Category: Sports

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Sports

Baseball takes two of four against Navy

By Chris McCree

Writer

The baseball team won two of its four games this past weekend during their two-day doubleheader series at Patriot League counterpart Navy. Taking game one 2-1 and then game four 15-7, the Bison looked like a completely different team each day but came away with two victories nonetheless, leaving them with a Patriot League record of 4-8.

Behind a spectacular pitching performance by Ryan Ebner ’12, the Bison started off the series with a 2-1 victory over the Midshipmen. The Bison fell behind first when Navy scored their only run of the game in the fourth inning, but their lead didn’t last long. After an RBI single and bases-loaded walk by Doug Shribman ’11 and Bob Donato ’12 respectively, the Bison took a one-run lead, and that was all the support that Ebner would need. Ebner finished out the game allowing just four hits along the way to improving to a team best 5-1 on the year.

“I thought game one was good to set the tone for us as a pitching staff. We really needed to step it up because last weekend we gave up too many runs,” Ebner said.

The following day, the Bison came away with another split doubleheader but in dramatically different fashion. Unlike their first set of games, the Bison relied heavily on their hitting on day two, recording a total of 20 runs compared to the four they totaled on day one.

Most of the 20 runs came in the Bison’s 15-7 domination in game four. The Bison received strong hitting performances from just about everyone in the lineup. Six different players recorded multi-hit games, with Travis Clark ’13 and Justin Meier ’14 each tallying four hits. Collectively, the Bison amassed a season-high 19 hits. After riding the pitchers earlier in the series, the Bison offense provided more than enough support in game four.

In game two, the Bison once again plated two runs, but it was not enough to match the Midshipmen who tallied five against starter Dylan Seeley ’11. Shribman gave the Orange and Blue an early lead with a first inning homerun, but they quickly lost their lead in the bottom of the inning and faced a deficit for most of the game. Seeley lasted five innings and was replaced by reliever Alex Cillo ’12 who gave the Bison 2.2 scoreless innings of relief, lowering his ERA to a team best 3.04.

In game three, the Bison lost in heartbreaking fashion as Navy’s Nick Driscoll hit a game-winning walk off single to seal a 6-5 victory for the Mids. During the extra inning thriller, Clark and Gerry Runyan ’12 put the Bison in good position, going a combined 6-for-8 with two RBIs, but it wasn’t enough for the Bison to hold off the Mids’ late charge. Reliever Cillo was charged with the loss; his one earned run marked the end of his impressive 24 scoreless inning streak.

“The weekend came down to the hitters who really did well the last game which tied the series,” Ebner said. “Game three was a big game but we fell just short on both ends, and it felt good to dominate them in game four.”

The Bison will continue Patriot League play against Lehigh this weekend, traveling to Bethlehem, Pa. for a pivotal four-game series which has major playoff implications.

“We were disappointed that we could not win all four games, but I think everyone played hard every out and stayed positive. I am confident we will finish strong this season,” Drew Constable ’11 said.

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Sports

Women’s track earns three golds

By Joyce Novacek

Writer

The women’s track team earned three gold medals at the Bison Outdoor Classic despite the harsh weather on Saturday. In the rain on Saturday, Jennifer Zymet ’14 took first in the 400 meters, and Chelsea Lodato ’14 won the 800 meters. Laura Rycek ’11 won the javelin on Friday for her third consecutive top finish.

The Orange and Blue also had success in the discus, with Rebecca Misko ’12 throwing the third-best distance in program history and earning third place at the meet.  Her throw of 152 feet, 11 inches was the first time Misko had broken the 150-foot mark.

“Even with the crazy rain and terrible weather our team was still able to beat out lots of our competition,” Lodato said. “I think competing in weather like that makes us grow together as a team because it really means a lot when your teammates stand out in the rain to cheer for you, like ours did for us.”

“We didn’t let the weather conditions affect us,” Zymet said. “Instead of worrying about the wind, temperature or rain, everyone just went out there and gave it their all, and it definitely showed.”

The sun was shining for the Friday competitors, when Rycek threw 152 feet, three inches to win the javelin, and teammate Tayler Siegrist ’13 earned the bronze with 132 feet, one inch.

In the pole vault, Rebecca Frey ’11 earned second place, clearing 11 feet, 11.75 inches.

Along with the Orange and Blue field accomplishments, some Bison distance runners also excelled on Friday.  In the 3,000 meter steeple chase, Leah Goeke ’13 advanced to the fourth-best time in program history, and teammate Kelly Grosskurth ’12 moved up to the fifth.

The Bison had three top-20 finishers in the 5,000 meters.  Sarah Moniz ’11 placed ninth, Alysha Hooper ’12 placed 16th and Alaina Chodoff ’11 placed 19th.

The Orange and Blue will be back in action tomorrow for their final home meet of the outdoor season, when they host the Bucknell Team Challenge.

 

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Sports

Men’s track gets five golds

By Eric Brod

Senior Writer

Battling through torrential rain and strong winds, the Bison men’s track and field team displayed versatility in winning five gold medals this weekend at the Bison Outdoor Classic held at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.

In the field, Ted Heitzman ’12 and Jason Brown ’13 were the highlights as both won their respective events. Heitzman set a program record in the javelin with a throw of 237 feet, eight inches en route to winning the event Friday. On Saturday, Brown tied for first in the high jump by clearing a height of six feet, 2.25 inches.

Isaih Bell ’11 continued the winning trend for the Bison with a first-place finish in the long jump by clearing a distance of 23 feet, 7. 25 inches.

On the track, Robert Arent ’12 dazzled again in the 400 meter race by capturing first place in 48.78 seconds.

“We have been racing in cold or rainy conditions all season long so I’ve learned to not let it affect me mentally,” Arent said.  “In bad weather, I just race against the competition instead of against the clock.”

In the hurdles, Dan Mularz ’12 finished first in the 400 hurdles in 54.50 seconds and fourth in the 110-hurdles in 15.69 seconds.

“The win on Saturday was nice to know that a lot of hard work I put into this season is starting to pay off,” Mularz said. “It’s an event that takes a lot of time and patience to get your rhythm and steps right while trying to sprint at the same time.”

Capping off an impressive weekend for the Orange and Blue was the 4×100 relay team, which finished first in 42.24 seconds, narrowly edging second-place Buffalo.

The Orange and Blue return to action tomorrow for the Bucknell Team Challenge at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.

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Sports

Men’s tennis falls to Army in semis

By Eric Weiss

Senior Writer

The men’s tennis team put forth a valiant effort in the Patriot League tournament last weekend in Bethlehem, Pa., beating Colgate 4-1 but falling to Army in the semifinals 4-2.

Against Colgate the Orange and Blue used their usual tactics, taking an early lead through stellar doubles play and then following with relentless singles action.

“While we lack the facilities of the other top teams in the conference, we make up for it in talent, and our team is as close-knit as a team could be,” Josh Katten ’13 said.

In the doubles matches, Anton Kovic ’11 paired with Evan Zimmer ’13 and Gregg Cohenca ’12 paired with Mark Malloy ’11 to rout Colgate in impressive victories. Katten and Kelly Morque ’13, the super sophomore combo for the Bison, were also headed towards a victory until their match was suspended as the Bison had already gained the point up for grabs in doubles play.

The Orange and Blue continued to play at lightning speed in singles as Zimmer, Katten and Malloy all retired their opponents in straight sets to give the team the three singles victories they needed to be victorious over the Red Raiders. All other matches were suspended as the win was already secured.

The Bison started promisingly against Army as Cohenca and Malloy, as well as Kovic and Zimmer won their respective doubles matches giving the Bison a 1-0 advantage.

“In my years on the team, I have never been a part of a match like the one we played on Saturday against Army. Everyone has heard or said the saying, ‘Leave your hearts out on the court today,’ and only on a special day does it actually happen,” Malloy said.

In singles play, Cohenca was the only player able to pull out a victory for the Bison. Although the Bison were able to knot the match at 2-2 they would get no closer as Army then won the next two singles matches.

“We were confident going in and we gave it our all, and it just wasn’t enough. Despite losing, we learned a lot, namely that we have the talent to win a championship,” Morque said.

The Orange and Blue were sadly retired in the semifinals for the fifth time in a row in the Patriot League Tournament.

“That match against Army was one of the closest, hardest fought losses I have ever been a part of, and I truly believe that everyone gave their all and left everything they had on the court,” Malloy said.

It was a stellar season for the Bison and seniors Malloy and Kovic will be sincerely missed by the team since they anchored singles positions for four straight years. These gentlemen have left their mark on Bison tennis forever.

“Anton and I are very fortunate to have had the opportunity to play tennis here,” Malloy said. “It is an honor to have been a part of such a special group of guys, and Bison tennis is in good hands for years to come.”

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Sports

Bison Athlete of the Week: Lauren Bernard ’14

By Cooper Sutton and Ben Kaufman

Sports Editors

Lauren Bernard ’14 (Golf)

 

Bio

Class: First-year

Hometown: Malvern, Pa.

Major: Management

 

Stats

Round 1: 75

Round 2: 79

Round 3: 72

+/-: +10

 

 

Lauren Bernard ’14, by shooting a 226, earned a second-place finish at the Big South Championships, a program-best finish at that event. Her final-round even-par 72 highlighted her success in the Championships.

Bernard made three birdies and three bogeys in this competition, which is what led to her career-best performance. Her score in the first round was a 75, the second round was 79 and the third round was 72. Her score of a 226 is recorded second-best in Bison history.

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Sports

Women’s rowing races in Ohio, New Jersey

By Thomas Walter

Contributing Writer

The women’s rowing team again had dual-location meets this past weekend. The openweights traveled to the Griggs Reservoir in Ohio, participating in the Big Ten Duals. The lightweights traveled to the Cooper River in New Jersey, racing in the Knecht Cup. The openweights competed against some very stiff competition from Ohio State, Iowa and Louisville while the lightweights faced Buffalo and Wisconsin.

For most of the day on the Griggs Reservoir, the openweight Bison struggled to crack the top two. The varsity eight finished in third to Ohio State and Louisville in the morning session and then in the afternoon session finished third again to Louisville and Indiana.

The second varsity eight finished with the same morning results as the first varsity eight but managed to overcome Louisville in the afternoon session. The varsity four also finished in third behind Ohio State and Louisville in the morning, then finished in third again to Louisville and Indiana.

After finishing in second in the morning session, the second varsity four was determined to end the losing drought and beat Louisville by 13 seconds in the afternoon.

“In the afternoon, the second varsity four raced an entirely new lineup, one that hadn’t even practiced together before Saturday,” Laura Even ’14 said. “We were able to bring home Bucknell’s first win of the day, and that was a really great feeling.”

“I think that as a team we really showed that we can hold our own and manage to race our way even against some tough competition,” Even said.

The lightweight A team won their race Saturday at the Knecht Cup, while the B team finished in fourth. On Sunday, the A team finished eight seconds and five seconds behind Wisconsin’s A and C teams, respectively, to take third place.

The Bison will be back in action on Saturday on the Susquehanna River in their first and only home race of the year.

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Sports

Water polo loses four in homestand

By Scott Padula

Writer

The women’s water polo fell to 10-14 on the season after losing four home games last weekend. The Orange and Blue lost their first two games on Saturday to Indiana and Harvard. The Bison then dropped their final two games of the weekend on Sunday to Maryland and George Washington.

“I think this weekend showed us that we can have moments of ‘greatness.’ Unfortunately though, we have yet to string together a great game,” Haley Prickett ’11 said.

The Bison lost 16-7 to No. 12 Indiana in their first game of the weekend. The Hoosiers jumped out to a quick lead, netting the first three goal of the game. Indiana’s offensive momentum continued in the second as they tallied eight more to crack the game open. The Bison were unable to mount a comeback in the second half. Hallie Kennan ’12 and Julianne Valdes ’14 each registered two goals, while Kandis Canonica ’11 recorded a team-high four ejections drawn in the game.

In the second Saturday game, the Orange and Blue lost to a gritty Harvard squad 16-13. The contest featured several ties, but the Bison led just once. The Bison trailed by one at intermission but Harvard scored the first three goals of the third quarter to turn their lead into a four-goal cushion. The Bison could not overcome the deficit, and Harvard went on to win the game. Kennan, Mackenzie Ferry ’14 and Stephanie Ovalle ’14 all posted multiple goals and assists in the game.

The Orange and Blue dropped the first Sunday game to the Terrapins 15-9. Kennan led the team in scoring with three goals, while six other Bison found the back of the net. In total, nine different players tallied a point in the affair.

In the final game of the weekend, the Orange and Blue lost 11-9 to George Washington. The Bison never led, but were able to draw it to within one in the fourth quarter. However, the Colonials responded with two goals of their own to clinch the victory. Ferry and Kennan were the only Bison to record multiple points in the loss. In the best performance in goal of the weekend, Brittany Connell ’12 stopped seven shots in 32 minutes.

The Bison will complete their regular season schedule next weekend when they play Mercyhurst, Gannon and Hartwick. The Orange and Blue will face Mercyhurst and Gannon on Saturday. They will then see Hartwick at Kinney Natatorium on Sunday.

“We have all taken what happened this past weekend and can see that we have another chance this upcoming weekend to improve our play. It’s out there for the taking. Hopefully, it doesn’t slip through our grasp,” Prickett said.

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Sports

Women’s lax defeats Manhattan

By Andrew Arnao

Writer

The women’s lacrosse team scored seven straight goals in the first half to pull away from Manhattan and break a five-game losing streak in a home game on Tuesday. The win game three days after the team fell to Holy Cross on Senior Day.

“Against Manhattan, we came out strong at the beginning, and we maintained the intensity throughout the game,” Alyssa DeLorenz ’11 said. “The offense really gelled and worked together, and the defense focused on working as a unit.”

The Orange and the Blue’s scoring streak broken open a game that was tied 2-2 beforehand, allowing the Bison to go into halftime leading 9-3. The second half was more closely contested, but the Bison still finished strong by scoring five of the last eight goals to win 17-11.

Madison Hurwitz ’13 led the offense with six goals, while Ali Carey ’14 and Katelyn Miller ’14 scored four and two goals, respectively. Julia Braun ’11, Sophie Kleinert ’14, Adrienne Wendling ’13, Andrea Feldman ’14 and Lindsey Ferro ’14 also scored a goal apiece. Ashley St. John ’11 led the team with four draw controls, and DeLorenz had a career-high 22 saves in a brilliant outing.

Carey also lauded the effort against Manhattan. “We played well all over the field. We did amazing in transition and were really able to capitalize on our clears,” she said.

The Bison lost to Holy Cross 14-7 on Saturday. They Bison jumped out to a 4-1 lead after several great saves by goalie Alyssa DeLorenz ’11. The Crusaders scored four goals to make it 5-5 going into halftime, then made six straight goals to put the game out of reach.

“We have struggled with coming out strong in the opening minutes of the game,” DeLorenz said, “so for Holy Cross, our goal was to focus on that. Unfortunately, we still couldn’t pull together a full 60 minutes.”

Braun, Carey and Hurwitz each scored two goals, while Kleinert scored one. Carey and Miller each had two assists, while Wendling led the team with five draw controls. DeLorenz had seven saves.

There were 59 fouls for both teams, and the Bison had 21 turnovers compared to the Crusaders’ 10. The Bison led draw controls 15-6.

The team’s four seniors were honored before the game: Braun, DeLorenz, St. John and Christina Garman. Garman also made her first career start in this game.

The Bison women have the weekend off but play their last home game of the season against Columbia next Wednesday at 4 p.m.

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Featured Sports

Men’s lax takes down No. 13 Army

By Cooper Sutton

Sports Editor

The men’s lacrosse team completed perhaps its most important and thrilling win on the road last weekend, taking down No. 13 Army. With the last-minute 8-7 win, the Bison remain undefeated in Patriot League play and now are ranked 12th nationally.

The monumental win over Army pushed the Orange and Blue record to 4-0, tied atop the league with Colgate. By taking down Army, the team took a major step towards its goal of attaining the first seed in the league tournament.

“Beating Army is always huge,” midfielder Ryan Klipstein ’11 said. “You know that things will come down to the fourth quarter and sure enough this was the case this year. Yet again the team found a way to win but also discovered plenty of mistakes that will be improved upon over the rest of the season.”

The Bison played a far from perfect game. They were outshot 33-25, failed to clear the ball eight of 24 times and lost the face-off battle. The team was lifted by the dazzling play of goalie Kyle Feeney ’13, who made 11 saves in the game. Four of those saves came in the final minutes of the fourth quarter to ice the game.

The game was also tight throughout the first half. Tied at 4-4 in the second quarter, Kyle O’Keefe ’13 scored his first goal of the season. The Bison would take this one-goal lead into the locker room for halftime.

The Bison came out strong in the third quarter with two straight goals, scored by Mike Danylyshyn ’11 and Peter Burke ’14. The three-goal lead was short-lived, with the Black Knights scoring two goals of their own to come within one goal at the end of the third quarter.

Chase Bailey ’13 scored the final Bison goal of the day halfway through the final quarter on a man-up play. The Black Knights would not respond until the final minute of the game, and their comeback attempt proved to be too little too late.

Bailey and Todd Heritage ’14, registering two goals apiece, led the Bison scoring attack. Bailey also assisted two goals, giving him four points, the most of any Bison player.

With only two games remaining on the year, the Bison will have to face two league rivals in Lehigh and Colgate. These two games will undoubtedly decide the first place team in the Patriot League.

“The next two games against Lehigh and Colgate are important for the PL tourney seeding and hosting, as well as for national seeding later on and a possible at-large bid,” Klipstein said. “Regardless of these implications, we had set ‘undefeated in the Patriot League’ as a goal from the very beginning. Accomplishing this goal is our number one motivation.”

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Sports

Women’s golf takes third

By Colin Fields

Writer

The women’s golf team finished third at the Big South Championship in South Carolina on Wednesday in its final competition of the spring season. Lauren Bernard ’14 led the team with a final round 72 to tie for second place individually. The team’s third-place finish and Bernard’s second-place finish are record performances for the Orange and Blue at the Big South.

Bernard carded a 226 for the tournament which ranks second in Bison history. The first-year opened up the tournament with a three-over-par 75 and a seven-over-par 79 before shooting a sizzling even-par 72 on the final day to finish in a tie for second. Bernard performed consistently, tallying three birdies and three bogeys on Wednesday.

Jessica Alexander of Coastal Carolina, who also finished the tournament with a 72, was the only player in the field to shoot lower than Bernard for the week. Bernard finished with no worse than a bogey on both Monday and Wednesday.

“I was nervous as a freshman going into the tournament because I wanted to play my best golf,” Bernard said. “I was very pleased with my second-place finish because I was at my best and all of my hard work paid off.”

Bernard’s 226 is second all-time behind her teammate Minjoo Lee ’12 who shot a 224 in last year’s competition. Lee finished with a 247 for the week in this year’s competition.

The two other Bison first-years both had rounds under 80 to help put the Bison in contention. Kasha Scott ’14 shot a 77 on Wednesday and Bridget Wilcox ’14 birdied the final hole Tuesday to card a 79. Captain Kate Jurenovich ’11 also finished the week on a high note with a 77 of her own Wednesday.

“It was a great achievement to play this well and we worked really hard this season to get to where we are. It felt great to finish strong,” Jurenovich said.

As a team, the Bison finished behind Coastal Carolina and Gardner-Webb. Coastal Carolina came into the tournament ranked 40th in the nation. The Bison had a team score of 949 and finished ahead of six other schools.

The third place finish Wednesday was their sixth top-four finish of the year, the most in Bison history.