Category: Sports

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Beyond the Bison Sports

Beyond the Bison: Mission Accomplished

Julian Dorey
Writer

Last weekend, the Eagles beat the Giants.

Okay, that was just the Birds fan in me gloating a bit. The real story of the evening was Brian Dawkins’ induction into the Eagles Hall of Fame.

Last spring, the nine-time Pro Bowl safety walked away from the game he revolutionized and brought to a close a truly remarkable career.

For 16 years, Dawkins roamed the NFL’s proverbial outfield like a ticking time bomb, daring quarterbacks to throw the ball anywhere within his jurisdiction. He finished his career with more than 25 sacks and more than 35 interceptions, joining an elite few in the NFL’s history who have accomplished that feat.

More importantly, Dawkins was the unquestioned team leader of an Eagles franchise that dominated the NFC East for much of the last decade and made a trip to the Super Bowl in 2005.

A great player on the field, Dawkins was an even greater person off of it. He was one of the few out-of-town professional athletes in Philadelphia who truly understood the passion, intensity and expectations of its fan base.

During the Eagles-Giants game on Sunday, the team he carried honored him in the best way they could. Dawkins’ signature No. 20 jersey was retired and an enormous mural was unveiled at the northern end of the stadium.

In football, jerseys don’t often get retired. With 53 men to fill out a roster every year, there are already limited options when it comes to picking digits. Dawkins hasn’t even been out of the league for a year yet.

As the current Eagles players took the field on Sunday night, “Weapon X” (as Dawkins was called) did one more “transformation” dance out of the team tunnel. Donning the very jersey he graced for 13 years in Philadelphia, Dawkins crawled, shook and danced his way towards the 50-yard line to a thunderous roar from the Philly faithful.

At halftime, Dawkins got to say thank you one more time as his honorary mural was officially unveiled.

The emotion he played with has not left him and his passion for the game is still evident. He was a privilege to watch for all NFL fans, and his punishing playing style may never be seen again in light of the new player safety measures taken by the NFL.

The Eagles won a nail-biter, 19-17, but Brian Dawkins was the real winner that night.

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Football Men Sports

Football drops another close contest: Bison unable to convert on final drive

Eric Brod
Senior writer

The Bison have been led by their defense so far this season, but the offense once again failed to deliver as the Orange and Blue dropped their third straight contest, a 15-10 decision at the hands of Cornell. The Bison are now 1-3 on the season. While the Bison were able to move inside the Big Red 15-yard line in the final minute, the offense was unable to cross the goal line for the go-ahead score.

After the defense forced Cornell to punt after a three and out, the Bison returned the punt near midfield with 3:20 left to play in the game, trailing 15-10. After three straight Brandon Wesley ’14 completions brought the Orange and Blue to the Cornell 28-yard line, Tyler Smith ’13 converted on a 4th-and-1 on the ensuing series to keep the Bison comeback drive alive. Unfortunately, the Bison were unable to convert a first down on the next series, sealing their fate.

“Our offense must do a better job of sustaining drives and converting possessions,” Head coach Joe Susan said. “As a team, we will keep working to put ourselves in position to make more explosive plays.”

The defense, led by a career-high 12 tackles from linebacker Evan Byers ’15, kept Big Red quarterback Jeff Mathews in check, holding him to 27-46 passing for 278 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. Byers attributes many factors to his success this season.

“Just using all of last year as a learning experience and to find out what college football is all about. Coach Pennypacker, the linebackers coach, and also Beau Traber [’13], the other starting linebacker, have helped me a great amount in improving from last year to this year,” Byers said. “Also the defensive line and the secondary have been doing a great job making it easier for me to get tackles and put pressure on the QB.”

Coming into play, the Cornell offense was averaging 36 points per game, while Mathews had thrown seven touchdowns in his previous two games.

“The most important part is [Byers’] work ethic, on and off the field. He is a high motor player. This is consistent with how he trains and how he prepares for a game,” Susan said. “I am sure Evan will continue to develop into one of the better linebackers in the league.”

The defense also received a huge contribution from safety Ryan Morgan ’14, who had eight tackles and one interception. Traber also contributed eight tackles.

The Orange and Blue took an early lead on a two-yard run by running back Jeremiah Young ’13, his first score of the year. The play was set up by a 63-yard run by Charles Thompson ’14. Cornell responded with the game’s next 15 points. The Bison next scored on a 29-yard field goal by Sean Cobelli ’14 with 5:14 remaining in the game.

Wesley had a solid day passing, going 19-29 for 135 yards. Victor Walker ’14 proved to be the go to man again, catching eight passes for 57 yards. Smith returned to rush for 44 yards on 12 carries. The Bison were once again plagued by penalties, committing six for 75 yards. Cornell outgained the Bison on offense 361-286.

The Bison will return tomorrow against Patriot League rival Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass.

“We need to capitalize on all the chances we get this weekend and when the time comes to make those plays, we need to make them,” Byers said. “The defense needs to create more turnovers so that we can win the turnover battle and allow our offense to have the ball more.”

Susan knows the offense must generate sustained drives early to ignite the squad as it looks to earn its second win of the season.

“We have to continue to work to improve our ability to put points on the board. Smith will be closer to 100 percent, and with the combination of Tyler, Young and Thompson, we must be a better run team,” Susan said.

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Soccer Sports Women

Women’s soccer falls two times

Ajan Caneda
Copy Editor

The women’s soccer team struggled this past week, falling 4-1 against Colgate in its Patriot League opener on Sept. 29. On Oct. 2, the Orange and Blue put up a valiant effort against No. 4 Penn State, but were unable to contain the offensive attack of the Nittany Lions, suffering a 3-1 loss in Happy Valley.

During this season, the Bison (7-6) have gotten off to early leads that have allowed them to control the tempo of the game. In the Orange and Blue’s home conference opener, Colgate struck first, scoring its first goal in the ninth minute of the match. The Raiders continued to pressure the Orange and Blue, reeling off 14 shot attempts and six corner kicks in the first half. A Bison own goal pushed the lead to 2-0 at halftime.

“It was a pretty tough game, and Colgate finished their best chances, while we struggled a bit in that area,” Courtney Nelson ’15 said.

In the second half, Cassie Denger ’15 offered a cross-pass to Evelyn Nicinski ’15, who nailed a goal off of a leaping volley. The Orange and Blue were able to outshoot Colgate 11-10 in the second half. Unfortunately, the Raiders answered with back to back goals in the 56th and 59th minute to seal the game.

Nicinski led the Bison with four shot attempts. Nelson, Kayla Yee ’13 and Chelsey Garkowski ’14 each had three. Goalie Sandita McDermott ’13 finished a complete game with seven saves.

“We can’t let this one defeat keep us down; Colgate is a good team, but we haven’t peaked yet and will keep on improving,” Nelson said.

Following the loss, the Orange and Blue traveled to State College to face Penn State. The Bison were strong defensively, holding the Nittany Lions scoreless for a majority of the first half. A Bison foul led to a penalty kick goal for Penn State, giving them the lead at halftime.

After a Penn State goal in the 58th minute, the Bison countered with a goal from midfielder Jenna Tryon ’13, her first since her first year. Midfielder Taryn Boucher ’13 had a chance for the equalizer down the stretch but was unable to convert. The Nittany Lions scored their final goal in the 74th minute off a cross pass to finish a 3-1 victory.

McDermott had 11 saves, off of 20 Penn State shot attempts, 14 of which were on goal. This is only the second time this season that the Bison have lost consecutive games.

This was the last non-conference game for the Bison, and they look to regain momentum as they return home for two Patriot League contests this weekend. The Orange and Blue face Holy Cross today at 7 p.m., followed by a match against Army on Sunday at 1 p.m.

“As a team, we will be picking each other up and working on communication as we prepare for Holy Cross this weekend,” Nelson said.

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Men Sports Tennis

Men’s tennis racks up wins at home

Chris McCree
Sports Editor

The men’s tennis team posted 17 wins over two days at the Bucknell Invitational this past weekend, going 8-1 on the first day and 9-4 on day two. The Orange and Blue had their most success in doubles, winning eight of nine matches with the only loss occurring in a head-to-head match featuring two Bison duos. Octavio Canibe ’15 and Kelly Morque ’13 will face Josh Katten ’13 and Evan Zimmer ’13 in the doubles championship later in the week.

“What stood out to me this weekend is how versatile we are in certain areas,” Katten said. “For one, we have some very strong doubles players; it just takes the right combinations to produce wins. I was also very impressed with our team’s resiliency. This was our fourth straight weekend of matches, and we were able to fight through some of the weariness that comes with playing many matches.”

In singles, the Bison dominated in the first round but could not find the same level of success during the quarterfinals. Zimmer and Canibe pulled out tiebreak wins in the Flight A singles on day one, but lost in the next round. Both of Zimmer’s matches were decided in tiebreakers.

In Flight B singles, the Orange and Blue had more success as Chris Tortora ’14 and Jonathan DeFrancesch ’15 each won two matches to advance to the finals. Both players won in straight sets on day one but needed a tiebreak set in the semifinals to overcome opponents from Duquesne.

“As a whole, our team’s performance was promising, but as always there is much room for improvement,” Katten said. “Unfortunately, at the moment we are dealing with quite a few injuries, so while we had some solid individual performances, as a whole we are missing some important pieces.”

With two all-Bison finals, the Orange and Blue will increase their title tally to four for the fall season. The team has two tournaments remaining on the season and then will start up its spring campaign in February.

“The fall matches are often a good indicator of how we will perform in the spring,” Katten said. “However, this year we have a tough fall schedule which may induce some losses but in the long run will strengthen our team. I think as a unit we have high expectations for our spring slate, but we need to be mindful that it is a process and the league champion is often the team that grows the most throughout the year.”

The Bison will return to action next weekend from Oct. 12-14 at the Lehigh Invitational in Bethlehem, Pa.

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Men Soccer Sports

Men’s soccer held scoreless at American

Chris McCree
Sports Editor

The men’s soccer team recorded its first league loss this weekend at American in a tight defensive contest ending in a 1-0 loss for the Orange and Blue. The Bison out shot the Eagles 13-4, but a 44th minute scramble between goalie Mike Lansing ’16 and American’s Dale McDonald resulted in the game’s lone goal.

“The difference between winning and losing a Patriot League game is so small,” head coach Brendan Nash said. “We made the one necessary play to win at Lehigh, and American made the one necessary play this past weekend. It can be frustrating to have a game decided on just one play, but that is what makes the Patriot League so special.”

Holding the Eagles to just two shots for the majority of the first half, the Orange and Blue surrendered its only goal off of a long pass resulting in a mad dash between Lansing and McDonald. Arriving just before Lansing could get his hands on the ball, McDonald was able to poke it by, giving the Eagles the lead right before halftime.

In the second half, the Bison continued to pressure the Eagles defense, recording seven of its 13 shots and earning four corner kicks. Despite their efforts, the Bison could not find the back of the net and saw their regular season losing-streak against American increase to four years.

“I am really not sure there is much to improve upon from this past weekend,” Nash said. “We executed our game plan and held AU to just four shots on their home field.”

For the game, Brendan Burgdorf ’13 and CK Kumah ’13 led the Bison with four and three shots, respectively. The Orange and Blue’s best attempt came off of a breakaway from Burgdorf, but his shot sailed just over the crossbar. The Bison also had three shots denied by the posts and five stopped by the American goalkeeper.

“We just have to make sure we do not let the loss affect us mentally,” Nash said. “There is still a lot of PL soccer yet to play, and we have not even played a home league match yet. So the student-athletes just need to keep working hard to improve and I believe things will work out in the long term.”

The team will host Navy this weekend at Emmitt Field tomorrow at 2 p.m.

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Men Sports Swimming & Diving Swimming & Diving Women

Swimming opens season

Lauren Boone
Contributing Writer

The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams began their season against UMBC in Baltimore last weekend with the men winning eight races and the women winning seven.  The meet was not scored, so as to give the teams a chance to experience competition early in the season.

For the women, Emma Levendoski ’16 led her team with the most wins in her first collegiate competition. She took first in the 50, 100 and 200 backstroke, while Kelly Pontecorvo ’14 won the 500 and 1,000 freestyle. To round out the first place finishes for the Bison, Lauren Perry ’15 won the 200 freestyle and Elizabeth Porcellio ’13 won the 200 individual medley (IM). Additionally, Perry was the runner-up in the 50 freestyle, while Porcellio finished second in the 100 and 400 IM.

“Overall, the meet was a success and a good start to the season. It was a low stress meet so it was really just a good way for me, as a freshman, to see how the team works in a meet situation. Everyone swam as well as they expected to and we all had a great time,” Levendoski said.

On the men’s side, Cameron James ’16 proved himself with a trifecta of victories, winning the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle heats. Mike Nicholson ’14 won the 200 and 400 IM races, while Trevor Reitz ’14 won the 50 butterfly. Ben Seketa ’15 won the 200 breaststroke and Christian Treat ’13 won the 100 breaststroke.

“I think the meet this past weekend was a great first step in our season. We wanted to start off well as a team, and I feel we did just that,” James said. “This was my first competition as a member of the men’s swimming team, so I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to prove myself. However, it is still early in our season, which means we have a lot of work ahead of us as a team. Our goal is to get better every week, and we began looking forward to our next contest at the conclusion of Saturday’s competition.”

Additionally, Brian Phillips ’16 placed second in the 1,000 freestyle, JT Nangle ’16 finished second in the 50 backstroke and third in the 100 backstroke and Wes Marberry ’16 took third in the 200 backstroke.

The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will be back in action in two weeks when they travel to Storrs, Conn. to take on UConn on Oct. 20.

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Men Sports Water Polo

Water polo wins four

Scott Padula
Staff Writer

This past weekend, the men’s water polo team hosted the Bison Invitational, winning both of its tournament games. The Bison started the tournament by defeating MIT 18-12, then used the momentum to edge out a close win over Harvard 10-8, pushing their record to 6-8 on the season. The Bison also won exhibition games against Toronto and the Naval Academy’s “B” team 15-8 and 12-7, respectively.

The Bison kicked off the Invitational by defeating MIT 18-12, marking the first Orange and Blue victory in the last six games. The Bison came out ready to play against the Engineers, scoring five of the game’s first six goals and never looking back. The Orange and Blue matched their offensive production in the first quarter with five more goals in the second and third quarters. On the whole, the Bison never trailed in the match. Jack Else ’14 and Stefan Aleksic ’16 led the Bison scoring with four goals apiece. Mike Kimble ’14, Julian Colina ’14, Alex Nowlin ’14 and Nick Hale ’16 also chipped in with multi-goal performances. In the high scoring affair, Nowlin led the team with seven total points, adding five assists to the two goals he scored. In goal, Matt Napleton ’13 stopped seven shots in 32 minutes of play.

“Playing at home was great as always. We have the best fans in the league and Bucknell is the hardest place for opponents to come in and play at. We’re looking forward to playing at home in a couple weeks in front of some really rowdy crowds,” Napleton said.

In the team’s second official game of the tournament, the Orange and Blue won a nail-biter against Harvard 10-8. The Bison jumped out to an early lead, thanks in part to the Orange and Blue outscoring the Crimson 4-1 in the second quarter. Despite a four goal second half deficit, Harvard responded in the third, scoring three quick goals and cutting the Bison lead to one. In the fourth, the Crimson were the first to find the back of the net, tying the game at eight with 5:45 to play. The Orange and Blue responded with Hale scoring a go-ahead goal. Only slightly over a minute later, Kimble added to the Bison victory with another goal.

The most notable Bison performance came from Napleton who, in 32 minutes of action, recorded a career-high 21 saves in goal, beating his previous high of 16. Additionally, Napleton became the first Bison since career saves record-holder David Kennedy ’02 to record 20 saves in a game. Nowlin and Hale led the Orange and Blue on the offensive end, registering a team-high four points each, both from two goals and two assists. Kimble also made a strong contribution with three goals.

“While we won all four games, no one on the team was proud of the final result. We have a lot to work on in order to be able to run our defense against better teams. It’s all going to come down to everyone on the team being on the exact same page and listening to what our coaches are telling us,” Nowlin said.

The Orange and Blue will head to Princeton tomorrow for a league game before coming home to host four more league games against Johns Hopkins, Navy, George Washington and Princeton on Oct. 13 and 14.

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Sports Tennis Women

Women’s tennis picks up more wins

Andrew Arnao
Senior Writer

The Bison women’s tennis team participated in both the St. Joseph’s Invitational and the Bloomsburg Fall Classic last weekend. The Orange and the Blue picked up 12 wins at St. Joe’s and 10 wins at Bloomsburg.

“The other schools there presented us with some pretty tough competition, and we all were able to rise up to the challenge,” Jen Bush ’15 said. “As a team, we’ve been working hard to add more variety to our game in matches, and I think our efforts paid off in the tournament this weekend.”

Doubles partners Maria Cioffi ’16 and Elena Vidrascu ’14 advanced to the semifinals after victories over St. Joseph’s and Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, they were unable to beat Carmen Lai and Dorothy Safron of Delaware in the semifinal. In the singles matches, Cioffi and Bush also advanced to the semifinals, but fell to Aurora Davis of St. Joseph’s (6-7, 6-2, 10-2) and Camila Diaz of Saint Francis (6-3, 6-4), respectively.

“The St. Joseph’s Invitational was a great experience for the six players that went because there were so many more schools that participated than usual, and strong teams,” Vidrascu said. “Although as individual players we didn’t get any titles, it was definitely something we all needed in order to see the different levels of competition that we will be facing in the spring.”

At Bloomsburg, Christie Schneider ’15, Sam Madnick ’16 and Claudia Silvers ’15 won in the first round of singles. Silvers also posted a win in the second round. The doubles combination of Schneider and Elizabeth Morgan ’14 also won their first round match against Bloomsburg but fell 8-0 in their second match. Madnick and Kristen Bishof ’15 were the only Bison able to pick up wins on Sunday.

The next scheduled event for the Bison will be the Lehigh Invitational on Oct. 12-14.

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Field Hockey Sports Women

Field Hockey wins PL home opener

Andrew Arnao
Senior Writer

The field hockey team dominated its Patriot League home opener against the Colgate Raiders with a 7-0 blowout last Saturday, but suffered a 4-3 defeat from Rutgers in an away game on Sunday. Bolstered by her two goals and strong defense this weekend, midfielder Kayla Sullivan ’16 won the Patriot League Rookie of the Week award.

“It was exciting to come off the field with another shutout this season, especially against a league rival,” forward Kiersten Sydnor ’16 said. “We were able to execute on our attacking half by finding the ball in the circle and getting it into the goal. We also did exceptionally well with our execution on our corners.”

The Bison (6-6) got on the board early against Colgate, scoring two goals in the first 10 minutes behind shots from forwards Rachel Misko ’14 and Leigh Hillman ’14. Hillman added another goal to give the Orange and the Blue a 3-0 lead at halftime. Second-half goals from midfielder Kelly Stefanowicz ’13, Sydnor and Sullivan allowed the Bison to put the game out of reach for their opponents.

Against Rutgers, the Bison fell behind 2-0 after failing to score in the first half. In the opening minutes of the second half, Hillman and Sullivan each scored, making it 2-2. The Scarlet Knights scored again to go ahead, but a clutch goal from defender Tayler Siegrist ’13 with less than two minutes remaining tied the score at 3-3, forcing overtime.

Rutgers then scored less than two minutes into overtime, marking the first Bison overtime loss this year. The defeat snapped a streak of seven consecutive overtime victories which started back in September 2010.

“We had a slow first half, down 2-0 at half time, but at the start of the second half we came out strong,” Sydnor said. “We scored within two minutes of the half and you could see the tempo of our game was where we needed to be in order to beat this team. Unfortunately we fell short in overtime, but it definitely shows us that we need to play the whole game like we did in the second half if we want to win next time.”

Next up for the Bison will be a trip to Massachusetts to face off against Patriot League rival Holy Cross tomorrow at 1 p.m., followed by a matchup against Harvard on Sunday at 2 p.m.

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Cross Country Cross Country Men Sports Women

Cross country dominates at St. Francis

Alex Wagner
Sports Editor

In addition to winning the team titles at the Father Bede Invite, the men’s and women’s cross country teams had D.J. Krystek ’13 and Deanna Godby ’16 win their first individual titles for the Orange and Blue. The tournament in Loretto, Pa. over the weekend allowed the Bison to showcase their strong running against Saint Francis and their alumni.

On the men’s side, Krystek finished the seven-kilometer course first with a time of 24:18.1. His first career victory was not an easy one, as teammates John Dugan ’15 and Andrew Garcia-Garrison ’15 each finished less than one second later than Krystek with times of 24:18.4 and 24:18.9, respectively.

The Bison also took the next two top spots, with Michael McGowan ’15 and Charles Seigneur ’13 finishing in fourth (24:19.0) and fifth (24:19.2), respectively. Following them, the next nine finishers were Bison runners.

Behind these strong individual performances, the Bison took the invite’s top spot with 15 points, while Saint Francis finished with 52 points and the Saint Francis Alumni with 74.

For the women, Godby was the first to complete the 5K course, finishing in 19:41.5. Once again, more Bison were close behind, as Caroline Tolli ’13 finished in second with a time of 19:43.0 and Katie Jessee ’15 in third with 19:44.4. That finish marked the third time in the team’s three meets that Tolli and Jessee have finished in the top three.

“The course at Saint Francis is very tough and hilly, so we really emphasized running as a pack during the race. Running with teammates helped us stay focused and maintain our pace through the hard parts of the course,” Tolli said. “The Invite was excellent preparation for our Patriot League championship meet at Colgate, another hilly course.”

Meghan Carroll ’16 (19:55.2) and Beth Braunegg ’14 (19:55.4) rounded out the top finishers for the Bison, coming in fourth and fifth place, respectively.

The Bison, who had 14 of the first 15 runners, finished the invite with 15 points, ahead of Saint Francis’ 50 points.

The Orange and Blue runners will split up for their next competitions on Oct. 13, heading to the Pre-National Invitational in Louisville, Ky. or the Gettysburg Invitational, both of which will be the athletes’ last races before the Patriot League Championships.