WEST POINT, N.Y. – Army sophomore attackman Jeremy Boltus had two goals and an assist, while senior attackman Jason Peyer added a goal and two assists, but it was Bucknell taking an 8-6 victory in Patriot League lacrosse action, Saturday at Michie Stadium.

Bucknell senior attackman Joe Mele tallied five goals to help the Bison (6-5, 4-0 PL) remain unbeaten in conference play. Army (5-6, 1-3 PL) suffered its fourth loss in five games, all of which have been by two goals or less including three overtime defeats.

Army took a 4-3 lead with 3:20 remaining on the second quarter clock, but was held without a goal until the 2:06 mark of the fourth quarter. Bucknell went on to score five unanswered goals and build an 8-4 lead by the 4:02 mark of the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. Bison senior goalkeeper Nick Sciubba made 12 saves, including five in the fourth quarter, to help preserve the victory, while Army sophomore goalkeeper Tom Palesky also made 12 stops in the loss.

"You have to start by giving a lot of credit to Bucknell. They are a very good defensive team and we knew we were going to have to scrap for every goal," said Army head coach Joe Alberici. "Sciubba is a very good goalie and he played a great game. Through our groundball work and our faceoff play, we just didn't give ourselves enough opportunities to break down a very good defense."

Bucknell got on the board first as Mele took a nice feed from senior midfielder Doug Buckley and buried a shot in the left side of the goal from close range to give the visitors a 1-0 lead with 6:14 on the clock. Army answered at 2:17 as freshman midfielder Sean O'Sullivan received a cross-field pass from Peyer and scored on a 15-yard bouncer to make it a 1-1 game after the first period.

In the second quarter, the teams traded three goals apiece, before a Bucknell goal with less than a second showing on the clock gave the Bison a 5-4 halftime lead. Boltus made it a 2-1 Army edge after scoring from close range off a long feed from sophomore midfielder Rob McCallion at 13:50, but Bison freshman midfielder Charlie Streep answered with a 15-yard laser at the 10:10 mark. Peyer took a feed from Boltus and came from behind the Bucknell cage to beat senior goalkeeper Nick Sciubba on the right edge of the crease at 9:18, before Mele converted a pass from junior attackman Austin Winter at 4:24 to knot the game, 3-3.

Following a Bucknell turnover in the Army end, junior defenseman Kevin Woodcheke lofted a 50-yard pass down the left side of the field to a waiting senior attackman Brooks Korvin, who ran in on the Bison goal to beat Sciubba at 3:20 to give the Black Knights a 4-3 edge. Mele made the play of the game to tie the score back up, 4-4, after taking a low pass from Winter and scoring on a behind-the-back shot that beat Palesky in the top-left corner of the goal with 35 seconds showing on the clock.

Bucknell controlled the ensuing faceoff and junior attackman Tim Brandau was able to sneak a shot past Palesky with .3 showing on the clock to give the visitors a 5-4 halftime edge.

Bucknell scored three unanswered goals while holding Army scoreless to pull away in the third quarter. Freshman midfielder Nick Gantsoudes scored from 10 yards away after a feed from Brandau at 11:14, before Mele hooked up with senior midfielder John Togneri for a goal at 7:37. The Bison would take its largest lead of the game with 4:02 remaining in the quarter after Mele picked up a loose ball at midfield following an errant Army pass and made his way to the Black Knight cage for his fifth tally of the day.

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2009-04-04