The Bucknellian

By Andrew Lichtenauer

Contributing Writer

The men’s and women’s swimming teams each won their two meets this weekend, starting the season off with a 2-0 record. Saturday’s meet was at George Mason and Sunday’s was at George Washington.

After trailing George Mason 138-124 late, the men took the first three positions in the 400-yard individual medley, coming from behind to win 153-145. Mike Nicholson ’14 claimed the 400 IM crown, beating out teammates Billy Krause ’13 and Jonathan Podniesinski ’11 as the Bison cut their deficit significantly with only one event remaining. Overall, the Bison had eight first-place finishes against George Mason, with Eric Sokolosky ’11, Christian Treat ’13 and Podniesinski each winning individual races.

In their second meet of the weekend, the men’s team defeated George Washington 157-100. The team was led by Nicholson, Thomas Brown ’12 and Sokolosky, who each won two events. Nicholson has won seven individual races in his first three meets as a Bison.

“Personally, I think that I was able to be successful because of the pressure that is involved in a close dual meet … it really motivates me to perform my best,” Nicholson said.

The women also had a successful weekend. The team beat George Mason 165-132, taking four of the top five positions in the 400-yard individual medley and two of the top three spots in the 200 free relay. Kelly Pontecorvo ’14 won both the 1,650 free and 500 free in the team’s first official victory.

“Having my teammates challenge me in practice every day and then constantly cheering and supporting me at the meet is the ultimate motivator and most definitely the reason for any success I have in the pool,” Pontecorvo said.

In its second meet, the women’s team beat George Washington 151.5-105.5, claiming the top spot in 10 of the first 12 events. Jennifer Brennan ’14 was the only swimmer to win two events, taking first in both the 100- and 200-meter backstroke.

The men’s and women’s squads will return to the pool in two weeks on Nov. 6 in a quad meet with American, Lafayette and Navy. This will be the first home meet for the Orange and Blue. Competition begins at 12 p.m. in Kinney Natatorium.

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.