“I said, ‘All right, we lost the first game, but we’ll be back next week, so just take it one week at a time. Don’t worry about that. it’s just a setup for something greater. It’s not a setback, it’s a setup for something greater,’” Fedorjaka said. “You can only say that for so long.”
Last weekend opened, too, when Navy postponed the teams’ Patriot League opener when the academy issued a restriction of order movement. Fedorjaka then set up the game with Cleveland State, though his players were initially a little wary of the news.
“They were really excited, but it was interesting that they weren’t as excited as I thought,” Fedorjaka said. “It didn’t matter who the opponent was. I think they were just a little reserved because it’s like, ‘Yeah, that’s what you’re saying today. That’s great, Coach.’ I honestly feel like that was in the back of their minds, but on Sunday morning and Sunday at noon, you could tell they were ready to go.”
It showed. While there was understandable sloppiness, the Bison never trailed and built a 10-goal lead over the Vikings. Bucknell broke out its traditional 10-man ride, which helped the Bison force 18 of Cleveland State’s 25 turnovers.
Tommy Sopko had seven goals and two assists for the Bison, the second consecutive game Bucknell has received at least a nine-point effort. That’s a dream scenario for a coach, with one caveat: The first performance in that sequence, Will Yorke’s nine goals and two assists against Marist, occurred Feb. 29, 2020.
In the interim, as Fedorjaka noted, it was the opposite of time flying when you’re having fun. But at long last, Bucknell was back on Sunday.
“It worked out perfectly for us,” said Fedorjaka, whose team plays host to Lehigh on Sunday. “We played well, but we still know we have a lot of work to do. Sometimes, losing a game is good for a team, but when you haven’t played for 373 days, it wouldn’t have been good for us to lose.”