The Bucknellian

By Justin Cohen

Contributing Writer

Last season, the Miami Heat finished in the middle of the pack in the playoff landscape of the Eastern Conference. The talent of a young Heat squad, even with Dwayne Wade, did not make it past the first round, losing in five games to the eventual Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics.

The Heat made major changes to their roster in order to free up salary cap space by releasing or trading seven of their 15 players. A free agent class headed by LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, Paul Pierce, Amar’e Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer, Joe Johnson and many others was more than enough for the Heat to risk it all this past summer.

After spending $330 million, they re-signed Dwayne Wade and added Chris Bosh and LeBron James.

As soon as James announced his intention to play for the Heat, debates instantly began about the Heat’s status in the NBA and about the ability of three of the best players in the league to play together on one team.

The Heat refilled their roster with additional players like Mike Miller, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Eddie House, as well as drafting Dexter Pittman out of the University of Texas. With the big three looking toward next June and the prospects of having a successful 2010 season looking very strong, the Heat were poised to take the league by storm.

Five games into the season the Heat sit on a 4-1 record with the big three all beginning to work together for their common goal of a championship. The Heat were confident in their ability to win, despite a minor setback in Wade’s preseason injury. The experts began to say that without Wade, the big three would take a while to develop chemistry on the court, and because of their new roster, much of the pressure would fall to the role players on the team.

After the Heat dropped the season opener to the Celtics, critics said the Heat had no dominant big men since Bosh is more of an offensive player. They said the big three will always have to control the ball with Mike Miller hurt and the role players not being suited for the responsibility.

Amid all of the talk, the big three are putting up solid numbers: all three have an average of about five rebounds per game, while Lebron and Wade are both adding 20 points and four assists per game. Amazingly, the big three is only shooting a combined 44 percent from the field. But the Heat are still winning thanks to their defense which is ranked number one in most defensive categories in the league, allowing only 80 points per game.

The Heat will have a serious challenge in front of them when they face the Los Angeles Lakers, who maintained almost their entire roster from last year’s championship team.

By Joe Ruby

Writer

The men’s soccer team dropped two difficult road games this week, losing 2-1 in overtime to Lafayette (7-7-3, 2-3-1) and 3-2 against Binghamton (6-6-4). Tommy McCabe ’11, Luke Joyner ’12 and Andrew Powell ’12 scored for the Bison, who now need help to qualify for the Patriot League Tournament.

Against Lafayette, the Bison trailed 1-0 at halftime but struck late to force overtime. McCabe, assisted by Brendan Burgdorf ’13, cleaned up a loose ball in the box 73:06 into the match to equalize the score at 1-1. The goal answered the Leopards’ 20th minute strike off the foot of Jeff McLaughlin.

Lafayette finished the game 2:13 into the first overtime when B.J. Glenn fired the game-winning shot past Marc Hartmann ’12, who could not manage to save either of the shots on goal he faced in the contest. Leopard goalie Andrew Pianko made three saves on four shots on goal. Overall, Lafayette held a 12-7 advantage in shots.

The game against Binghamton started with four goals scored in the first 23 minutes. The Bearcats got on the board just 2:22 into the game. Austin Hughes missed a shot, but Kyle Manscuk put in the rebound. The Bison answered at the 10:42 mark, when Joyner headed in a McCabe corner kick. Five minutes later, Binghamton reclaimed the lead on an Adam Whitehead penalty kick, but the Bison battled back. At the 22:39 mark, Powell converted a 20-yard free kick into his second goal of the year, and the score remained tied at two until halftime.

Binghamton took the lead for a third and final time in the 57th minute when Tommy Klim crossed the ball into the zone to Jake Keegan, who headed the ball past Tommy Caso ’12, who had relieved Hartmann at the half. Overall, the Bearcats put seven of their 12 shots on goal, whereas the Bison could only manage six of 13.

The Bison’s loss to Lafayette leaves them needing a win against Lehigh (8-6-2, 4-1-1) on Saturday to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Bison (7-8-2, 2-2-2) would also need Lafayette to defeat or tie Navy (7-4-4, 2-1-3) on the same day. The Midshipmen qualify with a win or with a draw and a Bison draw or loss, while Lafayette qualifies if it defeats Navy and the Bison lose to Lehigh.

By Greg Stevenson

Senior Writer

The football team fell 33-22 to Lafayette at home on Saturday thanks to four long scoring plays put together by the Leopards. The two teams had entered the game with identical 1-6 records, but the Leopards gave the Bison their second defeat in conference play.

“When a team strikes fast, there are varied reasons,” Head Coach Joe Susan said about Lafayette’s long plays. “The main result is the immediate score. Momentum changes, and there are snaps they don’t have to take.”

It did not take long for the Leopards to get on the board. On their second play from scrimmage, Lafayette tailback Patrick Mputu took a swing pass out of the backfield 75 yards for the opening touchdown just 50 seconds into the contest.

With its offense getting the job done early, the Lafayette defense countered with its own pivotal scoring play. Starting their second offensive series deep in their own territory thanks to an impressive punt, the Bison went backwards 11 yards in two plays for a safety, leading to a 9-0 Lafayette advantage.

Trailing by two possessions, the Bison defense forced a failed fourth-down try by Lafayette. The Bison proceeded to drive 69 yards in 12 plays, only to have their drive end on a costly turnover.

In a span of four plays, possession changed three times, all on fumbles. Lafayette ended up with the ball at its own 17-yard line. Nine plays later, the Leopards handed the ball back to the Bison via another fumble, setting up the first touchdown drive for the Orange and Blue that cut the lead to two at 9-7.

Over the next 18 minutes of play, Lafayette scored three unanswered touchdowns, all on plays longer than 30 yards, bringing the Leopard lead to 30-7. Tyler Smith ’13 then scored two touchdowns for the Orange and Blue, one through the air on a trick play and another on the ground, but the scores came too late as the Bison fell 33-22.

Although he has lost seven of the first eight games of the season, Susan recognizes the importance of these games in building his squad for years to come.

“Our younger players continue to develop,” Susan said. “Brandon Wesley ’14 is learning by experience. He is a very dedicated player and will work not to repeat mistakes. Travis Friend ’14 has continued to improve physically. Defensively Sean Rafferty ’12 is consistent. Tyler Anderson ’11 and Josh Eden ’12 continue to play well.”

For the third straight weekend, the Bison will try for their second Patriot League win of the season. The Orange and Blue host the Fordham Rams at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium Saturday at 1 p.m.

“This team has responded to the loss by working very hard,” Susan said. “Now it is time to get rid of the play hard and add to it play hard and win.”

By Joyce Novacek

Writer

Corinne Raczek ’11 tied the program record in career assists at the conclusion of overtime when she passed to Kelly Bruvik ’11, who scored the game-winning goal of the field hockey’s Colgate 3-2 at home on Sunday. With this victory, the Orange and Blue rise to third seed for the Patriot League tournament this weekend.

The Bison outshot Colgate 13-1 in the first half but the first frame was scoreless.  Both teams scored two goals in the second half.

Only a minute into the second frame, Rachel Misko ’14 scored the first goal of the game and her sixth of the season.  Two minutes later, the Raiders responded with a goal to knot the score at 1-1.

The Raiders took the lead when Laura Denenga scored the second goal of the day for Colgate.  Not long after, Katie Durkin ’13 rebounded a shot from Bruvik and scored a diving goal to tie the score at 2-2.

Raczek assisted Bruvik for the game-winning goal with only four seconds left in overtime. With this assist, Raczek earned her 34th career helper, tying her with former teammate Amanda Faust ’09.  Faust and Raczek are the only two Bison ever to exceed 30 career assists.

“We were so pumped up for the game on Saturday. We knew the importance of our game but also knew that we just had to play like ourselves … We knew the whole game that it was our game and we were able to prove it to everyone else in the end,” Misko said.

The game was senior day for the Bison, who have four seniors on the roster: Bruvik, Raczek, Christine Weiss ’11 and Morgan Kauffman ’11.

“The seniors have made a tremendous impact on this program and will be missed so much by all of us. During the game, I wanted more than anything to win for them and you can’t come up with a more exciting ending than when Bruvik scored the game winning goal in overtime,” Durkin said.

“I could not have asked for a better class to start off my college career with. They’ve taught us so much and will be greatly missed next year,” Misko said.

The Bison will face second-seeded Lafayette in the semifinals of the Patriot League tournament  at 1:45 p.m. Friday in Washington, D.C.

By Eric Brod

Senior Writer

The Bison men’s cross country team finished sixth at last weekend’s Patriot League Championships. The Orange and Blue finished with 130 points, while Navy defended its league title with 43 points.

Once again this season,the Bison had a different runner leading the pack. This time it was Dave Brown ’12, who completed the eight-kilometer course in 25:49, finishing 23rd overall.

Brown was very happy with his performance.

“The workouts I did in the weeks preceding last weekend had gone very well but I had not yet translated them to good performances in races,” he said.  “Basically, I knew I was as fit as I was going to be for [the Championship] and whatever I had in me would have to suffice.”

Following Brown was Joshua Clark ’11, who finished 26th in 25:57.

Rounding out the scoring for the Bison were Robert Yamnicky ’13, who placed 28th, Charles Murphy ’11, who placed 30th, and Evan Novakowski ’11, who placed 33rd.

Navy’s Andrew Hanko took the individual title in 24:22.

“Even though our men finished sixth, I was pleased with how they ran the race.  They really ran a great final 3K to make it close among third through sixth,” head coach Kevin Donner said. “We have had a lot of adversity this year with sickness and injury as well as top runners graduating and transferring. We essentially had a whole new team compared with last year.”

The team lacked the one dominant runner it needed. Only 19 seconds separated the top six Bison finishers, but no runner pulled away.

“We are lacking a front runner, so even though our guys packed great, we were a little too far behind,” Donner said.

The men return to action Nov. 13 for the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Championships in University Park, Pa.

By Chris McCree

Writer

The women’s cross country team fell just short of claiming its second straight Patriot League title with a second-place finish this past Saturday in Easton, Pa. The Bison were edged out 42-64 by Colgate. They have now finished in the top two in each of the last six years.

“The team is a little disappointed about the second place finish this weekend. Because we have won four of the last five Patriot League Championships, it was tough to be runner-up,” Stephanie Fulmer ’12 said.

The team’s top five runners all finished in the top 20, and three were named to all-conference teams. Fulmer finished first for the Bison, claiming sixth overall with a time of 20:36, closely followed by Sarah Moniz ’11, who claimed seventh with a time of 20:41. Both were given First Team All-Patriot League honors, Fulmer claiming these honors for the third time and Moniz for the second.

“Being selected as First Team All-Patriot League for the third year in a row is definitely not something to take for granted. I have had adversities to overcome every year, but have had the support of my team to help me through. This is a very great honor and shows the consistency of coach Donner’s training,” Fulmer said.

Alysha Hooper ’12 claimed Second Team All-Patriot League honors for the first time in her three year career with her14th-place finish and overall time of 21:16. Rounding out the top five for the Bison were Alaina Chodoff ’11 and Caroline Tolli ’13 who finished 18th and 19th respectively.

“I felt as though our team ran very well. We each gave the best effort that we could for that day, and followed our individual race plans,” Fulmer said.

The Bison have finished either first or second in 12 of the last 14 years.

“We got beat by a team that has truly risen to their potential this year and has two possible candidates to qualify for Nationals in their region. Overall, Bucknell has been the most consistent team within the past decade and while it is disappointing to finish as runner-up, it is still a great honor,” Fulmer said.

Now finished with their Patriot League schedule, the team looks ahead to Nov. 13 when it heads to Penn State to compete in the NCAA mid-Atlantic Championships.

“The team performed well this weekend and we are now looking forward to chasing down Penn State at Regionals in two weeks,” Moniz said.