April 14, 2006

Final Stats

USAFA, Colo. -- Kirk Klett (Mt. Lebanon, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) scored three times in Bucknell's five-goal third quarter, and the Bison shook off a string of recent close losses by scoring the final four goals of the day in a hard-fought 7-6 victory over Air Force at Cadet Lacrosse Stadium on Friday evening.

Now 5-6 on the season, Bucknell's six losses had come by a total of only 12 goals, but the Bison were able to reverse their fortunes in close games by launching a stirring second-half comeback against a Falcons squad that had been 5-0 at home coming in.

Making their first visit to Air Force since 1992, the Bison got three goals from Klett and one each from Tommy Moore (Hauppage, N.Y./Hauppage) and Joe Mele (Westbury, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) in the five-goal third quarter explosion.

Mele's second of the day with 18 seconds left in the third gave the Bison a 7-6 lead, then they had to kill off a three-minute non-releasable penalty assessed to Michael Cooke (Phoenix, Md./St. Paul's School) for an illegal stick at the start of the fourth period. Not only did Bucknell kill that penalty and another 30-second infraction inside three minutes to play, but the Bison kept the Falcons off the scoreboard for the game's final 24:58.

Special teams were a big part of the story. Bucknell killed all five of Air Force's extra-man attempts, including the major infraction, while the Orange & Blue EMO unit scored twice in three attempts, both coming in the third-quarter flurry.

Bucknell also went 24-for-24 on clears and, in an area where they have struggled for much of the season, won 9 of 14 faceoffs, all by Austin Sanders (Great Falls, Va./Landon).

Goalie Matt Baran (Wilmington, Del./Tatnall) also had a terrific night, making eight saves in the second half and 13 in the game.

Bucknell was outshot 32-20 but scored on more than one-third of its attempts.

The Bison got off to a great start, posting goals by Steve Case (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) and Mele in the first four minutes of the game. But those would be their only goals of the first half.

Air Force (6-6), which had won six of its last seven games, did not dent the scoreboard until Chris Tubesing tallied at the 11:43 mark of the second quarter, but that would be the first in a five-goal flurry in the period. Will Meister had a hand in all five, scoring once and assisting on the other four, giving the Falcons a 5-2 halftime lead.

But Patrick Mitchell of Air Force took a pushing penalty at the start of the second half, and Klett immediately made them pay, finishing a feed from Matt Castele (Medina, Ohio/Medina) to make it 5-3 just 12 seconds into the half. Kevin Crumrine scored five minutes later to make it 6-3, but the Bison owned the rest of the period.

Klett and Moore scored 30 seconds apart, the latter an EMO goal, to bring the Bison within 6-5. Klett finished his hat trick off a pass from Case with 3:14 left in the third, tying the game at 6-all, and John Togneri (Longmeadow, Mass./Loomis Chaffee) notched his second assist of the day on Mele's go-ahead goal in the final seconds of the period.

Bucknell improved to 5-0 all-time against Air Force, and the Bison will remain in Colorado to face Denver on Sunday at 3 p.m. (Eastern). That game will be televised live on Fox Sports Net-Rocky Mountain (DirecTV Channel 645, Dish Network Channel 414).

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