Category: Sports

By Chris McCree

Writer

The men’s water polo team upended No. 11 UC Davis at the Santa Clara Invitational to finish its West Coast trip in dramatic fashion this past weekend in Santa Clara, Ca. The Bison came up with a big win to conclude a tough weekend that began with losses to Air Force, No. 13 Santa Clara, and No. 7 Pacific.

Howie Kalter ’11, Richie Hyden ’11 and Paul Reamey ’11 each had multi-goal performances in the Bison’s 7-6 win. The Orange and Blue limited a strong UC Davis team to six goals and were able to stop a last second push from the Aggies to seal the victory. Goalkeeper Miles Gilhuly ’11 recorded six saves behind a great defensive effort by the Bison defense. With the win, the Bison recorded their second win over a ranked opponent, a week after beating No. 17 Princeton.

The Bison started the invitational with three tough losses. The Orange and Blue played Air Force tough during their first contest but fell 8-7 to the Falcons. In the second matchup, Santa Clara defeated the Bison 13-9. The Bison relied heavily on offensive production from Kalter and Hyden who combined to score 10 goals for the day.

In the first match-up of the second day, the Bison fell to Pacific 16-8.

Kalter had an especially strong weekend for the Bison, tallying 11 goals. His play was pivotal to Bison offensive success, and his three-goal performance against UC Davis propelled them to their upset of the Aggies.

The Bison left California on a high note but were still disappointed about the three losses.

“The team’s expectations going into the trip were very high. We knew that we were comparable to all of the teams we were going to play. We are obviously pleased with our victory over No. 11 Davis, but we would have liked to have taken a few more wins from the weekend,” Kalter said.

The invitational provided the Bison with a good change of pace because they had not played a west coast team up to this point in the season.

“We were excited to play teams we don’t normally,” Kalter said.

The Bison hope to use their big win as a launching point. They get the weekend off this week to prepare for the Southern Championships, which begin Friday, Nov. 5.

By Cooper Sutton

Sports Editor

Charles Murphy ’11 and Allison Donaghy ’12 earned the title of Patriot League Runner of the Week, but the men’s and women’s cross country teams, resting their top runners in preparation for the Patriot League Championships, otherwise struggled in the Lock Haven River Run on Saturday.

Murphy placed 10th overall with a time of 25:31, less than 30 seconds behind the first-place finisher from Lock Haven.  Jake Schroeder ’11 came in eighteenth place with a time of 26:12.

Donaghy finished ninth in 22:40. “I think what allowed me to have my own personal success this weekend was really sticking to my coach’s race plan and not allowing myself to get pulled out too fast.  I ended up feeling pretty strong towards the middle of the race because I didn’t use all my energy in the first mile of the race,” Donaghy said.

Tyler Erhard ’13 and Stephanie Bryan ’14 both received top league honors for rookie runners. Erhard came in 32nd in his race with a time of 26:33 while Bryan came in 18th with a 23:06.

The men’s team placed seven runners in the top 30 in addition to Murphy’s top 10 finish. The Bison came in third behind Lock Haven and Indiana of Pennsylvania, scoring 77 points. Lock Haven blew away the competition with 16 points. “I thought that overall we did really well. The race was small and low-key which made it easy to stay relaxed, find our teammates and settle in to our own pace,” Murphy said.

The women also had seven top-30 finishers, but finished fifth of five teams with 80 points. First-place finisher Indiana of Pennsylvaniaa had 53.

The Bison do not seem concerned with this low outcome because many of the runners stayed on the sideline for the race. “Even though our top eight women did not compete this weekend, I think everyone raced to the best of their ability …  and did not let this factor affect them,” Donaghy said. Considering the lack of top runners, the team certainly held its own this past weekend.

The Bison will be in action again this Saturday at 10 a.m. for the Patriot League Championships in Easton, Pa.

By Joe Ruby

Writer

The men’s soccer team pushed its unbeaten streak to five games this week, earning a 3-3 draw with Colgate (7-4-4, 4-0-1 PL) and defeating NJIT (4-10-0) 2-0. Brendan Burgdorf ’13 and Mayowa Alli ’14 each scored two goals for the Bison. The matches were the Bison’s final home contests for the year.

Against Patriot League leader Colgate, the Bison trailed 3-1 late but staged a dramatic rally in the final five minutes thanks to Alli and Tommy McCabe ’11.

Soon after the Raiders scored their final goal, the Bison earned a corner kick off a shot from Burgdorf. McCabe sent the kick into the box, and Alli headed the ball past Raiders keeper Chris Miller for the first goal of his collegiate career. Fifty seconds later, Alli struck again, heading in McCabe’s free kick at the 85:54 mark for his second goal of the match and the third goal overall in 1:51 to complete the Bison’s frantic comeback. Colgate managed two shots on goal in overtime, but Bison keeper Marc Hartmann ’12 kept the ball out of the net to preserve the draw.

The had Raiders struck first, just 5:28 into the match, on a long shot by Steven Miller. Fifteen minutes later, Josh Plump ’13 fired a shot that Chris Miller saved, but Burgdorf was in the right spot to head in the rebound for his fifth goal of the year. The Raiders added two more goals in the second half.

Overall, the Bison put seven of their 19 shots on goal, while the Raiders had 20 shots, nine of which were on goal.

Against the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Burgdorf scored his Patriot League-leading sixth goal of the season 28:13 into the match, assisted by McCabe and Travis Rand ’11. Just 2:30 later, Vinny Cinotti ’13 netted his first career goal, finishing an Alli throw-in and extending the margin to 2-0. Bison keeper Tommy Caso ’12 made seven saves to earn the shutout.

The Bison (7-6-2, 2-1-2) are 3-0-2 in their last five matches and are competing for a spot in the Patriot League Tournament. The Bison are tied with Navy for the  fourth and final berth, behind Colgate, Lehigh and American. They are safely ahead of Lafayette, Holy Cross and Army. The team will hope to secure the final spot when it travels to Lafayette (6-6-3, 1-3-1) on Saturday for a 3 p.m. game and Binghamton (4-5-4) for a 7 p.m. contest on Wednesday.

Mike Wolf

Contributing Writer

The women’s volleyball team made another positive move in the Patriot League with a 3-1 win against Navy last Friday night. Twenty-four hours later, the team suffered a heartbreaking loss against American to move to 6-3 in Patriot League play.

Kristen Titley ’14 had one of the best performances of the weekend, recording her first career double-double Friday night. She posted a career-high 19 kills and 14 digs in the four set match against Navy.

Titley contributed heavily to the Bison’s success as she more than doubled her previous personal best in kills. After a tough loss in the first set, the Orange and Blue came back to win the match 22-25, 27-25, 25-23, 25-23.

Heidi Kamp ’11 blocked three balls which put her at fourth on the all-time block list. She currently has 302 blocks. Head Coach Cindy Opalski also found a career milestone, coaching her 600th match for the school.

Katie Baumgarten ’12 had a career night with 15 kills. In the second and fourth sets, Baumgarten helped to propel the offense with six kills in these two sets during long runs by the Bison.

Moving into third place in the Patriot League following Friday’s game, the Orange and Blue were faced with a tough challenge against American, who holds first place in the division. The Bison lost in straight sets.

In the first two sets of Saturday’s match, no Bison had more than a single kill until the third set. The Bison lost the first two sets 25-11 and 25-7, but lost only 25-20 in the third.

The third set brought some offensive improvement as Kamp, Titley and Kyleigh McAhren ’12 had more than one kill. The Orange and Blue were only able to put together 18 kills and three blocks as a team.

The Bison will need to get past the tough loss as they finish their road trip with a game at Colgate at 4 p.m. this Saturday.

By Sebastian Genty

Marketing Director

Coming off its best year in school history, the men’s crew team hopes that this year will be equally impressive.

The team opened its fall season Oct. 16 in Rochester, N.Y. at the Head of the Genesee Regatta. The Bison competed against  Brown, Cornell, Hobart and Marietta. The team’s efforts paid off as the Men’s Varsity 8+ ranked third, and the JV boats were all the fastest in their divisions.

Highlighted by silver medal performances at the Knecht Cup and American Collegiate Rowing National Championships in the spring, the Men’s Varsity 8+ finished last season ranked 22nd in the country amongst all programs (Divisions 1-3 and all club programs).

“Both our fall and spring seasons will certainly be a challenge but we are looking to capitalize on last year’s performances and again redefine our own measures of success,” said head coach Paul Bugenhagen.

This promising start will set the pace as the team tries once again to beat previous school records.

On Oct. 23 and 24, the team competed at the Head of the Charles in Boston, Mass., the world’s largest regatta, where last year the Varsity 8+ finished fifth in the college division, another school record. Last year’s winner was Williams College, but this year the Bison were looking to wear the crown. The Varsity 8+ came in 12th out of 42 in their event.

“We have a strong group, but they are young so anything is possible. I am confident that the group will find success, it’s just a matter of when. It’s all part of the process,” Bugenhagen said.

The team will close out its fall campaign at the Rutgers’ Fall Classic on Nov. 6 in New Brunswick, NJ. This regatta will feature the Bison first-year crews competing against some of the strongest teams on the East coast.

“I am extremely excited with this year’s group of freshmen. We brought in some good high school talent and we have great walk-on talent as well. I think the combination will be a potent mix come spring-time,” assistant coach Al Monte said.

By Justin Cohen

Contributing Writer

Before this wild 2010 NFL season began, most people looked at the Steelers with disinterest as their starting quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, would be on the bench for six games due to a sexual assault case at a Georgia nightclub. The Steelers would have a six game period, including their bye, where they could go under .500 without their star quarterback. Most people were already awarding the division to the Ravens, who looked like a much better team on the offensive side of the ball while maintaining their usual defensive stinginess. This year did not look like it was going to be a good year for a city with six Super Bowl titles, and, if they were going to save themselves, they would need to rely on their defense more than ever to even keep them in the divisional race.

Fast-forward five weeks and the Steelers are 3-1, coming out of their bye in solid contention in their division. Oh, and Ben Roethlisberger is coming back. With the help of backup quarterbacks Dennis Dixon, Byron Leftwich and Charlie Batch, the Steelers won their first three games of the season and lost the fourth in an extremely close game against the Ravens. The Steelers have never looked better on defense with their hard hitting linebackers and Troy Polamalu making spectacular plays. Rashard Mendenhall is also averaging 102.8 yards per game, which is second only to Houston’s Arian Foster.

Although their defense and rushing attack have been outstanding, the true star has been Roethlisberger, who hasn’t even played a down in 2010, as he managed not be a distraction for the team while he was suspended. His suspension could have hung a cloud over the Steelers and undermined their quest for a successful season, but now they are poised to take the NFL with full force, and, with three divisional games in the last five weeks of the year, they will rely on Big Ben to lead them to a possible postseason berth and maybe to even greater heights. During his first couple practices with the team, Mike Wallace could not remember Ben throwing a bad pass. The Steelers realized from the moment he took his first practice snap that “Ben was back.”

Roethlisberger has handled his suspension with class as he constantly worked out on his own over the first four weeks of the season. Commissioner Roger Goodell reduced the suspension to four games after Roethlisberger showed good behavior and remorse over his actions in Georgia. Roethlisberger returns to the lineup on Sunday when the Steelers face the Cleveland Browns. It will be exciting to see how Roethlisberger fares in his first game of an already wild 2010 season. Ben’s return to the league shows Goodell’s crackdown on the personal conduct policy has been working and that it has taught the players who make foolish choices to be truly sorry and not to make them again in the future. Roethlisberger will make an immediate impact on and off the field.

By Eric Brod

Senior Writer

When Spencer Whalen ’13 came to campus last fall, he knew he wanted to continue with the sport he grew up with: swimming. After competing on his high school, club and summer teams throughout his youth, Whalen knew it would be hard to adjust to life without a swim team.

When he found out there was no club swim team at the University, Whalen became determined to set up some type of club.

“I ended up going to the pool and doing workouts on my own for the first couple months of the school year,” he said. “I found it difficult to get myself to go to the pool by myself, so after a while I got my roommate from last year [Matt Szymanski ’13] to join me for some light workouts. Then I came up with the idea of making my own attempt at a club swim team.”

This summer, Whalen decided shared his idea of starting an on-campus swim club with Recreational Services, but then decided to take matters into his own hands, first sending out a message through the Message Center and then creating a Facebook group titled “Bucknell Swimming Enthusiasts.” Within a few hours, the group had 20 students in it. The group is now up to 40 people, and more have expressed interest.

This year, Whalen’s main goal is to make some noise and hopefully get the University to recognize them as a team. Currently, they offer practice twice a week. Whalen keeps attendance in a notebook.

“I am responsible for organizing everything at the moment, workouts attendance, etc., and it would be a lot easier if we could get a paid coach on board to get our team headed in the right direction,” Whalen said.

Although Whalen feels the Enthusiasts are a long way from competition, his main focus is on getting recognized as an official club.

“I am hoping that our goal of being recognized as a club team comes to fruition soon because it is something that we all hold as a true passion of ours—it is also something a school like Bucknell needs, too,” he said.

By Cooper Sutton

Sports Editor

The men’s golf team participated in the Joe Agee Invitational on Saturday and Sunday and in the Richmond Intercollegiate on Monday and Tuesday. William & Mary and Richmond hosted the tournaments.

The Orange and Blue took ninth place out of the 14 teams in the Joe Agee Invitational, finishing with 605 in the two rounds of play. Old Dominion held the lowest score of the weekend with 578.

On Sunday, the five golfers combined to shoot a 310 in the first round. The team shot a 295 in the final round Sunday, which raised it one spot on the leader board.

Jon Hartman ’13 put up the best numbers of any Bison in Fairfax, hitting a combined 144 over the two days. He tied for the seventh-lowest individual score at the tournament.

The Bison struggled at the Richmond Intercollegiate, coming in 11th place out of the 11 teams there. Richmond won the tournament at Independence Golf Club in Richmond with a total team score of 855. The Bison trailed significantly with a score of 928.

Although the score seems like the team played very poorly, the conditions of the course played a factor.

“Richmond was one of the tougher tournament fields that our team will see all year, so although we didn’t play as well as we expected, our low finish was a bit misleading,” J.J. Szmadzinski ’12 said.

Szmadzinski led all Bison in scoring in Richmond, posting a total of 223. He tied for 29th in individual scoring.

“I kept the ball in play and made quite a few birdies over the course of the tournament which always helps,” Szmadzinski said.

The team will not play again until November when it takes part in the Kiawah Island Intercollegiate.