Winter's OT Goal Sends Bucknell into Playoffs
from press release
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Austin Winter (Boonton Twp.,
N.J./Mountain Lakes), one of six Bucknell seniors honored before
the final regular-season game of the year, made sure that his
Senior Day game would not also be the last one of his career when
he scored in the final minute over overtime to lift the Bison to an
8-7 victory over a never-say-die Colgate team Saturday at Christy
Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. While a loss would have ended their
season, the sudden-death victory sent the Bison into next week's
Patriot League Tournament, where they will face tournament host and
No. 1 seed Army.
Bucknell seemed poised to waltz into the postseason when it carried
a 7-1 lead into the final minutes of the third quarter. But perhaps
buoyed by a second three-minute illegal equipment penalty on the
Bison, the Raiders stormed back to tie the game with six
consecutive goals.
The Bison head to the playoffs with an 8-5 overall record and a 3-3
Patriot League mark. Colgate, which had won two straight over
Lafayette and Lehigh on the heels of overtime losses to Army and
Navy, finishes its season at 3-9, 2-4.
Bucknell came into the game with an 0-5 record in one-goal games
this season, and for the better part of the day it appeared that
that record would in no manner be a factor.
After the Bison won the opening faceoff back going back toward its
own zone, they took too much time to clear the ball. The turnover
led to Peter Baum's goal on Colgate's first shot of the day. Little
did the Raiders know at the time that it would be their last goal
for almost three full quarters.
Bucknell tied the game on its first possession when Ryan Klipstein
(Califon, N.J./Rutgers Prep) walked in from the right side and
planted a shot past Jared Madison's headgear. The goal was
Klipstein's 31st of the season, a new Bucknell record for
midfielders.
Chris Palmer (Atlanta, Ga./The Lovett School) made it two shots and
two goals at 8:03 of the opening period, and Mike Danylyshyn
(Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) put the Bison ahead 3-1 when he scored in
traffic off a Charlie Streep (New Canaan, Conn./Loomis-Chaffee)
feed with just 28 seconds left in the quarter.
Bucknell scored three times in the final four minutes of the
second quarter to take a 6-1 lead to the locker room. With an even
four minutes remaining, Palmer made a nice extra pass to Tim
Brandau (Owings Mills, Md./McDonogh) on the left wing, and Brandau
scored on a sidewinder from a sharp angle. Only 50 seconds later
middie Billy Eisenreich (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) inverted behind the
cage, then dodged both a defender and a slide for a shot into the
upper left corner and a 5-1 lead.
With 3:02 left in the half, Bison defenseman John Collett
(Randolph, N.J./Delbarton) was flagged for an illegal stick,
drawing a three-minute, non-releasable penalty. Any momentum that
Colgate may have spun from the break quickly went for naught, as
Jake Clarke (Cos Cob, Conn./Greenwich) won a great ground ball
between two Colgate players behind the Bucknell goal. Clarke weaved
through traffic on the clear and finally drew an illegal body check
penalty on Colgate. Now playing 5-on-5 in the Colgate end, Bucknell
stalled for over a minute, then drew yet another penalty, in effect
nullifying the Raiders' three-minute EMO. This time the Bison held
the ball looking for the last shot of the half, and they got a big
one from Klipstein with two seconds remaining. Klipstein carried it
in from deep in the left corner, used a fake pass to freeze his
defender, then rolled in front for his 32nd goal of the year.
Bucknell's terrific defense continued into the third period, and
Danylyshyn scored his second goal of the day off another assist
from Palmer with 6:34 remaining to make it a 7-1 game. Stunningly,
the game was a long was from finished.
Colgate scored only one goal in the first 43:13 of the game, then
scored five in the next 6:33 to get back in it. Baum ended the
Raiders' drought with a roll dodge from the left side, followed by
a dribbling shot beneath sprawling goalie Kyle Feeney (Greenwich,
Conn./Greenwich). Feeney had stopped eight straight Colgate shots
on goal since allowing the first-quarter tally.
Leading 7-2, the Bison incurred yet another three-minute penalty
between periods when Danylyshyn's stick was deemed to be illegal.
Unlike the previous penalty, this time the momentum swung in favor
of the Raiders. Ben McCabe scored an extra-man goal 49 seconds into
the final quarter to make it 7-3. Bucknell killed off the rest of
the penalty, but the three-minute man-down appeared to tire out the
defense that late in the game, and Colgate took advantage.
Whereas earlier in the game the Raiders where spraying shots all
over the park, now they were finally finding their mark. Patrick
Campbell, Ian Murphy and Ben McCabe all scored just 1:39 apart to
make it a 7-6 game with 9:41 to play, and the Bison had not even
had a possession in the fourth quarter yet.
McCabe's third goal of the quarter, off a pass from Campbell, tied
the game at 7-7 with 4:33 left. After the two teams swapped
turnovers, Feeney made a great save on a hard shot from Baum.
Bucknell cleared, and after two shots went wide, Madison returned
the favor by stopping Winter's stuff attempt with three seconds
remaining.
Jason Neithamer (Alexandria, Va./St. Stephen's & St. Agnes)
scooped up the ground ball on the all-important overtime faceoff,
but the Bison quickly turned the ball over. Colgate then failed to
connect on a pass and Alex Lyons (Owings Mills, Md./Boys' Latin)
picked up the ground ball in a dangerous spot right in front of the
goal.
After one more exchange of turnovers, the Bison went to their
two-time All-American, who had been quiet offensively for most of
the day. In fact, only once in Winter's four-year career had he
failed to generate at least one goal or assist in a game, but with
a minute left in overtime he was scoreless.
Winter changed directions a couple of times behind the goal before
coming out to the left side. With a defender planted all over him,
he somehow worked his hands free and deposited the winning shot
into the back of the net from close range.
Colgate outshot Bucknell 37-27 and won nine faceoffs to Bucknell's
eight. The Bison had a slight 25-23 edge in ground balls, led by
five each from Feeney and Neithamer. Feeney finished with 11 saves
for the Bison, while Madison had eight for Colgate.
This will be the third straight year Bucknell and Army have met in
the Patriot League Tournament semifinals. Fourth-seeded Bucknell
upset No. 1 Army 8-7 at Michie Stadium in 2008, and last season the
Bison prevailed 10-8 at home.
Bucknell and Army will meet on Friday at Michie Stadium at a time
to be determined. The game will be televised live on CBS College
Sports.
