Bison remain atop Patriot League
Men’s lacrosse clinches berth in PL tournament by defeating Army 8-6 before falling to Penn State
By Kyle Barndollar
Sports Editor
The No. 19 men’s lacrosse team is 6-6 on the season after splitting two games this week, including a crucial Patriot League victory over rival Army that kept the Bison in a first-place tie with No. 15 Colgate in Patriot League standings.
The Bison defeated the Black Knights 8-6 at West Point, N.Y., Saturday before falling 9-8 to Penn State at home Tuesday.
Joe Mele ’09 and Jake Clarke ’11 led the charge against Army Saturday.
Mele scored five goals for the second time this season, while Clarke won 13 of 17 faceoffs and scooped up nine ground balls.
“Army is always a very hard team to beat,” Head Coach Frank Fedorjaka said. “We put everything we had into this and it is an extremely important win.”
Mele opened the scoring with just over six minutes remaining in the first quarter. Army goalie Tom Palesky made six of his 12 saves in the first period, keeping the score at 1-1 after the first 15 minutes.
The key point in the game came at the end of the second quarter when the Bison turned a one-goal deficit into a one-goal lead in just over 30 seconds.
The Bison trailed 4-3 when Mele added his third goal of the day at 0:35 to tie the score at 4-4.
Clarke won the ensuing faceoff, and, after a timeout, Tim Brandau ’10 scored a goal with under a second remaining, giving the Orange and Blue a 5-4 halftime lead.
Nick Gantsoudes ’12 scored the first goal of the second half with 11:14 remaining in the third, and Mele followed with two consecutive goals, stretching the score to 8-4.
Strong defense from the Bison kept Army off the board until the 2:06 mark of the fourth quarter, and the Bison escaped with a two-goal victory.
The Bison are now 4-0 in conference play and in a deadlock with No. 15 Colgate for the right to host the Patriot League championship.
Clarke was untouchable at the faceoff Tuesday against Penn State, winning 20 of 21 faceoffs, but it was not enough to tame the Nittany Lions.
“It was one of the most unbelievable things I’ve ever seen in my 20 years of coaching,” Fedorjaka said of Clarke’s performance.
Clarke’s faceoff wins total, win percentage and ground ball total (13) for the game are all-school records. Clarke took over the position as number one faceoff man by percentage in the nation after Tuesday’s game.
“Jake has been unbelievable for us all year,” Billy Haire ’09 said. “Faceoffs are the strong point of our team this year.”
Unfortunately for the Bison, Penn State goalie Drew Adams also had a stellar game, stonewalling the Orange and Blue offense with 20 saves.
“Offensively we statistically beat Penn State,” said Ryan Klipstein ’11. “But we ran into a hot goalie who is probably the best in the country.”
Mele added three goals and Austin Winter ’10 had a goal and three assists.
Mele leads the team in goals scored with 23 this season, while Winter is first in overall points with nine goals and 23 assists.
The Bison took their first lead with 9:15 remaining in the third on a Winter goal that brought the score to 6-5.
Penn State pulled even closer on a Jack Forster goal, but Chris Palmer ’10 and Mele scored back-to-back goals in a 54 second span to re-take the lead for the Orange and Blue.
Adams made six of his 20 saves in the fourth, and the only two goals in the final period came from Rob Forster as the Bison were unable to close out the victory.
The Bison outshot PSU by a 46-29 margin.
“Penn State is a tough matchup because of their style of play,” Fedorjaka said. “They are a big, strong and talented team who are a lot better when things get out of control.”
It is all about the Patriot League now for the 6-6 Bison, who have a legitimate chance to host the league tournament and earn an NCAA berth. Their final two games are against league opponents, including the season finale at Colgate that, barring a Colgate loss this weekend, will decide the Patriot League regular season champion and the right to host the conference tournament.
The Orange and Blue host Lehigh tomorrow night at 8 p.m. at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.
