Category: Sports

By Cooper Sutton

Sports Editor

The women’s golf team had a solid showing this weekend at the Zippy Invitational, hosted by Akron at the Rosemont Country Club in Fairlawn, Ohio. The Bison played through tough conditions to come in third place out of 12 teams.

The hometown Zips came in first, followed by Grand Valley State. The race for first place was tight; Akron finished only four strokes ahead of Grand Valley State. The Orange and Blue finished 15 strokes behind that with an overall score of 969 for the tournament.

The low score of the weekend belonged to Kasha Scott ’14, who scored a 79-79-83 over three rounds. This strong showing put her in 12th place in the tournament for individual scores.

“I think I had the lowest score this weekend because I tried to maintain a positive attitude, and I just kept grinding after a bad hole and kept fighting to post a good score,” Scott said.

Scott’s good score was not a tribute to any dazzling play on the golf course, but rather her ability to stay fairly consistent throughout the tournament.

Going into Tuesday the Bison trailed second place by only four stokes.Without a single player in the 70s on Tuesday, the team fell further behind Akron and Grand Valley State. Brittany Rendell ’12 scored Tuesday’s top score with an 81.

Tough conditions caused high scores across the board this weekend.

“The conditions were tough. We played 36 holes the first day, which can always be hard since it is such a long day and it was really windy on that day,” Rendell said. “It was a tough course, if you didn’t hit the ball well, especially in the fairway, you would find yourself in a lot of trouble with water, out of bounds and trees guarding every fairway.”

“I know that the team could have played a lot better, and we are going work really hard to play to our full potential in our last two tournaments for this season,” Scott said.

The Bison look to improve on their solid performance this weekend at the Rutgers Invitational.

By Chris McCree

Writer

The men’s water polo team struggled this past weekend on the road, losing 7-4 to Princeton. With the loss, the Bison extended their losing streak to six straight and fell to 0-4 in the CPWA Southern Division. The Tigers came away with a similar three-goal victory earlier in the year at the ECAC Championship in Boston.

The Bison offense scored a season-low four goals against the Tigers and did not have one player with a multi-goal game. Beau Caillouette ’12, Richie Hayden ’11, Howie Kalter ’11 and Paul Reamey ’11 all scored for the Orange and Blue.

“I would say that we came out a little flat against Princeton. Our team is still trying to establish chemistry, and as individuals we have not yet found our roles to best serve the team,” Sean Coghlan ’11 said.

Recently, the Bison have struggled on defense, letting up double-digit goals in each of their last three contests. This time, the Bison stifled the Princeton offense, allowing only 10 shots on goal. The Bison sprinters had a good day, winning all four sprints. Brian Barron ’13 won three sprints and Spencer Richley ’12 won one.

After the loss, the Bison have an overall record of 7-8. The team has a great opportunity to salvage its season this weekend as it will host league rivals Johns Hopkins, Navy, George Washington and Princeton. The Orange and Blue have lost to every one of these teams this season, but they are optimistic about their chances this weekend.

So far this season the Bison are 3-7 the road but 4-1 at home. The Bison, who have played nine straight away matches, hope to benefit from home-pool advantage in their pivotal games this weekend.

Joe Ruby

Writer

The men’s soccer team played to a 2-2 draw against Patriot League rival Holy Cross (3-7-2, 0-2-1 Patriot League) on Saturday in Worcester, Mass. Brendan Burgdorf ’13 and Luke Joyner ’12 scored for the Bison, and Tommy Caso ’12 saved  seven shots in relief of injured starter Marc Hartmann ’12.

Down 1-0 at the beginning of the second half, the Bison quickly got to work. In the 47th minute, Joyner got control of a corner kick and passed to Burgorf, who scored his fourth goal of the year to tie the game.

The Bison struck again to take a 2-1 lead at the 68:46 mark, when CK Kumah ’13 passed the ball deep into the penalty area for Joyner, who netted his  second goal of the year – and second goal in his last three games – to give the Bison the advantage. The goal came moments after Caso saved a Holy Cross penalty shot at the 67:19 mark.

The Bison’s lead did not last. After a Bison foul and subsequent Holy Cross free kick, Crusaders defender Tom Van Grinsven scored with 54 seconds remaining in regulation, assisted by Pat McCann. The Bison were called for 16 fouls in the contest compared to the Crusaders’ three.

Each team managed a shot during 15 minutes of overtime, but both defenses held to finalize the draw.

The Bison got off to a rough start, as Hartmann left the game with an injury just six minutes in, leaving Caso to take his spot in goal. Just over 10 minutes later, Monty Sanders scored the game’s first goal for the Crusaders with a shot from well outside the box.

The teams were even in shots and shots on goal. The Bison managed 15 shots, 11 on goal, and the Crusaders posted 16 shots, 10 of which were on goal. Hartmann saved one shot before leaving the game, and Caso and Holy Cross keeper Evan Polanik saved eight shots each. The Bison held a 10-3 advantage in corner kicks earned for the game.

The Bison (4-6-1, 1-1-1) have two home games scheduled for this upcoming week, hosting Army (1-9-0, 0-3-0) in a Patriot League matchup on Friday at 6 PM and Adelphi (6-5-0) on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

By Joyce Novacek

Writer

The field hockey team faced tough competition this past weekend, falling to Lafayette 4-2 on the road on Saturday and losing to Columbia 3-2 at home on Sunday. In both games, the Bison fell behind early, and were unable to fully recover.

On Saturday, the Bison went into halftime down two goals to the Lafayette Leopards. Just two minutes into the second half, Tayler Siegrist ’13 sparked the Bison offense, scoring on a penalty corner and bringing the Bison within one goal of the Leopards. Corinne Raczek ’11 assisted Siegrist’s goal.

The Orange and Blue were never able to tie the game since Maria Machalick of Lafayette scored the Leopards’ third goal of the game before Katie Durkin ’13 scored the Bison’s second.

Goaltender Sarah Zargarpour ’12 made four saves but also allowed four goals.

“The team’s focus going into this weekend of competition was that we had to win Saturday’s game against Lafayette if we wanted to have a chance at being number one in the league and hosting the Patriot League tournament, which was one of our season goals. After the Lafayette game on Saturday, we were very frustrated because we knew that we could have beaten them, but we failed in doing so,” Siegrist said.

Against Columbia, the Bison were again down at halftime but only by a 1-0 deficit. The Orange and Blue tied the score when Mallory Smith ’12 made a clean pass to Kelly Bruvik ’11 who capitalized on a one-on-one opportunity by scoring the first Bison goal of the day.

The Lions responded to the Bison goal by scoring two goals of their own, putting the Bison down 3-1.

On the last play, Morgan Kauffman ’11 scored a goal off of Siegrist’s assist, but it was a little too late.

After these two games, Bruvik and Kauffman are tied for the most goals scored this season with six apiece.

“We certainly had a rough weekend and weren’t able to play the quality of hockey we are capable of playing. I think our frustrations from this past weekend will push us to have a great week of practice and hopefully have a better turnout against Lehigh,” Christine Weiss ’11 said.

The Bison continue their home stand on Saturday when they face Lehigh at 1 p.m. in a Patriot League match-up. On Tuesday, they travel to University Park, Pa. for a non-conference game against Penn State at 7 p.m.

By Eric Weiss

Senior Writer

The women’s soccer team had a weekend of highs and lows on the road, coming from behind to defeat Lafayette 2-1 on Friday but falling to Lehigh by the same score on Sunday.

The contest against Lafayette provided few scoring opportunities, as both the Leopards and the Bison showed strong defenses. The Leopards were able to sneak onto the scoreboard in the 27th minute for the first goal of the match. For the rest of the first half, neither team was able to mount any sustained pressure.

“Lafayette definitely was prepared for a fight, but we knew that we just had to play our game and we could come out with a win,” Jules Harris ’11 said.

The Orange and Blue came through in the second half. Christa Matlack ’11, the Bison’s most prolific scorer, leveled the score at 1-1. With the goal, Matlack became only the sixth player in program history to record 30 goals in her career.

Tara Cort ’12 set up the next goal for the Bison as she found Brooke Stokes ’11 open and passed so Stokes could score in the 77th minute. The Orange and Blue continued to hold Lafayette in check for the rest of the game and the team walked away with a 2-1 victory.

“Every game is an important game at this point in the year, and our team showed that against Lafayette,” Amanda Citron ’11 said.

In the contest against the Mountain Hawks, the Bison found themselves behind early as Lehigh got onto the scoreboard just 12 minutes in. Although the Bison were outshot 6-2 in the first half they did not allow another goal for the rest of the half.

The Hawks added an insurance goal at the beginning of the second half, slowing the Bison’s chance at a comeback win. The Orange and Blue were able to get onto the scoreboard with 6:19 left as Cort drew a penalty when she was brutally taken down inside the box. Caitlin Holtz ’11 converted on the try and brought the Bison back within striking distance.

The Orange and Blue were unable to muster another shot on goal in the last five minutes of play, and the opportunity to remain undefeated in the Patriot League slipped away.

While most of the University heads home for Fall Break, the women’s soccer team will continue play on Saturday afternoon against Navy in Annapolis, Md. Navy remains at the top of the Patriot League standings.

By Cooper Sutton

Sports Editor

Both the women’s and men’s swimming teams opened up their seasons well this past Friday in Baltimore against the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Even though both meets were non-scored, many Bison walked away with top finishes.

On the women’s side, the Orange and Blue earned seven first-place finishes in races. Both co-captains, Molly Goebel ’11 and Macey Keath ’11, won races this weekend. Keath won the 200-yard breaststroke with a final time of 2:29.02, .44 points in front of second place. Goebel won the 100- and 200-yard freestyles.

Kelly Pontecorvo ’14 added two wins to the Bison total in the first meet of her college career in the 500- and 1000-yard freestyle.

“I was pretty nervous for my first meet and think that my nervous energy added to my success at the meet. It was also a very exciting atmosphere to swim in. I am not used to all the cheering and team support on the deck, so having that definitely impacted my racing and my attitude,” Pontecorvo said.

The rest of the team’s wins came from Emily Wright ’14 (50-yard freestyle) and Lisa Bolle ’13 (diving).

The men’s team also won seven first-place finishes, led by Jonathan Podniesinski ’12 who won the 200-, 500- and 1000-yard freestyle events.

Christian Treat ’13 took first place in the 100-yard Individual Medley (IM) and teammate Mike Nicholson ’14 won the 200 and 400 IMs.

“I was a bit nervous going into the meet, knowing that it was my first time swimming at the college level, as well as my first time representing Bucknell in competition. My teammates, however, were very encouraging, as they have been all year, and I really think they are the reason that I was able to overcome my nerves and put up some decent times,” Nicholson said.

Nathaniel Frye ’12 claimed the other Bison victory, winning the 200-yard breaststroke. Diver David Magaro ’13 placed second in both the one-meter and three-meter competitions.

Both the men’s and women’s teams will be back in action Oct. 23 when they travel to Fairfax, Va. to take on George Mason University.

By Cooper Sutton

Sports Editor

The women’s volleyball team had its best weekend of the season, downing two league opponents in straight sets at Lehigh and Lafayette. The team improved to a solid 3-1 record in Patriot League play.

Katie Baumgarten ’13 earned Bison Athlete of the Week honors. She had 18 kills and 26 digs in the two matches.

Baumgarten attributed her success, as well as her team’s, to preparation.

“As a team we did a great job preparing for each match. We scouted each team by watching film, finding out their weaknesses and tendencies and capitalizing on those weaknesses when we played them,” Baumgarten said.

The Orange and Blue blew Lafayette out in the first two sets on Friday, allowing 14 and 15 points respectively. The third set was much closer but the Bison won it 33-31. Lafayette is now 0-3 in Patriot League play.

On Saturday, the Bison faced Lehigh (7-9).

“Although Lafayette did not pose much of a threat either skill- or fight-wise, Lehigh showed some of both,” Heidi Kamp ’11 said.

The team played one of its best matches of the season, winning in straight sets for its second consecutive win.

“As a team, we maintained a great balance between keeping our cool and having a sense of urgency, which together brought our team the victories over the weekend,”Kamp said.

The Bison allowing 21, 20 and 22 points, respectively, in the three games. Baumgarten put away 10 kills and achieved a hitting percentage of .360 to solidify her performance. Kyleigh McAhren ’12 and Ragin Jackson ’13 scored eight and six kills respectively.

“There was no single key player from this weekend, which made our team even more difficult to stop because the other teams had to focus on stopping multiple threats at a time instead of being able to hone in on one or two dominant players,” Kamp said.

The team plays league-opponent Colgate this Friday at home at 7 p.m.

Nathan Coughenour

Contributing Writer

The men’s club hockey team opened its season with a heartbreaking last-second loss at home on Saturday, losing 4-3 to the Millersville Marauders.

The young and inexperienced Bison were hard-pressed the entire game to get in a rhythm, and they never held a lead.

The scoring opened when the Marauders beat Bison goaltender John Chestnut ’14 on a power play six minutes into the game. Three minutes later Sandy Smith ’13 scored to tie the game at one.  Dan Minnis ’11 Bison forward and Chestnut had the assists. Two more goals were scored at the end of the first period to cap off an extremely contentious first third of the game.

In the second period, both defenses started hitting harder and really began to play well, with the only Marauders goal coming on a power play four minutes into the period.

In the end, the game came right down to the wire in the third period. John Wroblewski ’12 scored his second goal of the game at the beginning of the period to tie the match. The Mauraders then scored with 16 seconds left.

“Well I honestly think we out-played them. We pressured them very well in the offensive zone, caused a lot of turnovers and had plenty of chances. I think we played a smart game on both ends of the ice … but the puck just didn’t bounce our way,” Wroblewski said.

Considering the team only had two practices to prepare for this game, the Bison had a solid performance.

They finished with 30 shots but had five penalties and went zero for four on the power play. Chestnut made 25 saves.

There is a lot of positive enthusiasm surrounding the team, which came in second in its league last year.

“Based off of our pre-season and the wave of talented freshman we received, it looks as though we are even better this year,” President Connor Curry ’11 said.

The Bison will have another chance to test their limits Oct. 9 at 4:15 p.m. when they take on Princeton.