The Bucknellian

By Justin Cohen

Contributing Writer

In recent years,  big-name markets like the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies, Cardinals and Braves have dominated the October headlines and claimed postseason MLB success. That was not the case this year when the Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants played each other in the 2010 World Series. But although there were no big market teams this year, those who were looking forward to the 2010 World Series saw excellent pitching performances and games where every hit mattered.

The Rangers, a team littered with storylines, knocked off the Yankees in the ALCS to reach their first World Series in franchise history thanks to the help of their offensive production and Cliff Lee, viewed by some as the best postseason pitcher in history. The Giants used ace Tim Lincecum and a young and talented lineup to defeat the Phillies, who had what many claimed to be the best rotation in baseball.

As the series began, the Giants lit up Cliff Lee for seven runs and cruised to an early 2-0 series lead. The Giants put up 20 runs in the first two games, despite the fact that most of their other contests in the 2010 postseason were decided by only one or two runs.

The Rangers were able to muster up a win in game three, in which all of their runs came off the long ball. The stars of the team, Josh Hamilton, Ian Kinsler and Michael Young, drove in the runs to cap an 8-3 victory.

The Giants then sent rookie pitcher Madison Bumgarner on the mound for game four. Bumgarner silenced his critics as he threw eight scoreless innings and only allowed three hits for the Giants to easily take the win and be one win away from clinching their first World Series Championship in over 50 years.

Game five gave the fans the pitching matchup they were expecting for Game one as Cliff Lee and Tim Lincecum took the mound once again in a battle of aces. The Rangers went into the game knowing the Giants would return to San Francisco as champions if they did not win.

Through the first six innings, both pitchers performed as expected, keeping the game scoreless. But in the seventh inning Cliff Lee gave up a three run home run to Edgar Renteria to give the Giants a 3-0 lead. The Rangers responded with a run in the seventh, but Lincecum finished without any other trouble and reliever Brian Wilson delivered the final blow in the ninth, crowning the Giants the 2010 World Series Champions.  Renteria was awarded series MVP for his late game heroics and fans begged him not to retire as he had contemplated doing in the offseason.

The Giants celebrated their victory parade a week ago Wednesday, and the team received a key to the city from Mayor Gavin Newsom. It was the first championship for the city since the 49ers last won the Super Bowl in 1995. While most of the baseball world will be focusing on the free agent market and readjusting their rosters, the Giants can only build on this success and look to continue their winning ways in the seasons to come.

By Eric Brod

Senior Writer

The women’s swimming team continued its impressive start to the season, posting a 2-1 record against Patriot League foes Lafayette, American and Navy at Kinney Natatorium last Saturday. The Orange and Blue posted victories over American 224-66 and Lafayette 225-75 but lost to defending Patriot League Champion Navy 154-144.

The Bison posted seven first-place finishes, led by Emily Wright ’14, who won the 50-yard freestyle in 23.92 seconds. Wright also finished third in the 100 free in 52.39 seconds. Four other Bison finished in first place: Kelly Pontecorvo ’14 in the 1,000 free, Kelly Purcell ’13 in the 100 free, and Elizabeth Porcellio ’13 in the 200 IM.

“I think that having competition between the team members is beneficial to all of us, because we are really pushing each other and motivating each other more than competing against each other,” Goebel said. “Having multiple girls in an event shows how much depth we have and the strength of our team. We are a team first and foremost and we constantly encourage each other. It is exciting to see your teammates do well and it makes us want to push ourselves even more.”

In diving, Morgan Popple ’12 finished second in the one-meter board with 224.50.

The Bison women return to action Saturday when they host Colgate at Kinney Natatorium.

By Andrew Lichtenauer

Contributing Writer

Matthew Segar ’12 led the Bison in the pool on Saturday with two individual wins in the men’s swimming and diving team’s first home meet of the season. The Orange and Blue defeated American 208-76 and Lafayette 207-77 but lost to defending Patriot League Champion Navy 186-101.

Segar had two of the team’s three individual victories, winning both the 200-yard freestyle and the 500-yard freestyle. He clocked in season-best times of 1:42.20 and 4:47.96, respectively.

“Navy has always been the top team to beat in the league, and all week my coach stressed that good teams race hard regardless of the competition. I just got really excited to swim them and wanted to see what I could do,” Segar said.

Captain Michael Volpe ’11 locked up the Bison’s third individual victory in the 100-fly, finishing with a season-best time of 51.82. Volpe beat out teammate and runner-up Taylor Harris ’12 in this race by more than a second.

“Being at home definitely had a huge impact on our performance. We didn’t have a bus ride to worry about or have to get used to a different pool,” Volpe said. “We had home ‘field’ advantage and used that to our benefit. Having parents and friends in the stands being loud was also a great contribution to our excitement,” he said.

The Bison’s fourth win came in the 200 free relay, where Harris, Christian Treat ’13, Bryce Suchomel ’13 and Eric Sokolosky ’12 took first place for the Orange and Blue, beating runner-up American by more than 2.5 seconds.

As the men look ahead to Patriot League championships in February, they have used their first few meets to determine expectations and goals for the rest of the season.

“The first few meets of the season are used as stepping stones for Patriot Leagues,” Volpe said. “As training gets more intense, we use early meets as a gauge of where we are and how we are progressing toward our goals for the end of the season. These meets give us a way to measure against where we were last year and at previous meets and see how much we’ve improved.”

The Orange and Blue will be back in the pool to host Colgate at 1 p.m. Saturday in Kinney Natatorium.

By Joyce Novacek

Writer

The Bison field hockey season came to an end Friday when the team lost to second-seeded Lafayette 3-2 in the Patriot League Tournament semi-finals in Washington, D.C. Despite the loss, Kelly Bruvik ’11 and Corinne Raczek ’11 were named to the Patriot League Field Hockey All-Tournament team.

About eight minutes into Friday’s game, Bruvik assisted Mallory Smith ’12 score her first goal of the season, giving the Bison an initial lead of 1-0. The Leopards responded two minutes later with an unassisted goal and, after deflecting a shot after a penalty corner, pulled ahead with a 2-1 lead. Bruvik tied the score for the Bison before halftime with a goal assisted by Rachel Misko ’14.

Despite an evenly matched second half, the Leopards executed on a penalty corner, and that made all the difference. A score of 3-2 sent the victorious Leopards into the Patriot League Final, where they ultimately lost to the American Eagles 6-2. The Bison finished the 2010 season 7-12.

Goalkeeper Sarah Zargarpour ’12 made eight saves.

“It was a hard loss to take because, as a team, we work so hard throughout the year, and then it all comes down to 70 minutes of play. For them to score with only four minutes left was really hard. Also, we really wanted to get to the finals for our seniors, as it would be the last time they would have a chance to play,” Zargarpour said.

“Playing Lafayette is always a battle and unfortunately, it didn’t end in our favor this time,” Christine Weiss ’11 said. “We played some great hockey and had some fantastic opportunities that just didn’t go in.”

In addition to Bruvik and Raczek receiving all-tournament team picks, five members of the Bison field hockey team made All-Patriot League teams. Bruvik and Weiss were selected for first-team and Morgan Kauffman ’11, Misko and Tayler Siegrist ’13 were selected for second-team.

Misko also received the Patriot League Rookie of the Year honor, and Weiss was named the Patriot League Field Hockey Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

By Eric Weiss

Senior Writer

The women’s soccer team’s season came to an abrupt end at West Point, N.Y. last Friday when the team suffered a tough 1-0 loss in a Patriot League semifinal matchup against Lehigh.

Both teams relied heavily on their back lines to anchor their game plans. Throughout the first half both the Bison and the Mountain Hawks had opportunities but neither team could bury the ball in the back of the net. At one point it appeared Lehigh would take a 1-0 lead, but an offside flag negated a prospective goal.

In the second half the Bison mounted assaults on Lehigh continually and almost scored when the Mountain Hawk keeper appeared to fall back into her own goal after catching the ball. This attempt was waved off when a Bison player was called for a push.

“This game was going to be tight throughout. We knew we had to keep the pressure up in order to try and gain the upper hand,” Jules Harris ’11 said.

But a Lehigh attacker ripped a shot from the top of the 18 in the 60th minute for the one and only score.

The Bison out-shot Lehigh 13-5 in the second half, but the Lehigh goalie was able to deter all shots by the Bison, and the Orange and Blue swallowed the loss.

As the Bison heard the final whistle blow, seven seniors said their goodbyes to four years that may have been some of the best in Bison soccer history. Amanda Citron, Kelliann Doherty, Harris, Caitlin Holtz, Kelsey Johnson, Christa Matlack and Brooke Stokes completed their time at the University with 39 wins. They finished the regular season twice in first place and twice in second place.

“It was a pleasure to play with each and every one of my teammates; we will always cherish our time playing together,” Citron said.

By Chris McCree

Writer

The men’s water polo team upset host No. 15 Navy en route to a second-place finish at the Southern Championships in Annapolis, Md. this past weekend. Coming into the tournament as the fourth seed, the Bison advanced to the championship game but fell to No. 17 Princeton by two goals in the finals.

After an 11-7 victory over Mercyhurst in the first round earlier in the day, the Orange and Blue took down Navy 13-12 on Saturday for one of their most significant victories of the season. Coming into the tournament, the Bison had lost to Navy twice this season. The two teams were tied at halftime and close for the entire game, but with just over five minutes left to play, Howie Kalter ’11 sealed the victory for the Bison with his fifth goal of the game. The loss was a shocking blow for Navy, who previously had an all-time tournament record of 53-5 and had never lost to the Bison in the Southern Championships.

Overall, the team looked at the victory as the result of a combined effort by everyone involved.

“We did well because we made an effort to work for each other. For both our offense and defense, there was a lot of communication and we were able to stick with and effectively run our game plan. Everybody was enthusiastic when somebody stepped up and scored; it created a good atmosphere,” Paul Reamey ’11 said.

“We were able to prevent our opponent’s counterattack and forced them to take outside shots that our goalies could easily block,” Brian Barron ’13 said.

The Orange and Blue took their momentum into the final matchup against Princeton, but fell to the Tigers 8-6 after leading by two at the half. The Bison offense stalled in the second half of the game as they only scored twice in the third quarter and had no goals in the fourth. Barron was the team’s only multi-goal scorer with two goals.

The senior class propelled the Bison to win two out of their three contests as Richie Hyden ’11, Kalter, Reamey and Sean Coghlan ’11 combined to score 18 of the team’s 30 goals. Goalkeeper Miles Gilhuly ’11 was another significant contributor to the Bison success as he registered 19 saves over the three-game stretch.

In the end, the team’s second-place finish was not only historically important because it was the program’s best-ever performance at this event, but also because it qualified the Bison to play in the Eastern Championships, which the team will host the third weekend in November.

“To prepare for Eastern Championships, we just need to remember what has made us successful in the past, and each person needs keep working to make the other guys on the team better,” Reamey said.

By Mike Wolf

Contributing Writer

The volleyball team ended a three-game extended losing streak with a great game against a tough Lafayette team this past weekend. The host Bison swept the Leopards on Saturday after slipping in five games to Lehigh the previous day.

After a tough loss on Friday, the Bison recovered well as they dominated Lafayette on Saturday night. The Orange and Blue won the match in three quick sets 25-22, 25-19, 25-14.

The team had needed a change of strategy after the Lehigh loss, especially with playoffs coming next weekend.

“It was a wake-up call to how hard we’re going to have to work this upcoming weekend in order to make it to the playoffs,” McAhren said.

Following a close first game where a late run let the Bison pull ahead, the team took total control of the match and never looked back. The win put the Bison back in the running for the playoffs, as they now hold the final playoff spot.

Friday’s game was close until the very end as the Bison went to five sets in the match. The Bison alternated winning and losing sets until the match was split at two games apiece. In the fifth set a quick start by Lehigh left the Orange and Blue unable to get a streak together. The match was lost 17-25, 25-17, 20-25, 25-18, 15-8.

Kyleigh McAhren ’12 and Heidi Kamp ’11 led the team with 13 and 10 kills, respectively. The Bison also made a positive offensive step with 13 aces, which was a season high, including five by Kristen Titley ’14.

Though the Bison put together a very solid four sets at the beginning of the match, they fell quickly behind in the fifth. Lehigh’s Paige Kruse started the set with multiple aces and the Orange and Blue found themselves down 6-0, a deficit from which they could not recover.

The Bison have two huge matches this weekend that will decide whether they make the playoffs. Friday’s game against Holy Cross is at 7 p.m. and is also Senior Night. Saturday’s game is at 5 p.m. against Army and is themed “Rock the House,” where masses of fans come to make the court as loud as possible.