The Bucknellian

By Ajan Caneda

Contributing Writer

The men’s tennis team had a successful weekend at the Bloomsburg Fall Classic, finishing 7-1 in doubles and 9-6 in singles over the two days. The team was originally scheduled to play in the Georgetown Invitational, but severe rain in Washington D.C. postponed this tournament. The change didn’t faze the Orange and Blue as they finished with winning records against players from Mary Washington, Scranton, Bloomsburg and Ithaca in both singles and doubles action.

“We didn’t start the weekend as strong as we had hoped, but our players stepped it up on Sunday and competed with a lot more confidence,” Head Coach Rebecca Helt said. “We’re looking to build on one thing at a time, each and every time we take the court, whether it’s practice or competition.”

Many Bison had strong performances on Saturday. Octavio Canibe ’15 continued his undefeated streak by winning his singles match over a Mary Washington player. The dynamic duo of Evan Zimmer ’13 and Gregg Cohenca ’12 kept their record untouched as they beat Ithaca. They won another match against Mary Washington 8-2. Other doubles victories included wins from Josh Katten ’13 and Kelly Morque ’14 and also Greg Maxson ’12 and Chris Tortora ’14.

The Bison improved their record in singles matches, going 7-1 on Sunday. Canibe improved his record to 7-0 in singles matches over the season. Tortora shut out his Bloomsburg opponent in straight sets. The Bison went undefeated in doubles play with three straight victories. Cohenca and Zimmer earned an 8-5 victory over Mary Washington.

“Our team is loaded with talent this year. Everyone returned bigger and better after last spring’s loss to Army. The coaching staff has identified some very specific goals in the areas of mental toughness and handling momentum changes in difficult matches,” Helt said. “Next week’s tournament will be competitive and the matches will give us an opportunity to see how much we have learned in the past few weeks.”

The Orange and Blue look to keep the momentum going at home during the three-day Bison Quad this weekend.

By Colin Fields

Contributing Writer

Last Friday, Morgan Mientus ’14 led the women’s volleyball team against American in Washington, D.C. Mientus performed well at the net with 10 kills and five digs. The Bison then traveled to Annapolis, Md. where they took Navy to five sets in a hotly contested match. Jessica Serrato ’14 racked up a personal-best 21 kills.

At American, the Bison lost to the Eagles 25-22 in the first set. The Bison trailed early, but blocks from Kat Tauscher ’13 and Anne Ellenberger ’12 pulled the Orange and Blue within one before dropping the first set to American. The Eagles pulled away 25-11 in the second set. The Orange and Blue tried to mount a comeback in the third with back-to-back kills from Ellenberger and Serrato but could only pull within three and lost 25-16.

“It felt really good to be able to go up against a great team such as American and be able to perform. We definitely have a lot to improve on for next time and hopefully a few things will start to go our way. Moving forward we need to stop making unforced errors, and also we need to play more relaxed,” Mientus said.

The Bison traveled to Annapolis Saturday to face Navy. The Orange and Blue won the first two sets easily, 25-18 and 25-19. Errors and a motivated comeback by the Midshipmen evened the match at two sets apiece. The Bison lost the third set 25-19 but came painstakingly close in the fourth, losing 26-24. The Orange and Blue opened the fifth set 7-2, but eventually lost 15-13. The Bison have lost three matches this year in five sets.

“Our team needs to learn how to finish games. We should have beaten Navy in the third set instead of playing down to their level in the third and fourth sets. We came out strong against them and need to learn to maintain that strength in all three games,” Tauscher said.

The Bison host league rivals Lehigh and Lafayette in a crucial pair of games this weekend in Davis Gymnasium.

“No one knows what’s going to happen, but we have now dug ourselves into a hole. This weekend is really important. We have to beat Lehigh and Lafayette at home so that they are on their heels when we play them later in the season at their house,” Tauscher said.

By Eric Brod

Senior Writer

In front of a standing-room only crowd at Emmit Field at Holmes Stadium, the men’s soccer team opened Patriot League play with a disappointing 1-0 loss to rival Lehigh in double overtime. Though the Bison outshot the Mountain Hawks 25-15 and controlled the ball for much of the game, the Orange and Blue dropped to 5-4 on the season.

Early on, the team had several scoring chances, including a shot on net by Josh Plump ’13 saved by Lehigh goalie Ciavan Nugent in the fifth minute. The Bison continued to pressure on the Lehigh defense, and their best chance came in the final seconds of regulation when CK Kumah ’13 and Brendan Burgdorf ’13 nearly connected for what could have been the game-winning goal.

The teams remained deadlocked after the first overtime session with Nugent and Bison goalie Tommy Caso ’12 playing in goal.

“The defense has been steadily improving all year, and has really started playing well over the last two weeks,” Caso said. “Getting Andrew Powell [’12] back from injury has helped. The defense worked really hard on Saturday against Lehigh, and did a great job of covering for each other, and shutting down most of the opportunities which Lehigh tried to create.”

With 3:49 left in the second overtime, Lehigh’s Kevin Strunk headed in a perfect shot from teammate Jordie Ciuffetelli for the game winner. Lehigh improved to 4-1-3 on the season.

“Lehigh has always been one of the toughest defenses in the Patriot League. Getting 25 shots against them was the biggest positive,” head coach Brendan Nash said. “I thought our team played well for most of the game.  Despite the loss, we have to look at it and say that realistically we outplayed one of the top teams in the league, but were a little unlucky in the end.”

The Bison look to rebound tomorrow when they host American in another Patriot League matchup at 7 p.m.

“The last two years we lost the first game of the Patriot League season. So I know we have a resilient group that can bounce back, and I do not think it will be tough for the team to recover before we play American on Saturday night,” Nash said.

By Andrew Arnao

Writer

This week, the women’s soccer team lost to Marist 2-1 in double overtime, but ended its losing streak with a 0-0 tie against Mount St. Mary on Tuesday. Brigit Falcón ’15 scored the only goal for the Bison during the two games, while goalie Sandita McDermott ’13 had a career high 14 saves against Marist and recorded a 110-minute shutout over Mount St. Mary.

Marist started things off on Friday by scoring their first goal in the opening seven minutes. Marist put pressure on the Bison defense, taking 12 shots in the first 35 minutes, but was unable to break through. Falcón scored her goal on the first shot the Bison took 10 minutes before the half, with the assist going to Taryn Boucher ’13. The score remained knotted at one until almost the 107th minute, when McDermott made a spectacular save – giving her career-high 14 on the game – by tipping a shot over the crossbar. The save gave Marist a corner kick, which was then knocked over the goal line for the decisive point.

“The game on Friday was a tough one,” Falcón said. “Both sides fought hard the entire game. It’s obviously pretty disappointing taking a game into overtime and not getting the result we wanted, especially at home. We need to keep more possession and knock the ball around more in their half of the field. We also want to mark tighter and not lose track of our runners.”

Tuesday’s game against against Mount St. Mary, a makeup previously cancelled by bad weather, ended in a 0-0 tie. The Bison offense was in control most of the game, owning a 19-5 shot advantage, but was unable to capitalize on several scoring opportunities. McDermott recorded her second shutout of the season and the first 110-minute shutout of her career after recording two saves.

“We had the better of play almost the whole game,” Cassie Denger ’15 said. “We had a lot of chances that were inches away from the net and our defending was solid the whole game. We kept possession in the middle of the field, and we were able to make runs up top to create opportunities.”

“The game was pretty much dominated by us and we only lost possession of the ball when we made a mistake,” Jenna Tryon ’13 said. “We control the game and can really be dominant when our heads are together and in it completely.”

“We had players in different positions than they are used to, but the new roles seemed to work better for us,” Liz Dwornik ’14 said. “We discovered that some players are able to help the team more at a different position.”

After finishing non-league games with a record of 2-6-1, the Bison hope to begin Patriot League playing strong on Saturday at 4 p.m. away against Colgate.

“The best and most important improvement that we need to have [against] Colgate is to keep up the intensity from the first whistle to the last and score some goals,” Tryon said. “You have to score to win.”

By Greg Stevenson

Senior Writer

Last Saturday, over a decade after he last was an offensive coordinator for the Tigers, head coach Joe Susan returned to the school where he once coached and led the Orange and Blue to their most dominant win of the season, a 34-9 rout of Princeton.

“All wins are good wins, but having spent nine years at Princeton, living in the town for 19 years and having many of my family and friends being there brings some special sentiment from the win,” Susan said.

Even with the added pressure of playing at his old school, Susan had his team ready from the get-go. The Tigers got on the board with a field goal just five minutes into the first half, but it would be the last time Princeton would score until midway through the fourth quarter.

Defensive end Josh Eden ’12 tackled Princeton running-back Chuck Dibilio in the end zone for a safety to get the Orange and Blue on the board. On the very next drive for the Tigers’ offense, Eden recovered a fumble deep in Princeton territory, setting up the Bison’s first scoring drive of the contest.

“Our team looks to Josh as their leader,” Susan said. “He is someone who can take over a team in terms of the impact he can have on an opponent’s offense. Josh did just that on Saturday night.”

After the Princeton turnover, quarterback Brandon Wesley ’14 scored a one-yard rushing touchdown on just the third play of the series.

Up by seven, Eden would once again make a game-changing play, this time finding the endzone just before halftime. With under a minute left in the second quarter, his interception return for a touchdown would give the Orange and Blue a 17-3 advantage heading into the locker room.

The second half was a similar story for the Bison. A week after hitting a career-long 40-yarder, Drew Orth ’12 made a 35-yard field goal to stretch the lead to 20-3 midway through the third quarter.

Wesley added insurance points with two more rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The Bison quarterback finished the game with 138 yards through the air and 84 more on the ground to go along with his three rushing touchdowns.

“Brandon has continued to improve every week and will continue to do so as he grows in this system,” Susan said. “His composure in the pocket has made him into a threat that is multi-dimensional. He is an athlete who can make time for himself and can make plays on his feet.”

Coming off the biggest victory in Susan’s tenure as head coach, the Orange and Blue return home this Saturday afternoon to face the Georgetown Hoyas in their Patriot League opener. The Hoyas look to avenge last season’s 24-21 loss at the hands of the Bison, the lone victory of the 2010 campaign for the Orange and Blue.

“We will prepare for the game like we prepare for each of them,” Susan said. “The biggest challenge in our preparation is us. We have to eliminate distraction and focus on making the most out of each day of preparation.”

By Scott Padula

Writer

The men’s water polo team started their CWPA divisional play this past weekend on the road with a double overtime loss to Johns Hopkins 11-9 and two wins against No. 16 Navy and George Washington 10-9 and 10-8, respectively. After this weekend, the Orange and Blue are 7-2 overall and 2-1 in CWPA play.

The Bison faced Johns Hopkins in their first game of the weekend. The Blue Jays jumped out to an early 6-3, but the Bison, led by Beau Caillouette ’12 and Brian Barron ’13, mounted a furious comeback in the second half, outscoring Hopkins 5-2 and forcing the game into overtime. The Orange and Blue were unable to hold off the Blue Jays and lost by a final score of 11-9. Caillouette, Barron, and Jack Else ’14 registered multi-goal games, while Alex Nowlin ’14 and Barron had a pair of assists each. Matt Napleton ’13 stabilized the defense with 14 saves.

In their first action Sunday, the Orange and the Blue faced No. 16 Navy in Annapolis, Md. The Bison started with a 7-4 advantage into the first half, and went on to win 10-9. Napleton recorded three assists and 12 saves. Stephen Norton ’13 tallied his second career multi-goal game. Caillouette and Else also found the back of the net twice.

“Our center play was very good and is improving with each practice.  Our counter attack and our defense will be the foundation of our success and we need to continue to develop those as we progress through the season,” Napleton said.

In the final game of the weekend, the Bison defeated George Washington 10-8. The Orange and Blue outscored the Colonials in every quarter except the fourth. Else led all scorers with a hat trick, while Nowlin registered two goals and five assists, bringing his season assist total to 33. In goal, Napleton recorded a new career high, stopping 16 shots and giving him 84 saves on the season.

“This weekend we played as a team and stuck to our game plan. We need to work on our defense and communication throughout the game. Over these next two weeks we will condition a lot and we know that we have a lot more to work on in order to be successful this year,” Else said.

The Orange and the Blue will have a week off before they head to Princeton to resume conference play on Saturday, Sept. 8.