March 25, 2013
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 16 Nittany Lion men's lacrosse team travels down the road to No. 7 Bucknell for a highly anticipated Tuesday night matchup at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Field. Penn State has won its past three games overall and eight straight true road games, while Bucknell is on a seven-game winning streak of its own.
#16 PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (5-3, 2-0 CAA) at #7 BUCKNELL BISON (8-1, 2-0 Patriot)
Game 9: March 26, 2013 // 7:30 p.m. // Christy Mathewson-Memorial Field // Lewisburg, Pa.
GAME DAY
VENUE: Christy Mathewson-Memorial Field (turf; 13,100)
STREAMING COVERAGE: BucknellBison.com All-Access ($)
SERIES RECORD: 33-12
LAST MEETING: March 27, 2012; BU 9-6 (University Park, Pa.)
NEXT GAME: March 30 at Villanova, 7 p.m.
GAME NOTES
• Penn State travels to seventh-ranked Bucknell for Tuesday night matchup
• PSU fell to the Bison 9-6 last season in Happy Valley
• Bucknell is coming off a remarkable week after beating No. 2 Cornell, No. 20 Albany
• Penn State defeated Saint Joseph's 9-2 this past Saturday
• Austin Kaut made nine saves vs. SJU and has .759 save percentage in last 3 games
• Jack Forster, Tom LaCrosse and Shane Sturgis each scored twice vs. St. Joe's
• Lion midfield has scored 13 goals in past three games, had 10 in first five games
• Jack Forster has 10 career hat tricks, seven in the past two years
• Forster is riding a 20-game point streak dating back to Mar. 3, 2012
• Penn State is riding an eight-game road winning streak dating back to 2011
• Nittany Lions play their sixth ranked team of the year, third in the top 10
• Penn State concludes non-conference play on Saturday at Villanova
SCOUTING THE BISON
One of the hottest teams in the nation, Bucknell (8-1, 2-0 Patriot League) is riding a seven-game winning streak and has risen to seventh in the latest USILA Coaches Poll. The Bison are coming off an impressive week where they defeated then-No. 2 Cornell 9-8 in Ithaca, N.Y. before coming home with an 18-12 win at then-No. 20 Albany. Bucknell has also rung of wins over then-No. 9 Massachusetts (7-4), and then-No. 13 Drexel (17-8).
Bucknell has a dynamic defense that employs a full 10-man ride, forcing teams into nearly 18 turnovers a game. Opponents are clearing the ball at .735. The Bucknell man-down defense is the best in the nation, allowing just 14.8 percent. As a team defense, Bucknell gives up 7.56 goals per game, which ranks fourth in the country. The offense is successful, too, averaging 11.67 goals per game, which is 15th in the nation.
Offensively, the Bison spread around the attacking wealth. Leading the offense is point man David Dickson who has 29 assists on the year and leads the team in points with 34. Dickson's 3.22 assists per game is third in the country. Dickson is most likely dishing it off to Thomas Flibotte (25 goals), Todd Heritage (22), Chase Bailey (18), Sean Doyle (15) or Brock Ghelfi (10).
In the cage, Kyle Feeney (8-1) is one of the top netminders in college lacrosse as he sports a 7.47 GAA (7th in NCAA) and .545 save percentage. At the faceoff X, Ryan Gutowski has won exactly half of his 124 faceoffs. As a team, the Bison win just 46 percent of their faceoffs.
TUESDAYS ARE PRIME TIME FOR BISON
As Christian Swezey of Inside Lacrosse pointed out after Bucknell's win at Cornell on Tuesday, the Bison are a proficient mid-week team. Since 2006, Bucknell is 19-9 in mid-week games, a winning percentage of 67.8. On the weekend, the Bison are 49-30 (62%) in that span.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. BUCKNELL
All-Time Series: 33-12
PSU Streak 3 losses
First Meeting 4/3/68, PSU 13-9
Last Meeting 3/27/12, BUCK 9-6
Last PSU Win 4/7/09, 9-8
Last BUCK Win 3/27/12, 9-6
Largest PSU Win 19-6, 5/9/72
Largest BUCK Win 18-10, 5/9/79
PSU at BUCK 15-5
PSU Goals vs. BUCK 522-404
LAST TIME VS. BUCKNELL (March 27, 2012)
Ryan McGarvey tallied his first career goal to tie the game in the second quarter, but Penn State fell to Bucknell, 9-6, at the Penn State Lacrosse Field. The Bison grabbed a 4-2 lead midway through the second quarter before the Nittany Lions battled back to tie the game at 4-4 in the second. Bucknell then tallied four straight markers en route to an 8-4 fourth-quarter lead before the Nittany Lions and Bison exchanged goals to account for the final. Jack Forster recorded his sixth multi-goal game of the season with two markers, while Gavin Ahern added a pair of tallies. Nick Dolik (goal, assist) and Matthew Mackrides (two assists) also registered multi-point games. Austin Kaut made nine saves.
LIONS BREEZE PAST SAINT JOSEPH'S
The 17th-ranked Nittany Lions scored the game's first nine goals en route to a dominating 9-2 win over CAA rival Saint Joseph's on Saturday (March 23) afternoon at Penn State Lacrosse Field. Junior goalkeeper Austin Kaut saved nine shots, his third straight game with nine or more saves, as PSU held an opponent to a season-low two goals.
The Nittany Lions (5-3, 2-0 CAA) received two-goal games from Jack Forster, Tom LaCrosse and Shane Sturgis. Forster led the Penn State offense with four points, pitching in with two assists. In all, Penn State had six different scorers on the afternoon with TJ Sanders, Erik Myers and Jack Donnelly, who scored his first career goal, reaching the back of the net.
Penn State jumped all over Saint Joseph's (4-5, 0-1 CAA) early, opening five-goal lead in the opening 13 minutes. Penn State received two goals from Forster and LaCrosse in the initial onslaught, while Sanders scored his 20th of the season as he connected with Forster with 2:13 left in the opening period. PSU would lead 9-0 midway through the third period as Kaut pitched a shutout for the game's opening 38 minutes.
MIDFIELD SCORING EMERGES
Through the first five games, Penn State's attack carried the offensive load scoring 42 of the team's 52 goals (77.7%). Meanwhile, in the last two games, PSU's midfield has shined, scoring 13 of the team's 16 goals (50%). Leading the midfield scoring this season is is Tom LaCrosse with 10 goals and Kyle Zittel with five. Nick Dolik registered a hat trick on Tuesday at Binghamton, accounting for three of his four goals this season, while Kyle VanThof has three tallies. Erik Myers (2), Gavin Ahern (1) and Michael Richards (1) round out the midfield scoring. PSU has one goal from the defense (Jack Donnelly vs. St. Joe's).
KAUT STANDING TALL
A preseason All-American and Tewaaraton Award Watch List candidate, junior Austin Kaut is considered one of the best goalkeepers in college lacrosse. Following an average start to year three in Happy Valley, Kaut has stepped up his game. Kaut opened the season with a 9.79 GAA and .490 save percentage behind 48 saves and 50 goals allowed. In the past three outings, he has posted a 4.40 GAA and a .759 save percentage, allowing just 13 goals and saving 41 shots. Penn State started the season 2-3, but is 3-0 since.
ROAD WINNING STREAK
With last Tuesday's win at Binghamton, Penn State has ticked off eight straight true road wins. This season Penn State is 3-0 on the road after going 5-0 in 2012. The Lions' last road loss was Apr. 30, 2011 at Hofstra. Penn State has won 10 of its last 111 true road games.
Of the 14 regular-season contests, Penn State will be home for just five of them, making the Nittany Lions one of the most road tested teams in the country. In total, seven games are true road contests along with two neutral site games. Penn State will look to improve to 5-1 away from Happy Valley on Tuesday, March 23 at Bucknell.
RUNNING THE GAUNTLET
Penn State recently finished a stretch of five games against USILA ranked opponents as PSU went 2-3. Three other Penn State opponents, No. 7 Bucknell (March 26), No. 14 Drexel (Apr. 6) and No. 16 Hofstra (Apr. 27) are also ranked.
DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES
Penn State's offense has improved mightily in 2013 with the attacking trio of Jack Forster (28 points) TJ Sanders (23), and Shane Sturgis (19). Penn State is averaging nearly over 10 goals per game this season with a shooting percentage of .279. Last season, the Nittany Lions scored just 8.73 goals per game and post a percentage of .258. Also, assists, points, shots and ground balls per game are up from 2012.
HAT TRICK HEROS
TJ Sanders scored five goals in March 9th's loss to Lehigh, giving him his fourth hat trick in his first five games. Jack Forster leads the way with 10 career high tricks, while Shane Sturgis has five. Nick Dolik tallied his third career hat trick on Tuesday, March 19 at Binghamton.
Jack Forster 10
Shane Sturgis 5
TJ Sanders 4
Nick Dolik 3
Gavin Ahern 2
Tom LaCrosse 2
Kyle VanThof 1
GOING STREAKING
Penn State's attack has Jack Forster with a 20-game streak started on March 3, 2012 against Ohio State, while Shane Sturgis's 11-game streak ended Saturday, March 16 at UMass. TJ Sanders had scored in every game to start his collegiate career, but was stopped by UMass as well.
NITTANY LIONS ON TV
On Thursday, it was announced that Penn State's regular season home finale vs. Towson would be aired live by Big Ten Network. The TV broadcast is Penn State's third this season.
Previously, Penn State lacrosse was televised on Feb. 17 against Denver at Jacksonville, Fla. by NBC Sports Network and March 9 vs. Lehigh in Chester, Pa. on ESPN3.com and the WatchESPN app for mobile devices.
Penn State's appearance on NBC Sports Network is believed to be the first nationally televised men's lacrosse game in program history. The BTN broadcast will be the second. The last time Penn State was on television before this season was in 2010 vs. Towson on WMAR in Baltimore.
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State concludes non-conference play at Villanova on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. The Wildcats, while 2-5, recently defeated Syracuse. All of Villanova's losses have been to ranked foes.
--NITTANY LIONS--