Bucknell junior goalkeeper Matt Antonelli said he is prepared to return to the bench and watch junior Nick Sciubba from the sidelines despite posting 11 saves and allowing only two goals in the No. 16 Bison’s 4-3 overtime loss to No. 4 Navy yesterday.

"Sciubba’s our starting goalie," said Antonelli, an Archbishop Spalding graduate. "He’s an awesome goalie, and I was just glad that I was able to get on the field and give us a little boost there."

There’s certainly plenty of reasons why Bucknell should start Sciubba against No. 19 Towson Tuesday. Sciubba led all Division I goalkeepers in goals-against average (6.24) and save percentage (.641) last season. Despite being on the losing end of 16-4 drubbing by Duke in the season opener, Sciubba has registered decent numbers in goals-against average (7.87) and save percentage (.531).

Antonelli, who has a worse goals-against average (8.70) but a higher save percentage (.633) than Sciubba, said he would understand a decision to send him back to the bench.

"It’s definitely a difficult situation to be in, but again, Sciubba’s an awesome goalie," Antonelli said. "I’ve got all of the respect in the world for him, and I know the feeling’s mutual. Me and him battle it out all the time. I love to see him in there doing well, and I’m sure he likes to see me in there doing well. Hopefully, in the next game, he’ll come out and have a great game. If not, I’ll be ready to go and make the play."

Coach Frank Fedorjaka said Sciubba would likely start against the Tigers, but kept his options open.

"We’re not going to pull the plug on a guy who has a couple of rough moments, but it was something I’ve seen coming for a couple weeks now," Fedorjaka said. "And again, Antonelli is very good. It took us all of last year to figure out who was better. Our goalies need to play well or the other one is going to get the opportunity. But Sciubba will probably be our guy on Tuesday. But if I was Towson, I’d get ready for both of them."