April 29, 2008

LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell senior Joey Kuterbach (Kingwood, Texas/Kingwood), the 2007 Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year and a member of the Bison men's soccer team, received a special award at the University's annual Senior Athletic Awards Banquet, sponsored by the Bison Club and held in Sojka Pavilion on Tuesday, April 29.

Kuterbach won the Bradley N. Tufts Award, presented to senior athletes "in recognition of exceptional athletic achievement and contribution to Bucknell athletics." Kuterbach shared the award with Kesha Champion of the women's basketball team, who was the female selection.

In addition to Kuterbach, several other student-athletes were honored at the banquet, including the winners of the Christy Mathewson Award, given to the most outstanding athletes in the senior class.

Kuterbach, the 2007 Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year and a First Team All-Patriot League choice, ended his career as one of the best goalies in Bison history. The two-year team captain finished his senior campaign with 77 saves, a career-best 0.76 goals-against average and a career-best .837 save percentage. Additionally, he equaled his career high with eight shutouts, which tied him for the Patriot League lead.

In addition to listing at the top of the Patriot League in shutouts, Kuterbach was among the league leaders in goals-against average (2nd), save percentage (2nd) and saves (t-2nd).

A third-team all-region selection in 2006 and a second-team all-region choice in 2007, Kuterbach wrapped up his career with 18 shutouts to rank tied for fourth on the Bucknell career list. He also piled up 238 saves in his four years as a Bison, good for seventh in program history, despite starting for just two-and-one-half years.

Bucknell is a highly-selective, privately endowed liberal arts institution with an enrollment of approximately 3,400 undergraduate students. Bucknell competes in NCAA Division I as a member of the Patriot League and has full membership along with American, Army, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh and Navy. Bucknell has won the Presidents' Cup, signifying the Patriot League's all-sports champion, in 13 of 17 years, including nine of the last 10.

Recently, 17 Bison programs - the seventh-most in Division I - earned NCAA Public Recognition for having Academic Performance Rates in the top 10 percent nationally in their respective sport. In addition, Bucknell ranks fifth in Division I in the total number of CoSIDA Academic All-America selections, with 114 national Academic All-Americans since 1970.