Lacrosse Game Central
Patriot League Championship

HAMILTON, N.Y. (4/26/12) – The No. 10/11 Colgate men's lacrosse team will open Patriot League Tournament play this Friday with a rematch against defending champion No. 18 Bucknell in the first PL Tournament semifinal at 5 p.m. at Andy Kerr Stadium. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
 
The Raiders are coming off an exciting 11-10 win over Bucknell on the road last week, which earned them the PL Regular-Season Title and the No. 1 seed as the host of the 2012 Patriot League Tournament. The setback gave the Bison the No. 4 seed. This is the second time in program history that Colgate (11-2, 5-1 PL) is hosting the tournament. The first time was in 2006.
 
Junior Peter Baum led the way against the Bison last week with four points from three goals, including the game-winner, and one assist. He was followed by freshman Ryan Walsh who had three points from one goal and two helpers and by senior co-captain Jeff Ledwick who tallied two goals for two points. Freshman Matt Clarkson, sophomore Bobby Lawrence, junior Ryan Collins and seniors Chris Zielinski and John Donnally, all scored one goal apiece.
 
PL TOURNAMENT PLAY
Colgate will look to win its second tournament title this weekend. The Raiders, who are making their seventh appearance in the PL Tournament since it first began in 2004, have a 4-5 overall record in tournament play. Their best tournament run was in 2008 when they defeated Navy in the semifinals before defeating Bucknell in the championship game to win the championship and advance to the NCAA Tournament.
 
This will be the fourth meeting between the two teams in tournament play. The first meeting was in 2007 when Colgate defeated the Bison 10-11 in the semifinals but then fell to Navy in the championship game. The teams then met again in the 2008 and 2011 championship games. The Raiders won in 2008 but then fell to Bucknell last season to put their all-time PL Tournament record against the Bison at 2-1.
 
RAIDERS' POINT LEADERS
Peter Baum, who leads the nation with 3.92 goals per game and is second in points per game (5.23), continues to lead Colgate with 68 points from 51 goals and 17 assists. The attackman is ranked eighth amongst active Division I players in career goals and is tied for sixth with a 40-game point-scoring streak. The junior is also tied for second in program history in points in a season, is second in goals in a season, is eighth with 147 career points and is fourth with 114 career goals.
 
Baum is followed by Ryan Walsh who has 46 points from 28 goals and 18 assists. The rookie, who is tied for first with Stony Brook's Mike Rooney amongst freshman goal-scorers in the country, currently holds the freshman point record at Colgate and is one goal away from tying Peter Baum's record of 29 goals, which he set in his rookie season in 2010. Walsh is also on a 13-game point streak, tallying a point in every game since his collegiate debut against Bryant on Feb. 11 and scoring at least one goal in every game this season except against Vermont on Feb. 18. Behind Walsh is senior Jeff Ledwick who has 24 goals and 11 assists for 35 points. The co-captain leads the team and the league with eight man-up goals.
 
HIDDEN GEM IN COLGATE'S OFFENSE
Junior Robert Grabher has been a key part of the Raiders' offense and transition play this season. In the win against Bucknell last week, Grabher won 15-of-25 faceoffs, including 10-of-11 in the second and third quarters to help Colgate mount its comeback. Grabher, who leads the league with 105 groundballs and a 59.7 faceoff win percentage, is second in the country with 8.08 groundballs per game and 14th in faceoff win percentage. He is sixth on the team with 12 points from four goals and eight assists, and has a 178-298 faceoff record. The junior is ranked third in program history for groundballs, faceoff wins and faceoffs attempted in a season.
 
SERIES
This will be the 32nd meeting between Colgate and Bucknell, with the Bison leading the all-time series 20-11. Bucknell won both meetings last season including a 10-3 win in the Patriot League Championship game. This season, the Raiders will look to turn things around and secure a second win against the Bison in the first PL Tournament semi final. Colgate defeated Bucknell 11-10 in its final regular-season league game on Friday last week.
 
SCOUTING NO. 18 BUCKNELL
The Bison (9-6, 3-3 PL) will be making their 11th Patriot League Tournament appearance this weekend as the defending champion after winning their first PL Title last season. The team, which enters the tournament as the No. 4 seed after securing three wins over Navy, Lafayette and Holy Cross, has a 4-6 Patriot League Tournament record with two of its losses coming in the 2008 and 2009 championship games.

Bucknell is led by All-Patriot League First Team selection senior Billy Eisenreich, sophomore Todd Heritage, junior Chase Bailey and second team member freshman David Dickinson. Eisenreich, who leads the league in assists per game (2.13), is second in points per game (4.20), also leads the team with 63 points from 31 goals and 32 assists. He is also ranked fifth in the nation in assists per game and sixth in points per game. Heritage is second with 42 points from 34 goals and eight assists while Bailey and Dickson are tied for third with 38 points apiece. Bailey has 28 goals and 10 assists while Dickson has 14 goals and 24 helpers. Defending the net for the Bison is first team selection Kyle Feeney who has played and started in all 15 games, has an 8.53 goals against average and a .570 save percentage.
 
COLGATE AMONG NATION'S BEST
The Raiders are currently ranked in the top 10 nationally in nine of the NCAA Division I men's lacrosse team statistics. The team is second in scoring offense (13.54), is third in both points per game (21.08) and caused turnovers per game (9.69), fifth in scoring margin (4.31), groundballs per game (34.31) and win percentage (.846), sixth in man-up offense (.478), ninth in faceoff win percentage (.576), and 10th in assists per game with 7.54.
 
BAUM AND WALSH WIN PL MAJOR AWARDS
Peter Baum, who was the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, was recently named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year while freshman Ryan Walsh was selected as the Rookie of the Year. A total of five Raiders were named to All-Patriot League teams. Baum was also named to the All-Patriot League First Team along with Jeff Ledwick and Robert Grabher while Walsh and sophomore Bobbly Lawrence were second team selections.
 
BAUM MAKES TOP-25 TEWAARATON AWARD LIST
Peter Baum was recently announced as one of the 25 nominees for the 2012 Tewaaraton Award. The junior, who was also a top-25 selection last season, is one of three Patriot League players to make the cut. The men's award nominees include players from 20 schools and representatives from 18 of the current top 20 teams in the April 23 USILA Men's Division I Poll.
 
RAIDERS CLIMB NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Colgate men's lacrosse team continued its climb in the national polls this week, reaching not only its highest spot this season, but matching a program-best ranking with the No. 10 spot in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. The team was also ranked No. 11 in the USILA Coaches' Poll. This was the Raiders' highest ranking in program history in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll and was the first time the team was ranked as high as No. 10 since 2008, when it secured the 10th spot in the USILA Coaches' Poll on May 5 after defeating then No. 2 Syracuse at home.


2012 Patriot League Tournament Schedule

Friday, April 27
Semifinal 1: No. 4 Bucknell at No. 1 Colgate - 5 p.m.
Semifinal 2: No. 2 Lehigh vs. No. 3 Army - 8 p.m.

Sunday, April 29
Winner of Semifinal 1 vs. Winner of Semifinal 2 - 3 p.m.