Bucknell's Patriot League opener against Navy on March 6 went into overtime, Unfortunately, Tim Brandau wasn't on the field with his Bison teammates in the extra period.
As regulation ended, Brandau, a senior attackman who hails from Owings Mills and graduated from McDonogh, tried to make a play for a loose ball, but a Midshipmen defender barreled into Brandau's right knee. The knee buckled, and Brandau writhed in pain before being helped off the field.
Brandau said Wednesday afternoon that he sprained the medial collateral ligament in the knee and did not tear the anterior cruciate ligament as initially feared.
"I actually got kind of lucky," he said. "The injury is not as serious as it looked on camera. … Nothing torn, not the ACL, nothing like that. The only thing that's really keeping me off the field right now is that on the same play, I had a pretty bad high ankle sprain. So I'm just recovering from that before I can start playing again."
Brandau said he is scheduled to meet an orthopedic specialist later this week. While there's no timetable for his return, Brandau is hopeful that he can begin practicing in a couple weeks.
At the time of his injury, Brandau had led Bucknell in goals (11) and points (15). He has sat out the last two contests, but still ranks second in goals and third in points.
Being a spectator does not agree with Brandau.
"It's been really hard for the last week-and-a-half, to not be involved in practice and to just have to sit on the sideline and watch," he said. "I'm a really competitive person and watching my team without me has been really tough. It does make it even more frustrating because I did get off to a pretty good start this year. It's tough being a senior and sitting back and watching your guys play."
Brandau said if doctors don't clear him until mid- or late April, he would consider sitting out the remainder of the season and applying for a medical redshirt.
"It's something that I've talked a little bit about with my coach and my family, to see if I can get the process started on that if I get bad news this week," he said. "But I've tried not to think of it too much until we actually have to cross that bridge because that's the worst-case scenario, that I can't play for the rest of the season and that I have to wait to try to get another year. It's a process that I would like to avoid, but if worse comes to worse, then I would definitely be interested in applying for it."