Men's Lax Faces Loyola in PL Semifinals Friday on CBS Sports Network

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Fresh off a wire-to-wire 13-7 victory over Holy Cross in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, third-seeded and 20th-ranked Bucknell takes on second-seeded and No. 10/11 Loyola in the Patriot League Tournament semifinal round on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The contest will be televised live on CBS Sports Network.

The Bison (10-4) have won five straight games — the fifth-longest active streak in the country — dating back to a 14-3 blowout loss at Loyola on March 26. The Bison and Greyhounds are meeting in the postseason for the first time, and Bucknell is seeking its first title-game appearance since 2013 and its first league championship since 2011.

Loyola (10-3) is one of the four Division I teams with a longer winning streak than Bucknell. The Greyhounds have won six in a row, with their last loss coming against Navy in Annapolis on March 19 (10-9). Most recently, Loyola routed Army West Point 12-6 last Friday. That was an important result for Bucknell, as it allowed the Bison to draw even with the Black Knights in the Patriot League standings, and Bucknell received the No. 3 seed based on its head-to-head win at West Point on Apr. 2.

The winner of Friday's game will advance to face either top-seeded Navy or fourth-seeded Army the Patriot League Championship game on Sunday at 1 p.m. The final will also be televised on CBS Sports Network.

After an 0-2 start in Patriot League play, Bucknell won five of its final six conference games to battle back to the No. 3 seed for the Patriot League Tournament. The Bison finished in a tie for third place with Army at 5-3 and earned the No. 3 seed based on their 8-7 win at West Point on Apr. 2. That was the first of four straight victories to end the regular season, and then they added a fifth straight win on Tuesday against Holy Cross in the Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals.

Sophomore attackman Will Sands and freshman goalie Christian Klipstein both had record-setting performances in Tuesday's win over the Crusaders. Sands exploded for three goals and seven assists in the 13-7 victory. His seven assists and 10 points were both Patriot League Tournament records. Klipstein set the tourney record with 21 saves, helping negate Bucknell's 23 turnovers.

Attackman Quinn Collison, who has made a big impact since joining the starting lineup four games ago, recorded a hat trick, and middie Tommy O'Connor had a goal and three assists against Holy Cross. Collison has six goals and three assists in the last four games, and he is riding a seven-game points streak. O'Connor hit the 40-point mark on his breakout junior year, making him the highest-scoring midfielder in the Patriot League.

Still just a sophomore, Sands already has 103 career points. After tallying 42 points as a freshman last year, Sands now has 61 points from 34 goals and 27 assists in 2016. After his record-setting 10-point game against Holy Cross on Tuesday, Sands now ranks 11th nationally in points per game (4.4). He ranks third in points and fourth in goals and assists in the Patriot League. Sands' 61 points are tied for seventh-most in a season at Bucknell. It is the first 60-point season by a Bison since Billy Eisenreich had 66 in 2012.

Senior attackman Sean Doyle fired home two goals against Holy Cross, giving him 98 for his career. He will be trying to become the sixth Bison to score 100 goals.

After his 21-save performance against Holy Cross, Klipstein is third nationally in save percentage (.581). His 23-save effort against Villanova earlier in the season is still tied for the most in Division I lacrosse this season.

Loyola has scored 10.5 goals and allowed 8.2 per game en route to a 10-3 record (7-1 Patriot League). Freshman attackman Pat Spencer (23-35-58) doubled up as the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year. Zach Herreweyers (23-6-29), who missed the regular-season game against Bucknell with an injury, is also a top scorer.

The faceoff battle should be a good one between Bucknell's Jarett Witzal (.632) and Loyola's Graham Savio (.512). Jacob Stover has been outstanding since taking over the starting goalie duties midway through the season. He is 6-1 with a .602 save percentage and 6.85 goals-against average.

Loyola has won five of the six all-time meetings between the two teams. The Bison won last season 10-9 in overtime on Doyle's walk-off goal. The Greyhounds got some payback on March 26 in Baltimore, winning 14-3. Spencer had a goal and six assists in that game.