Category: Sports

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Softball Sports Women

Low offense hurts softball

Thomas Walter

Senior Writer

In a busy week on the diamond, the Orange and Blue lost three of four games to Lehigh over the weekend before splitting a two-game series against La Salle.

The Orange and the Blue split the opening doubleheader against Lehigh on March 29. Tori Robinson ’15 and Kristen Zahn ’15 drove in the Bison’s two runs in the night game as they won 2-1. The Bison lost the first game 6-1 as Lehigh took a commanding lead early by scoring five unanswered runs in the first five innings.

It was a difficult outing for the Bison, as they dropped both games of the doubleheader on March 30. The Bison lost 5-2 in game one, when after assuming a 2-1 lead in the second inning, the Bison offense was shut down while Lehigh rallied to take the lead and score several insurance runs.

The Orange and Blue then fell 3-1 in game two, when pitcher Amanda Fazio ’16 lost the shutout in the seventh inning thanks to a three-run home run by Lehigh. The offense proved to be a problem for the Orange and the Blue, who scored a total of six runs over four games. It was a trend that continued into their series with La Salle.

The Bison were shut out 8-0 in the first game against La Salle, but responded with a 7-0 win against the Explorers in game two. It was a much-needed bit of momentum for the Orange and the Blue as the team finally showed its offensive potential. In the sixth inning, the Bison scored four runs on three hits, thanks to Mary Horton ’13 driving in two runs and Cydnee Sanders ’15 knocked in the third.

“The shutout against Lasalle was a confidence booster and proved to ourselves that we can compete with any team,” Caryn Connors ’14 said. “Going into a Patriot League weekend competition with a win is always uplifting. During our games against Colgate and other Patriot League schools to come, we need to take each game out by out, inning by inning. We can compete with each and every team when we play our game and stay in control.”

The Bison will look to build on their positive offensive momentum as they continue Patriot League play this weekend when they travel to Hamilton, N.Y. to face Colgate.

Categories
Men Sports Tennis

Men’s tennis secures close win

Lauren Boone

Senior Writer

The Orange and Blue defeated the Saint Joseph’s Hawks 4-3 on April 2 in Philadelphia. Kelly Morque ’13 came out on top in his three-set singles match to clinch the overall win for the Bison.

The Bison swept the Hawks in doubles play. At No. 1 doubles, Aidan Lynch ’14 and Evan Zimmer ’13 won their match 8-6. The No. 2 doubles team, Nick Bybel ’16 and Josh Katten ’13, won their match 8-5. Octavio Canibe ’15 and Morque won their doubles match 8-6 in the No. 3 position.

The Bison carried the momentum from doubles play into singles play. First to finish was Zimmer, winning at the No. 3 position 6-3, 6-0. Bybel won his match 6-1, 6-1 at the No. 1 position to push the Bison out to a 2-0 lead in the singles play.

However, the Orange and Blue dropped three points to the Hawks at the No. 4, 5 and 6 positions, but Morque’s victory at the No. 2 singles position with a close score of 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 won the overall match for the Bison.

[Insert quote from Morque ’13]

With this victory, the Bison maintained a perfect 18-0 overall record against the Hawks.  The Orange and Blue also preserved a four-game winning streak against non-conference opponents. Their overall record is 10-5.

The Bison will be back in action this weekend against rival Colgate in Hamilton, N.Y., on Saturday at 2 p.m, followed by a meeting with Binghamton in Vestal, N.Y., on April 7 at 11 a.m.

Categories
Basketball Men Sports

Coach Paulsen signs five-year contract

Eric Brod

Senior Writer

The man who has guided the men’s basketball program to three straight Patriot League regular season championships and two league tournament championships in the last three years is returning to Lewisburg for at least five more years. On March 28, men’s basketball head coach Dave Paulsen signed a five-year contract extension that runs through the 2017-18 season. Paulsen was named head coach on May 20, 2008. Before becoming head coach of the Bison, Paulsen compiled a 170-53 record at his alma mater Williams College, leading them to the Division III national championship in 2003.

In his first five years at the helm for the Orange and Blue, Paulsen has compiled a 99-65 (.604) record. The 99 wins are currently fourth most in program history and his .604 win percentage is second-best all time in program history. In his first five seasons, Paulsen has led the Bison to three regular season league championships, two tournament championships and two NCAA tournament berths, including an 11-seed in this year’s East regional. In 2012, the Bison knocked off the Arizona Wildcats in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). The team’s 28 wins this year set a new Patriot League record.

On top of signing a contract extension, Paulsen was named the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District 13 Co-Coach of the Year. The Orange and Blue finished with a 28-6 overall record, including a 12-2 record in league play en route to their third straight regular season Patriot League Championship, and won the league tournament for the second time in three years. He shared the District 13 award with Harvard’s Tommy Amaker.

With Paulsen part of the Bison’s future, the Sojka Psychos and Bison faithful should be in for more exciting basketball in the years to come.

Categories
Lacrosse Sports Women

Women’s lax secures win with offensive outburst

Ajan Caneda

Copy Editor

The women’s lacrosse team split its two contests in Washington D.C. this past week, falling to American 11-6 on March 30 before responding with an impressive 22-9 victory against Howard on April 3.

The Eagles engineered an early 3-1 run to begin the first half, but the Bison responded with four straight goals from Katelyn Miller ’14, Ryan Wenk ’13, Sophie Kleinert ’14 and Sam Rickels ’16. American brought the halftime score to 5-5, posting two more tallies to end the first half.

In the second half, American’s defense locked down the Orange and Blue, as the Eagles rallied behind a six-goal run before Miller would complete her hat trick in the closing seconds of the game.

Madison Hurwitz ’13 recorded the lone assist for the Bison, while Rickels and Adrienne Wendling ’13 registered three draw controls each. Goalie Caroline O’Neill ’15 had four saves. Despite the loss, the Orange and Blue had the advantage in shot attempts (21-18) and draw controls (12-7).

Against Howard, the Orange and Blue scored 11 goals in each half, as they cruised to their second victory of the year. After Howard posted the initial goal, the Orange and Blue answered with six unanswered tallies. The offensive streaks continued in the second half, as the Orange and Blue went on a 6-0 blitz to start the half and concluded with a 5-0 run to come away with the comfortable win.

Hurwitz posted a career-high nine points, scoring five goals and dishing out four assists. Cori Thielemann ’15 added four goals of her own. Miller and Wenk each finished with hat tricks, as Miller added three assists and eight draw controls to her scoring total. The Orange and Blue also had a 39-20 shot advantage and a 19-14 edge in draw controls.

The Bison have two home matches coming up, as they will face Lafayette Saturday at 1 p.m., followed by a matchup against St. Bonaventure on April 9 at 7 p.m.

Categories
Club/Intramural Men's Rowing Sports

Rowing teams start season strong

“Andrew Arnao”

Sports Editor

The men’s and women’s rowing teams opened their seasons on March 30 at the Murphy Cup Regatta, hosted by Temple University, on the Cooper River in Cherry Hill, N.J.

The women’s team came into the event with seven boats scheduled to race and was looking for strong performances out of all of them. The team completed this goal as they advanced five boats to their respective finals. In the freshman eight, the team cruised easily through the heats, and finished in the final with a time of 7:10.05 to earn the bronze medal. This finish was followed by the second varsity eight which, like the freshman eight, easily advanced to the final, but was not able to earn a medal as they finished in fifth. In the varsity eight event, the Bison placed two boats in the six-boat final.

In the Grand Final, which featured top competition from powerhouses Buffalo, Williams and Navy, neither boat was able to take a spot, finishing in fifth and sixth places.

The best performance of the day for the Bison was in the varsity four event, in which the team recorded a gold medal winning time of 8:05.97. The next event for the team will be this weekend with races against Drexel and Penn on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia.

The men’s crew team was also looking for a strong early season performance from its team against some tough competition. The day began with the novice eight event where the Bison were not able to qualify for the finals with a fifth place performance in their heat. The freshmen redeemed themselves when the eight split into two fours and advanced both to the Grand Final in the novice four event. In this final, the “B” boat finished sixth with a time of 7:34.48 and the “A” boat earned the silver medal, only narrowly losing to winner La Salle, in 7:10.61. 

In the second varsity eight event, the team cruised to the final after finishing second in its heat to Drexel. In the JV final, the Bison put up a very good fight, narrowly losing a battle for the bronze to Drexel, and settled for fourth, finishing in 6:10.51. The varsity eight’s performance in its heat mirrored that of the 2V and advanced to the final after finishing second in its heat to Drexel.

In the Grand Final, the varsity eight saw a fast field featuring perennial powerhouses Virginia, Temple, Drexel, Williams and UNC. In a tight race, the Bison lost the battle for third with Temple and Williams and finished in fifth with 6:00.22.

The men’s team will split up this weekend with the varsity eight traveling to California to compete in the San Diego Crew Classic, while the remainder of the team will dual race Drexel on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia.

Categories
Golf Men Sports

Men’s and women’s golf teams finish 12th and 13th

Billy Tyler

Assistant Sports Editor

The men’s golf team competed this past week at Villanova’s Wildcat Invitational, which was held at the White Manor Country Club in Malvern, Pa. A solid final round performance led the Bison to ninth place in the team final standings.

The event began on April 1 with the first two rounds of the tournament. The Bison started off well with scores of 314 and 311 to put them in 10th place. In the final round, the Bison closed out the tournament with a 303, good enough for the third-best team score of the day. This strong round was led by solid performances from Pete Scialabba ’15 and Dan Bernard ’13. Scialabba shot a 1-over-par 72, which Bernard nearly matched, shooting a 73 on the day. Other team members that contributed were Schuyler Stitzer ’14 with a 78, Jon Hartman ’13 with an 80 and Thomas Walter ’14 with an 82.

The next event for the Bison will be at the Lafayette Invitational, hosted at the Northampton Country Club, on April 7-8.

Categories
Beyond the Bison Sports

Beyond the Bison: Sports News Across the Nation

 

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons Coach Tom Izzo (left) is nearing the end of another successful season. Izzo may go down as one of the greatest coaches that college basketball has ever seen.
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Coach Tom Izzo (left) is nearing the end of another successful season. Izzo may go down as one of the greatest coaches that college basketball has ever seen.

Julian Dorey

Writer

“More with Less”

I haven’t called him “Tom” in years. To me, Tom Izzo is simply the “Wiz.” In his 18 years manning the ship at Michigan State’s basketball program, the credentials speak for themselves: 16 straight NCAA tournament appearances, seven regular season Big Ten Championships, six Final Four appearances, two national title game appearances and one National Championship in 2000. Izzo has made MSU synonymous with March folklore and he has continually turned over roster after roster successfully. What’s even more impressive is that despite all of that success over the years, he has only ever had one player become an NBA All-Star (Zach Randolph) which makes his accomplishments all the more impressive given the lack of superstar power his teams have had.

Instead, he has relied on coaching up smart, team-oriented leaders like Mateen Cleaves, Drew Neitzel, Kalin Lucas and Draymond Green. Seemingly every season, Michigan State receives love from the AP voters early on, sometimes without much more of a reason than “Izzo has to have something up his sleeve.” While they have spent many seasons fading from their preseason rankings, Izzo has repeatedly gotten his team clicking on all cylinders by February. By March, they’re deadly.

This year Izzo is at it again. After receiving a number three seed from the NCAA Tournament Committee, the Spartans opened up their tournament with a 65-54 win over Valparaiso, and then followed that up with a high-speed beat down of an athletic Memphis team 70-48. With a matchup against Mike Krzyzewski and second-seeded Duke on the horizon, Izzo seems poised for another “joke’s on everyone else” run through the bracket. The Spartans look like one of the most physical teams in the country right now, and they do not turn the ball over.

At this point, a fair question is certainly at hand: if Izzo can make it seven final four appearances and, dare I say, two national titles, will it be fair to call him one of the greatest of all time? Izzo is 439-177 in his 18 seasons as a collegiate head coach (all at MSU), giving him a .713 win percentage. Part of the reason his name is sometimes left out of the “legends” conversation is because guys like Krzyzewski, Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim and North Carolina’s Roy Williams have had more seasons of head coaching, and thus have higher win totals. 

But history remembers greatness. Izzo has already matched Boeheim with one national title, and he has lapped him with six Final Four appearances to Boeheim’s three. With one more national title, Izzo will match Roy Williams in national titles and Final Four appearances, albeit in seven less seasons. Measurables like this surely will not be lost in the annals of college basketball history.

Sparty looks primed for another run at college basketball’s crown, and I don’t mind putting my money on Izzo.

Categories
Men Sports Track & Field Women

Track heads outdoors for start of spring season

Andrew Arnao

Sports Editor

After a brief hiatus, the men’s and women’s track and field teams are getting ready to get back in action as they begin the outdoor portion of their schedule. The preseason so far includes the success of several Bison at the Washington and Lee Carnival last weekend, as well as the Bison receiving high rankings for the upcoming outdoor season.

Three Bison track and field members travelled to Lexington, Va. to participate in the Washington and Lee Carnival. Emma Rice ’15, Michaela Read ’16 and Cody Haupt ’16 performed well at the event, earning top-15 finishes in each of their respective events.

Rice competed in the 100 meter and 200 meter, placing 11th in the 100 meter with a time of 13.20 and placing 13th in the 200 meters with a time of 27.10. Read placed 15th in the pentathlon with a score 3,185 points, while Haupt managed 14th place in the decathlon with a total of 4,787 points.

The Orange and the Blue also fared well in the outdoor preseason polls, with both the men’s and women’s teams earning second place. The men, looking to defend their three consecutive Patriot League titles, scored a 90, closely trailing first-place Navy by two points. The women, winners of three of the last four championships, scored an 89, also trailing first-place Navy by six points. Both the Bison and Navy finished the voting far ahead from the rest of the Patriot League, indicating that the battle for this year’s crown will come down to a close competition between these two teams.

The Bison look to put their right foot forward as they begin their outdoor season this weekend at the UMBC Invitational in Baltimore, Md.

Categories
Lacrosse Men Sports

Men’s lax goes 1-1, achieves highest all-time ranking

 

Ally Boni | The Bucknellian Goalie Kyle Feeney '13 clears the ball in a recent win. The Bison moved up in the national rankings from No. 16 to No. 6 this past week after beating No. 20 Albany and No. 2 Cornell.
Ally Boni | The Bucknellian
Goalie Kyle Feeney ’13 clears the ball in a recent win. The Bison moved up in the national rankings from No. 16 to No. 6 this past week after beating No. 20 Albany and No. 2 Cornell.

Reed Dempsey

Staff Writer

The Orange and Blue traveled to Albany, N.Y. on March 23, where they exploded for a season-high 18-goal performance against the No. 20 University of Albany Great Danes in an 18-12 victory. The Bison also fell to No. 16/17 Penn State 11-3 in a home match on March 26.

Early in the first quarter against Albany, the Bison and Great Danes traded a pair of goals before the Bison added two straight to open up a 3-1 lead. Not to be outdone, Albany mounted a three-goal run over the final minutes of the first quarter and into the second, giving them the advantage. The Orange and Blue quickly responded with an equalizer, but red-hot Albany went back-to-back-to-back, increasing its lead to three goals.

In the early minutes of the second half, the teams brought the game to a 9-6 score in favor of the Great Danes, before Ryan Gutowski ’13 won the ensuing faceoff, rushed the ball down the field and scored his first goal of the season. This began an explosive 6-1 run for the Bison, that included two goals by Brock Ghelfi ’16 and single tallies from Thomas Flibotte ’16, David Dickson ’15 and Peter Burke ’14, giving the Orange and Blue a 12-10 advantage.

The Great Danes scored twice in the opening minute of the final period, in what would be their final goals of the game. Over the final 14 minutes, the Bison defense shut down Albany, as the offense opened up for another six-goal run.

The Orange and Blue were led by four-goal performances from Todd Heritage ’14 and Flibotte, in addition to a career-high seven-point effort by Dickson.

Following this decisive win, the Bison received a bump in the polls, moving up ten spots to No. 6/7, an all-time high. The Orange and Blue faced a quick turnaround as the No. 16/17 Penn State Nittany Lions visited Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.

The two high-powered offenses were overshadowed by strong defensive performances in the first half, as the Bison were only able to capitalize on two extra-man opportunities while the visiting Nittany Lions found the back of the net three times to take a one-goal lead heading into the half.

Several minutes into the third quarter Ghelfi found the back of the net to tie the game at three goals apiece, in what would be the final Bison goal of the game. During the rest of the game, the Orange and Blue were completely shut down by the visiting defense. Heritage linked the offensive drought to Penn State’s style of defense in addition to an inability to execute their normal offensive play.

“We came out and didn’t run our offense exactly how we wanted to. Penn State runs a different defense than most we see during the season,” Heritage said.

At the same time, the opposing offense continued to fire on all cylinders, scoring eight straight goals. Team Captain Kyle Feeney ’13 was obviously disappointed with the team’s performance.

“We came out a little flat … we were in a position we had never been (No. 6 in the nation) and I unfortunately didn’t think we handled it well. We didn’t stay true to who we are as a team,” Feeney said.

Coming off the tough loss, the Bison look to rebound Saturday at 1 p.m. in a Patriot League matchup against Holy Cross at home.

Categories
Softball Sports Women

Softball loses twice to Drexel

Katherine Harris

Senior Writer

After 21 consecutive road games, the women’s softball team faced off against Drexel on March 27 in its first two home games of the season. Unfortunately, the Bison could not get a win in either half of the doubleheader, losing both by a score of 3-1.

In the first game, the Bison offense was led by Cydnee Sanders ’15. Sanders not only posted two singles and a triple, but also scored the only run for the Orange and Blue.

“We had trouble stringing along hits. We have been working on a lot of little things to improve our game, and I think we just have to put it all together now,” Sanders said.

Several other members of the team also performed well in the tight loss. Mary Horton ’13 posted the Bison’s only other two hits in the match. Pitcher Amanda Fazio ’16 also had a good day, pitching a full game and allowing only five hits, with no earned runs.

After a brief break, the Orange and Blue looked for revenge in the second half of the doubleheader. The Bison were hot early and jumped out to a quick lead in the second inning when Sanders got on base with a single and was later driven in on a single by Lauren Swindell ’16. Dana Nielsen ’16 got the loss on the mound. Despite being credited with all three runs, she managed to strike out seven opponents on the day.

The Bison will continue their stretch of home games this weekend when they host Lehigh for doubleheaders starting at 1 p.m. and 12 p.m. on March 30 and March 31, respectively.