Tag: men’s lacrosse

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Men’s lacrosse secures playoff berth

By Greg Stevenson

Senior Writer

For the fifth consecutive season, the men’s lacrosse team will continue to play into the postseason. The Bison earned a berth in the Patriot League Tournament after beating the Holy Cross Crusaders 10-3 at home last Saturday. The victory gave the Orange and Blue their ninth win of the season, tied for most in the nation as of Wednesday, and kept their perfect 3-0 conference record intact.

“It always feels good to win at home, and beating a league opponent makes it that much sweeter,” Jordan Nies ’11 said. “Holy Cross has struggled this season, so it was important that we held a strong lead against them in order to post a decisive win.”

Led by goalie Kyle Feeney ’13 and an experienced line of defense, the Bison turned in another spectacular defensive performance, holding the Crusaders to just one goal until the five-minute mark in the final quarter. The Bison have allowed just seven goals per game in 2011, good enough for seventh in the nation and top in the Patriot League.

On the offensive end, the Bison dominated the Crusaders throughout the first half. Despite a slow start, the Orange and Blue opened the scoring with three minutes left in the opening quarter with a goal from Nies.

In the second quarter, the Orange and Blue outscored the Crusaders 6-1 to put a close game out of reach. Chase Bailey ’13 tallied the first two goals of the quarter for the Bison, both coming when the Orange and Blue were playing with a man advantage after a Holy Cross penalty. Peter Burke ’14 added to the Bison lead midway through the period with his first goal of the contest.

Mike Danylyshyn ’11 registered two of his three goals at the end of the second quarter, and Charlie Streep ’12 scored with eight seconds remaining to end an impressive first half with the Orange and Blue up 7-1.

Trailing by six at halftime, Holy Cross had no answer for a stingy Bison defense in the second half. The Crusaders went scoreless for over 25 minutes to open the half, allowing the Orange and Blue to push the lead to 10-1. Holy Cross would score twice in the final minutes, but it would not be enough to catch the Bison, as the Crusaders fell 10-3.

Offensively, the Orange and Blue used an all-around dominating performance to defeat the Crusaders. Eight different Bison recorded either a goal or an assist against Holy Cross, and three, Danylyshyn, Burke and Bailey, scored at least twice in the game.

The Orange and Blue remain tied at first with Colgate in the Patriot League with three league games left, including a head-to-head match-up with the Raiders in the final game of the season.

The win assures that the Bison will have a spot in the Patriot League Tournament in a few weeks. Even though the Orange and Blue have made the playoffs, bigger and better things are on the minds of the Bison.

“It feels good to be back in the tournament, but our goal is to win out and host the Patriot League tournament,” Feeney said.

Up next for the Orange and Blue is another crucial Patriot League match-up, this time against the Black Knights of Army, this Saturday in West Point, N.Y.

“We are also not satisfied as of right now,”  Ryan Klipstein ’11 said. “We enter this weekend playing our biggest game of the year against Army and it will begin a three-game in-league away series that we must do well in. We intend on pushing harder than ever to run the table on these upcoming games and host the tourney.”

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Headline Sports

Men’s lacrosse takes down two nationally ranked powers

By Greg Stevenson

Senior Writer

One week after entering the national top-20 polls for the first time this season, the Bison men’s lacrosse team proved itself again by taking down two top-ranked teams, the No. 20 Penn State Nittany Lions and the No. 16 Albany Great Danes. The two victories give the Orange and Blue an 8-2 record heading into the heart of their Patriot League schedule.

Behind a strong defensive effort, the Orange and Blue upended their in-state rivals Penn State 8-6 at home Tuesday night. Trading the first seven goals with the Nittany Lions, the Bison scored consecutive goals in a minute span midway through the second quarter to go up 5-4.

After leading by one at halftime, the Bison shut down the Nittany Lions’ attack in the second half, allowing just one goal. Goalie Kyle Feeney ’13 saved 14 Penn State shots, a season-high, and held the Nittany Lions scoreless in the final period.

Offensively, Chase Bailey ’13 and Ryan Klipstein ’11 each contributed two goals to lead the Orange and Blue. The goals from Klipstein were the only two in the second half by the Bison and provided the cushion needed to pull away from a tough Penn State squad.

On Saturday, the Bison hosted the Great Danes in another down-to-the-wire 11-9 victory for the Orange and Blue. The Bison outshot the Great Danes 54-22.

With the score tied at three early in the second quarter, Albany scored three straight goals in a two-minute span to take a 6-3 advantage.

The Bison registered five straight points at the end of the first half, reclaiming the lead. Klipstein led the way again, scoring twice and assisting on another goal in that stretch.

Trailing by two, Albany rallied early in the second half, scoring two straight to tie the score. Three straight goals by the Bison and solid defense in the final quarter were enough for the Orange and Blue to emerge victorious.

Peter Burke ’14, Todd Heritage ’14 and Charlie Streep ’12 each added multiple goals and an assist.

Throughout their non-conference schedule, the Bison have made Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium a difficult place to play for opponents. With the two wins at added this week, the Orange and Blue now have a perfect 6-0 record at home.

The Orange and Blue will host the Holy Cross Crusaders tomorrow at home. Last season, the Bison blew out the Crusaders 11-2 in Worcester, Mass.

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Sports

Men’s lacrosse remains unbeaten in league

By Eric Brod

Senior Writer

The Bison men’s lacrosse team posted a 3-1 record over the past week to improve to 6-2 overall and 2-0 in league play.

The team’s four-game winning streak came to a halt with a tough 7-5 loss against Robert Morris on Tuesday. The downfall of the team was even-strength play, where Robert Morris outplayed the Bison, but the Orange and Blue converted on three of five man advantage opportunities. After Robert Morris held a 3-1 halftime lead, the Bison rallied to tie the score at five, but Trevor Moore’s goal broke the tie with 6:40 remaining in the game and proved to be the game winner. Ryan Klipstein ’11 led the offensive attack with two goals. Uncharacteristically, the Bison struggled on faceoffs, winning only five of 16.

The team improved its league record to 2-0 with an 11-8 win over Lafayette on Saturday. The Leopards were able to jump out to a 2-1 lead in the first, but the Bison staged a furious 5-0 run that gave them a 6-1 lead by the second quarter. Lafayette responded with a rally of its own to close the gap to 6-5, but Mike Danylyshyn ’11 scored at 9:58 of the third to reestablish the team’s two-goal lead.

Billy Eisenreich ’12 and Klipstein led the offensive attack as each registered a hat trick on the day.

“A lot of this has to do with our leadership and all the hard work we have done,” Eisenreich said. “We are all confident that we have worked harder than every other team we have gone against, and with this in mind it seems that we have been more successful in close games as opposed to last year.”

The Orange and Blue dominated offensive play, outshooting Lafayette 39-24 with goalie Kyle Feeney ’13 making nine saves.

On March 16 the Orange and Blue got past Hartford with a hard-fought 7-6 victory. The Bison dominated the first half, establishing a 4-1 lead. Hartford came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders as they scored five straight goals to take a 6-4 lead with less than 10 minutes remaining in the game. The Bison were able to rally for three straight goals, led by Eisenreich and Charlie Streep ’12. Despite the closeness of the contest, the Bison dominated in the offensive zone, outshooting Hartford 40-22.

On March 12 the Orange and Blue overcame a resilient Hobart team en route to an 11-9 victory. Again, the Bison were the stronger team early on, scoring the first four goals and taking a 6-1 lead before Hobart rallied to close the gap to 6-5 at halftime. The second half was a back-and-forth affair with several lead changes before the Bison were able to hold on for the victory. Todd Heritage ’14 led the offensive attack with two goals and two assists.

“Chemistry has a lot to do with our success. On an offensive standpoint, the six starters along with a couple others are a very close group,” Eisenreich said. “We all work hard together every day, which draws us together. Our chemistry is only getting stronger by day and with this connection.”

The team returns to action Saturday at 1 p.m. with a home contest against No. 16 Albany.

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Sports

Men’s lacrosse beats Nova, loses to Penn

By Eric Brod

Senior Writer

The men’s lacrosse team split a pair of tough games against two ranked Philadelphia opponents this week, falling to No. 14 Penn 8-6 on Tuesday after defeating No. 20 Villanova 10-8 on Saturday at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. The Bison’s record now stands at 2-1.

On Tuesday against Penn, the team got off to a quick start, scoring twice in the first 1:58 to stun the Quakers for an early 2-0 lead. The Bison were able to maintain their two-goal lead and headed into the locker room at halftime with a 4-2 advantage. But the Quakers used a six-goal second half to overtake the Bison.

Ryan Klipstein ’11 led the offensive attack with a hat trick. Nick Gantsoudes ’12, Mike Danylyshyn ’11 and Chase Bailey ’13 also contributed goals. Overall, the Bison were outshot 28-19.

Last Saturday, the Orange and Blue took control early and were able to hold on. The Bison were able to jump out to a 6-3 halftime lead and maintained their three-goal lead at 8-5 going into the third quarter. The Wildcats rallied before the Orange and Blue were able to lock up their second victory of the season.

The offense was once again led by Klipstein, who registered four goals in the contest to pace the offensive attack. Billy Eisenreich ’12 tallied two goals, while Todd Heritage ’14 had a goal and two assists.

The Bison were outshot 35-23, but goalie Kyle Feeney ’13 was solid in goal once again, making 13 saves in the contest. On defense, Alex Lyons ’11 forced three turnovers.

The Bison return to action on Monday when they open Patriot League play against rival Navy at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium

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Sports

Men’s lacrosse opens season strong

By Eric Brod

Senior Writer

The men’s lacrosse team dominated in its season opener, winning a 17-2 home victory over Canisisus. The Orange and Blue displayed their depth and versatility on offense and showed how impenetrable their defense can be.

Leading the offensive attack was Nick Gantsoudes ’12, who registered a career-high five goals. He recorded a hat trick at the 10-minute mark of the second quarter, helping the Bison break open the game with eight goals in the second quarter to take a 10-1 lead. In his collegiate debut, Todd Heritage ’14 scored three goals.

“I was able to get into the comfort zone from the very beginning of the game,” Heritage said. “My teammates helped calm my nerves, and as the game progressed it was just like any other lacrosse game.”

Jake Clarke ’11 was solid on faceoffs, winning nine of 14.

The defense, led by John Collett ’11, Alex Lyons ’11 and Jason Neithamer ’12 controlled the game by keeping play out of their territory and forcing five turnovers. Goalie Kyle Feeney ’13 was stellar in the net, making nine saves on 10 shots. He was aided by a fantastic defensive effort.

“I think the defense did a tremendous job forcing their shooters into tough spots and causing turnovers,” Feeney said. “It’s hard for an offense to get anything going when they only get 16 shots in a whole game. This game was definitely what we were looking for at the start of the season.”

The Bison face a tough task in their next contest when they face off against Villanova tomorrow at noon.