some tough matches as they definitely help prepare the team for the Patriot League Tournament.”

With this loss, the Bison’s season record fell to 11-6. The Bison will compete at home for their next four matches, starting Friday when they play rival Army at 3 p.m. on the Varsity Tennis Courts, followed by matches against Lafayette on April 14 at 2 p.m. and Lehigh on April 15 at 3 p.m.

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Men Sports Track & Field Women

Track teams finish 2nd, 8th

Eric Brod

Senior Writer

The Bison men’s and women’s track and field teams continued their strong spring seasons with an impressive showing at the Colonial Relays last weekend in Williamsburg, Va. The men’s team finished second while the women’s team came away with an eighth place finish.

The Bison men finished the Colonial Relays with a team total of 113 points, while first-place Rutgers won with 128. The top performers for the Orange and Blue were the members of the 4×100 meter relay, who finished in first place in 41.53 seconds. Also shining for the Bison was Christian Lupica ’15, who finished first among collegiate competitors in the 100-meter hurdles in 14.25 seconds, which set a career best and broke the program record previously set in 2012.

“Breaking a school record is always fun,” Lupica said. “They aren’t usually the main goal, but through trying to run fast and [achieve] competitive times, they become secondary goals that help to motivate me and are exciting to surpass.”

In the field, Luke Webster ’13 finished second in the discus with a throw of 160-2 feet, while teammate Leonard Joseph ’13 finished in sixth with a throw of 148-3 feet. In the triple jump, Ray Holmes ’14 finished second with a jump of 49-4 1/4.

For the women, many individuals and relays shined en route to an eighth place finish for the Orange and Blue. The team finished with 53 points, while winner Rutgers finished with 104. The 4×200 meter relay team of Jennifer Zymet ’14, Sasha Hornock ’13, Jess Bridle ’16 and Kim Nagotko ’15 finished in 1:41.35 minutes, which set a new program record en route to a third place finish.

“The race strategy for a 4×200 is just to have all four people run their fastest in the same race, which is hard to do,” Hornock said. “Additionally, having three smooth handoffs can make a substantial difference in the relay time.”

The distance medley relay also put up a strong performance, finishing third in 11:57.32 minutes. In the field, Abby Monaghan ’13 finished fourth in the discus with a throw of 138-3 feet, and Alexandra Romanelli ’13 finished seventh in the triple jump with a jump of 36-4 1/4.

The Bison will host their first home meet of the season this weekend at the Bison Outdoor Classic, which is scheduled to take place from April 13-14 at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.

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Lacrosse Sports Women

Women’s lax defeats St. Bonaventure 17-9

 

Heather Oros | The Bucknellian No. 4 Madison Hurwitz '13 drives to the goal. The Bison split games this past weekend, losing 13-8 to Lafayette then rebounding in their next match with a 17-9 win over St. Bonaventure.
Heather Oros | The Bucknellian
No. 4 Madison Hurwitz ’13 drives to the goal. The Bison split games this past weekend, losing 13-8 to Lafayette then rebounding in their next match with a 17-9 win over St. Bonaventure.

Ajan Caneda

Copy Editor

The women’s lacrosse team began its week with a 13-8 home loss against Lafayette on April 6, but bounced back behind a career-high seven-goal performance by Madison Hurwitz ’13 to defeat St. Bonaventure 17-9 on April 9.

Sam Rickels ’16 posted the first goal of the game against the Leopards off of a free position shot. Lafayette traded goals with the Orange and Blue in the early minutes, as Cori Thielemann ’15 evened the score at three apiece. Unfortunately for the Bison, the Leopards closed the half on a 4-0 run.

Ryan Wenk ’13 ended the Bison scoring drought with a tally at the 20:07 mark followed by an Adrienne Wendling ’13 goal two minutes later off an assist from Wenk. But that would be as close as the Bison would get, as the Leopards scored three unanswered goals to make it a seven-goal deficit for the Bison, and put the game out of reach.

Despite the loss, Caroline Collins ’15 had a solid game with three caused turnovers, two ground balls and two draw controls.

It was a better result against St. Bonaventure, as Katelyn Miller ’14 and Hurwitz accounted for 12 of the Bison’s 17 goals en route to their third victory of the season. The Bison went on a couple of 4-0 runs to lead 9-3 at the half, while holding a 20-5 shot advantage. Miller dished out three assists and scored three goals in the half.

“In our game on Saturday (Lafayette), we struggled with a lot of offensive turnovers due to a lack of focus, but we definitely cleaned that up a lot for St. Bonaventure and it really showed in the score,” Miller said.

The Orange and Blue continued to shine in the second half, adding another eight tallies. Hurwitz, Miller and Rickels were part of another 4-0 run, ending a terrific offensive night for the Bison.

Thielemann, Sophie Kleinert ’14 and Blair McDonald ’15 each scored a goal in the win. Miller’s five goals brought her to the 30-goal mark for the second straight season. Wendling finished with seven ground balls, one away from the program’s single-game record. In addition, Miller recorded a career-best nine points in the victory.

“I was able to get a lot of draws because Sophie [Kleinert] was able to control where the ball was going every time, which made it easy for me to get into a good position on the circle. Offensively, we really worked as a team which made it easy to feed people,” Miller said.

The Bison will host Senior Day against Holy Cross Saturday at 1 p.m. at Graham Field. Hurwitz, Wendling and Wenk will all be recognized before the game.

“I am very proud about leaving the program in better standing for the future than when I joined and am really excited about continuing to end the season very strong both personally and as a team, hopefully getting our first Patriot League win this Saturday,” Hurwitz said.

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Club/Intramural Men's Rowing Sports

Crew team makes program history

Andrew Arnao

Sports Editor

The men’s and women’s rowing teams had hectic, event-filled weekends which featured program firsts for both teams. The women’s team raced Drexel and Penn on April 6 in Philadelphia then competed in the Occoquan Sprints in Virginia on April 7. The men’s team split up its squad, with its varsity eight competing in the San Diego Crew Classic in California while the rest of the team dueled with Drexel in Philadelphia on April 6.

The weekend began for the women’s team against Drexel. The varsity eight dominated the race and won by a solid margin of 6.6 seconds. Following a short rest, the team returned to action in the afternoon against perennial powerhouse Penn. In an extremely tight and hard-fought race, the varsity eight was victorious. The Bison defeated Penn with a time of 6:50.3, less than one second ahead of Penn’s 6:51.0 finish. This marked the first time in program history the varsity eight had defeated Penn and was the “highlight of the weekend” according to head coach Stephen Kish.

After a long night of travel, the women’s team was ready for more racing as it competed in the Occoquan Sprints. The team had seven boats in action and all four of the team’s eights made their respective grand finals. Although none were able to find victory in the grand final, they still put up solid performances. These boats and their finishes were: varsity eight (second), junior varsity eight (sixth), second varsity eight (fifth) and the novice eight (fifth).

“We look forward to building off of all the race experience we had last weekend to continue to develop as we move towards the Patriot League Championships in May,” Kish said.

The men’s crew team also had a busy weekend, splitting up its squad to race at two separate venues. The varsity eight traveled to California to compete in the prestigious San Diego Crew Classic. After winning its heat on April 6, the Bison found themselves against some very tough competition in the Cal Cup final on April 7. After a slow start, the team worked its way back through the pack towards the front. Unfortunately, there was not enough room for the team to complete its and the Bison finished in second place behind UC Santa Barbara with a time of 6:09.26.

Head coach Al Monte was “happy to see the varsity eight race a very gutsy and determined race against some very good crews.”

Meanwhile, the remainder of the team raced Drexel and Mercyhurst in Philadelphia on April 6. The second varsity eight finished in third place behind both Drexel boats, but ahead of Mercyhurst. The third varsity eight was also defeated, losing to Drexel’s novice eight but beating Mercyhurst’s third varsity eight.

Both teams will look for victories this weekend in Cherry Hill, N.J. at the Knecht Cup Regatta.

 

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Bison Athlete of the Week Sports

Bison Athlete of the Week: Kyle Feeney ’13

The Bucknellian Archives
The Bucknellian Archives

Goalie Kyle Feeney ’13 has been an integral part of the men’s lacrosse team’s successful season. Already eighth all-time on the school’s career saves list, Feeney’s continued excellence defending the net has played a big part in the Bison’s current 9-2 record this season. In January, Feeney was selected in the eighth round of Major League Lacrosse’s Collegiate Draft by the Charlotte Hounds, one of two goalies and seven Patriot League players overall that were selected.

Feeney is putting the finishing touches on a fantastic career as a Bison. He was a second-team All-Patriot League selection in 2011, the same year he set a school record with 13 wins. During that season, Feeney was in goal for every game as the Orange and the Blue charged towards an eventual Patriot League Championship, and he excelled in the playoffs by recording 17 saves while allowing only eight goals.

During his junior year last season, Feeney was a first-team All-Patriot League selection, and he recorded a career high 169 saves.

Feeney’s stiff goaltending has made a direct impact on several outcomes this season. His 11 saves in the season opener against Delaware helped protect the team’s eventual 9-8 win, including stopping a Delaware charge with 20 seconds remaining. Feeney also had three saves in the final 66 seconds of a game against Bryant to preserve the Bison’s 10-8 victory. Finally, Feeney’s six saves proved vital for the Orange and Blue’s 9-8 upset of No. 2 Cornell.

Feeney’s success will hopefully aid the Bison in their quest for another Patriot League Championship. Come out and see Feeney and the rest of the men’s lacrosse team play their final home game against Lehigh next Friday.

 

Hometown: Greenwich, Conn.

Major: Civil Engineering

Win-loss record (this season): 9-2

Win-loss record (career): 28-16

Number of saves (this season): 90

Numbers of saves (career): 426

Save % (this season): .520

Save % (career): .555

Goals allowed per game (this season): 7.90

Goals allowed per game (career): 7.83

Categories
Beyond the Bison Sports

Beyond the Bison: Sports News Across the Nation

Julian Dorey

Staff Writer

“A New Day”

Opening Day is here once again. Thirty fan bases have a reason for hope. Many down-on-their-luck franchises have a reason to believe that this season might represent something a little bit different. Reality will set in for most teams within a few short weeks, but, for now, everyone can enjoy the first day playing for what counts.

For me, the 150-plus-year tradition never gets old. Baseball was America’s first real game. Back in the days when Ellis Island flooded with boats from every end of the world, the young immigrants settled into the hellish streets and poor neighborhoods, and were often brought together by a common love for throwing a ball and swinging a bat.

Though those days may be long gone and baseball has been replaced in the American sports hierarchy by football, the yearly thirst for a throwback to the old days has never waned. Opening Day was and absolutely still is a powerful tradition.

This year is different than recent history. You won’t find the Yankees and Red Sox anywhere near the top of preseason rankings, in the AL or in their own division. The Phillies may be over the hill. Even the Texas Rangers may have finally lost one free agent too many. In their place, teams like the upstart Washington Nationals and the old-school, defending champion San Francisco Giants seem to be the favorites.

While the last team standing is certainly the most important aspect of every season, fans everywhere are looking forward to another storyline involving the next generation of the game.

Last season, two outstanding rookies name Mike Trout and Bryce Harper stunned the baseball landscape with levels of play that so far outperformed their age. Trout, who at age 21 is only a year older than Harper, had one of the better seasons you will ever see—dazzling in center field while batting .326 with 30 HR and 49 stolen bases in just 139 games. Detroit Tigers star Miguel Cabrera edged out Trout for the AL MVP, but only by becoming the first player in 45 years to win the Triple Crown.

Meanwhile, Harper held his own with a .270 average, 22 HR, 59 RBI’s and 18 stolen bases in his rookie campaign. Harper isn’t quite as far along as Trout, but the flashes he showed and the way he changed the culture in Washington by helping the city to its first postseason berth since 1933 certainly bodes well for his future.

There are whispers among baseball purists and casual fans alike that Trout and Harper may be starting an era between themselves unmatched by any two players since Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams. That’s some pretty high class company. Their story will be among the many baseball fans have to look forward to heading into Opening Day. But with another season set to begin, hope truly springs eternal in some way for every team. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Categories
Men Sports Track & Field Women

Track opens spring season

Andrew Arnao

Sports Editor

The men’s and women’s track and field teams opened their season in Baltimore, Md. on March 30. Half the squad participated in the UMBC Invitational, where the Bison recorded 11 wins, while the other half partook in the Maryland Invitational, where Luke Webster ’13 broke the school record in the discus.

Eight men recorded wins at the UMBC Invitational. Christian Lupica ’15 took home two gold medals after victories in the 110-meter high hurdles and the 400-meter hurdles, while Ryan Johnson ’16 and Chris Oesterlin ’14 rounded out the individual running events with wins in the 800 meters and 1,500 meters, respectively.

A relay team of Kamal Riley ’14, Lupica, Jacob Eaton Hall ’14 and Justin Hicks ’13 won the gold in the 4×100 meter. Also recording first-place finishes for the Bison were Daniel Markwalter ’13 in the pole vault and Ray Holmes ’14 in the triple jump.

Webster’s record-breaking discus toss of 170-10 was also good enough for second place, beating his previous best mark by several feet.

The women’s team recorded six total wins across both Invitationals. At the UMBC Invitational, Jennifer Zymet ’14 took the gold in the 400 meters, while Chrissy Haney ’16 was victorious in the 400-meter hurdles. In the long distance events, Beth Braunegg ’14 won the 800 meters and Kylie Pearse ’15 won the 3,000 meter steeplechase.

In field events, Emily Ando ’14 finished first in the pole vault, with four other Bison also finishing in the top five spots. At the Maryland Invitational, Abby Monaghan ’13 rounded out the list of victorious Bison with a first place finish in the discus.

The men’s and women’s track and field teams will return to action this weekend at the Colonial Relays in Williamsburg, Va.

Categories
Lacrosse Men Sports

Men’s lax beats Holy Cross, improves to 9-2

 

Jackson Place '14 moves forward on defense. Place caused three turnovers to help the Bison defeat Holy Cross.
Jackson Place ’14 moves forward on defense. Place caused three turnovers to help the Bison defeat Holy Cross.

Reed Dempsey

Senior Writer

Following a tough loss to Penn State, the No. 6/7 Bison had a strong rebound, scoring 11 goals in the first half to cruise past Holy Cross 16-9.

After being held to just three goals against a solid Penn State team, the Orange and Blue looked to come out strong against the visiting Crusaders.

“We wanted to make sure that we came out more fired up than Holy Cross,” Brock Ghelfi ’16 said.

The Bison looked like they were fired up as Ghelfi and Todd Heritage ’14 each scored in the opening five minutes to give the Bison an early two-goal lead. Holy Cross responded with a goal of its own at the 9:05 mark, only to then allow four straight tallies by the Orange and Blue, including a second goal for both Heritage and Ghelfi.

Just before the end of the first quarter, the Crusaders were able to get back on the board and close the Bison lead to 6-2.

The Orange and Blue continued their domination in the second quarter, holding Holy Cross scoreless, as the offense went to work, adding five more goals. According to Ghelfi, the team was executing their game plan perfectly.

“We can attribute the success of our first half to the intensity and mental focus that we brought from the first whistle,” Ghelfi said.

With a nine-goal lead heading into the second half, the Bison game plan was to run out the clock with long possessions on offense. The visiting Crusaders scored two goals in quick succession at the outset of the second half, but the Orange and Blue responded with a pair of their own by Chase Bailey ’13 and Thomas Flibotte ’16, bringing the score to 13-4.

Although Holy Cross added three additional goals over the final minutes of the third half, compared to just one from the Bison, the Orange and Blue lead was safe at seven goals.

The Crusaders would score twice in the final quarter, but two insurance goals by Sean Doyle ’16 helped seal the victory.

Doyle and Heritage led the Bison offense with four goals apiece, as Ghelfi and Bailey each added three of their own. David Dickson ’15 and Peter Burke ’14 combined for eight assists.

The Orange and Blue will travel to West Point, N.Y. Saturday for a game against Army.

Categories
Baseball Men Sports

Baseball suffers four tough losses

 

Matt Busch '13 follows through with his swing. The Bison were 1-3 against Patriot League rival Holy Cross.
Matt Busch ’13 follows through with his swing. The Bison were 1-3 against Patriot League rival Holy Cross.

Katherine Harris

Senior Writer

The baseball team had a rough week, finishing with a 1-3 record in four games at Holy Cross this past weekend, as well as losing to Saint Joseph’s at home on April 3.

The Bison began Patriot League play in Worcester, M.A. with a win in the first game of a doubleheader. Rob Krentzman ’15 got on the board with his first home run of the season, while Corey Furman ’14 and Travis Clark ’13 both went 4-7 to contribute to the 6-3 win for the Orange and Blue. The team could not keep the momentum going to finish out the second game of the day, ending with a 5-4 loss. Dan Weigel ’14 had a strong performance on the mound with eight strikeouts over 7.2 innings for the Bison, but it was not enough with offensive struggles in the late innings.

The Orange and Blue had similar misfortunes as they finished out their series with Holy Cross with a doubleheader on March 31, falling 5-4 and 9-3 on the day. Furman performed strongly in both games, finishing 4-9, while Clark and Anthony Gingerelli ’15 both contributed key hits to the Bison offense. Dan Goldstein ’13 had a strong performance on the mound in the first game for the Bison, pitching all six innings and striking out seven batters.

The Orange and Blue regrouped to face off against Saint Joseph’s at home, but fell short of victory with a final score of 4-2. Carter Bumgardner ’13 drove in both runs for the Bison with a pair of RBI doubles, while Xavier Hammond ’15 and the rest of the bullpen had impressive performances on the day, but it was not enough to overcome Saint Joseph’s strong offense.

The baseball team will continue Patriot League play with a four-game series at Navy this weekend.

Categories
Sports Tennis Women

Women’s tennis falls flat

Emily Evancho

Writer

The women’s tennis team struggled through its first-ever loss at Saint Joseph’s on April 2. Stephanie Pino ’16 recorded the only victory in the 6-1 defeat for the Orange and Blue.

The Bison began the match with three defeats in doubles play. The team of Lydia Colvin ’15 and Pino swung the closest to securing a win, but couldn’t stop an 8-4 loss in the No. 2 doubles position.

The Hawks continued their sweep through singles play, receiving five wins over the Orange and Blue. Colvin showed her spirit and gave her opponent a fighting challenge, but ultimately fell in the No. 3 spot with a 7-5, 6-3 decision. Pino was the only Bison to beat a Hawk in the match, ending her singles play with the final scores of 1-6, 6-1, and 6-3. Pino’s success earned a point for the Orange and Blue, but by that time, the outcome of the match had already been decided.

“The tennis team has had a busy spring season filled with some tough matches against some good teams. Overall, we have played well as a team in some close matches that have not always gone our way, but all the players have shown great team spirit and support for one another. We take it one match at a time as we look forward to our next Patriot League match against Colgate on Saturday,” Pino said.

The women’s tennis team will swing back onto the court tomorrow for its next match against Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y.