April 27, 2008

by Ken McMillan, Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online

WEST POINT, N.Y. - Playing sports should be a learning tool, and through adversity can come great success.

Colgate has taken slow steps on the way to becoming a champion. The 2005 Raiders failed to make the Patriot League tournament. The 2006 squad earned the top seed, but got bounced in the first round by Army. Last year Colgate managed to reach the finals but lost to top-seeded Navy.

The 2008 Raiders finally got it done.

A dominating effort by faceoff specialist Chris Eck allowed third-seeded Colgate to dictate the action on offense, and the Raiders pulled away in the final quarter for a 13-9 victory over fourth-seeded and 19th-ranked Bucknell in the Patriot League championship game played before 789 fans at Army's Michie Stadium and a national television audience on CBS College Sports.

In two weeks time, Colgate will make its first appearance in the NCAA tournament since the tournament's inception in 1971.

"It's really an unbelievable feeling," said senior midfielder Matt Lalli, whose four assists gave him a tournament-record seven. "I think everyone really feels great about it. We have come a long way. My freshman year we didn't even make the Patriot League tournament. We have taken that next step in each of the years following. It feels unbelievable to cap it off with a championship."

Colgate head coach Jim Nagle said the missteps in the last two Patriot League tournaments helped his team in Sunday's victory. "It's a learning process," he said.

It's also pretty smart to put the ball in the hands of Colgate's dynamic duo of Brandon Corp and Kevin Colleluori. Corp, named the tournament's most valuable player, posted three goals and two assists, allowing him to set tournament records for goals (eight) and points (11). Colleluori also scored three goals.

Corp has 38 goals this season. Colleluori has 32.

"When the ball is in transition, those guys are lethal," said Bucknell head coach Frank Fedorjaka. "If you are not right on their hands, they make things happen."

Zack Craumer, Nick Monastero and Ian Murphy each scored twice and Chris Mulholland tallied once for Colgate (10-5), winners of six in a row.

Eck won 19 of 25 faceoffs, allowing Colgate to control the ball for three quarters of the game.

"Eck is the biggest part of our game," Colleluori said. "If you win faceoffs, you win the majority of play, and you're going to win."

Eck has 642 faceoff wins in his five-year career (he had one medical red-shirt), and headed into Sunday's final ranked sixth all-time in NCAA history.

"It's ability, but it also dedication," Nagle said of Eck's play. "He is so committed, it's scary. He's a little neurotic."

Whatever the pathology, it left Bucknell depressed and frustrated.

"I thought the big difference in the game was the faceoff," Fedorjaka said. "I don't know what the stats were (the Bison lost 20 of 26), but I know we lost a lot. We were on defense for 75 percent of the game. At times we had some issues clearing the ball, and that prolonged our defensive series."

The faceoff domination had a cumulative effect: Colgate had more time to work its offense, and Bucknell's defense was forced to play a lot of hard minutes, perhaps explaining why a one-goal contest early in the fourth quarter turned into a six-goal advantage for the Raiders inside of nine minutes remaining.

"Eventually, the snow on the roof caved in in the second half," Fedorjaka said.

Neither team led by more than a goal in the first half. Colgate seized the first multiple-goal lead in the third quarter, extending a scoring run of five goals with tallies from Murphy and Colleluori (two) for a 7-3 advantage midway through the third quarter.

Bucknell failed to score for nearly 23 minutes before Ryan Klipstein and Joe Mele tallied late in the third quarter. Doug Buckley's man-down tally off a wild scramble in front of the net just 2:06 into the final stanza pulled Bucknell within 7-6.

Colgate surged again, as Corp scored twice (extending his points streak to 31 games) and Craumer once over the next two minutes for a 10-6 lead.

Bucknell's Austin Winter, the league's rookie of the year, scored his lone goal in the sixth minute, but Colgate answered with tallies from Monastero, Colleluori and Corp to put the game away.

"It's the worst feeling in the world to come so close," said Bucknell goalie Matt Antonelli, who made 11 saves. "Coming so close you can taste it, and falling short definitely hurts."

Fedorjaka defended his decision to start Antonelli, who won Friday's semifinal game over Army in relief of starter Nick Sciubba. It was Antonelli's first start since the first two games of the 2007 season.

"I thought Matt played very well," Fedorjaka said. "I thought he had some real big saves. A lot of the goals that went in were from in tight, and I don't think our goalie position was a problem."

Bucknell's finished the season 10-5.

Notes: Colgate has beaten Bucknell five consecutive times...This is the third season in a row that Colgate has reached double-digit wins, a feat last done from 1988-90 under coach Michael Toop...Lalli moved into second place in assists (90) and third in points (175) on Colgate's all-time career lists...Corp moved to seventh in single-season points (55)... Colgate's Class of 2008 has set a school mark with 39 career wins, breaking a tie with the Class of 1964...Bucknell's Class of 2008 also set its school mark for career wins (35), topping the Class of 2003 by two victories...Colgate closes the regular season next Saturday with a home match against Syracuse...Colgate is just the second tournament champ in Patriot League history. Navy, whom the Raiders upset in the semifinals Friday, won the first four tournaments.