March 15, 2008

Final Stats

LEWISBURG, Pa. - Junior attackman Joe Mele (Westbury, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) scored three goals, all coming in the second half to help stymie a Lafayette's comeback bid, and the 14th-ranked Bucknell men's lacrosse team won its fifth game in a row, 9-7, in its Patriot League opener.

Bucknell (5-1, 1-0) played a near-perfect first quarter and pitched a shutout for the game's first 35:57. But Lafayette (2-3, 0-2) cut into a 6-0 deficit with four straight goals in just 5:29 in the middle part of the third quarter. With all of the momentum leaning toward the Leopards, Mele scored two goals in just 11 seconds in the final minute of the third quarter, and Mele scored another big insurance marker in a two-goal game in the fourth quarter.

Tim Brandau (Owings Mills, Md./McDonogh) added two goals and an assist, and Michael Cooke (Phoenix, Md./St. Paul's) and Nick Marks (Barrington, Ill./Salisbury School) added a goal and an assist apiece for the Bison, who outshot Lafayette 47-17.

Bucknell held the Leopards without a shot until the 9:18 mark of the second quarter and outshot them 23-4 in the first half. Two goals from Brandau and one each from Marks and John Togneri (Longmeadow, Mass./Loomis-Chaffee) staked the Bison to a 4-0 lead less than 11 minutes into the game.

Bucknell only put 2 of 14 shots on goal in the second quarter and did not score in the period, but the Bison nabbed two quick ones to start the second half to assume a seemingly commanding 6-0 advantage. First, Perry Menzies (Upperco, Md./Hereford) scored with a hard shot from about 18 yards out just 52 seconds into the third quarter, and 39 seconds later junior defenseman Billy Haire (Darien, Conn./Darien) scooped up a ground ball, made a 60-yard run downfield and fed Cooke right in front for the d-middie's first goal of the season and fourth of his career. The assist was Haire's first career point.

Lafayette's first goal of the day also came from a defenseman, as long-pole Steve Nastro finished a long run at the 9:03 mark of the first quarter to make it 6-1. Steve Serling scored off an Andrew Horton feed at the 5:35 mark, and only 15 seconds later Matt Mersky picked up a ground ball in the Bucknell zone and scored to make it 6-3. Things really got interesting with 3:34 left in the third when Mersky scored again to make it a two-goal game.

Mele helped the Bison regain control, however, when he made a tough catch of a Brandau pass from behind the goal, and while spinning to his knees fired a shot past Jeff Canfield. On the ensuing faceoff, Cooke corralled the ground ball and passed to Mele for a fastbreak goal, restoring Bucknell's four-goal cushion.

Lafayette, which trailed Navy 6-5 in the fourth quarter before falling 8-5 in its most recent game, would not go away. Serling scored on a diving shot from a tough angle to the right of the goal just 56 seconds into the fourth quarter, and 62 seconds later Mersky passed out of a double team from the end line all the way up top to John Galassi, who scored to make it 8-6.

But with 11:26 to play, Mele finished a Marks feed to put the Bison in front 9-6. Goalie Nick Sciubba (Sea Cliff, N.Y./Salisbury School) made three big four-quarter saves to help keep the margin at three, before Lafayette tacked on a Horton goal with 15 seconds left to make the final 9-7.

Sciubba finished with six saves for the Bison, while Canfield stopped 14 shots, half of them coming in the third quarter.

Bucknell won the ground ball battle 39-27, led by Haire and Cooke with five scoops each. Both teams won 10 faceoffs. Bucknell was the better clearing team, converting 20 of 21 compared to 16 of 25 for Lafayette.

Both teams' top scorers had quiet afternoons. Bucknell's Austin Winter (Boonton Township, N.J./Mountain Lakes) and Lafayette's Tom Perini were held to just one assist each. Winter came in leading the league in assists per game, while Perini had 13 goals in four games.

Bucknell has now beaten Lafayette 15 straight times and leads the all-time series 35-6.

Its five-game homestand now complete, Bucknell will now play its next three games on the road, beginning on Wednesday with a big Patriot League game at Navy at 4 p.m.