Bucknell Men's Lacrosse Bows Out of PL Tournament in Quarterfinals

Tuesday, April 30

Boston, Mass.

7 p.m.

Bucknell University

6-9

Boston University

11-5

Bucknell

Boston University

Photo by: Phil Puccio

Bucknell Men's Lacrosse Bows Out of PL Tournament in Quarterfinals

4/30/2019 9:08:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

BOSTON, Mass. – The Bucknell men's lacrosse team fell to third-seeded Boston University, 14-8, in the Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals on Tuesday night at Nickerson Field.

The Terriers (11-5, 5-3 Patriot League) rode a strong start and a nine-point performance by sophomore sensation Chris Gray into a trip to Baltimore for the Patriot League semifinals, where they will face second-seeded Lehigh on Friday, May 3. The Bison (6-9, 4-4 Patriot League) bowed out in their 13th Patriot League Tournament appearance in the past 15 seasons despite scoring six of the game's final nine goals and receiving a 17-save performance by four-year starter Christian Klipstein in his final collegiate game.

Boston University held a 7-1 advantage at halftime, bolstered by winning eight of 10 faceoffs and disrupting Bucknell's clearing game. By netting the third quarter's first three goals, the Terriers extended their lead to 10-1, tied for their largest of the contest.

Starting at the third quarter's 6:41 mark, the Bison began to battle back. They closed the quarter on a 2-0 run but then gave up the final frame's first two goals to go back down by nine, at 13-4. A 4-0 run, which began with back-to-back man-advantage strikes by Will Yorke, made it an 13-8 game with three minutes left to play in regulation. James Burr's fourth goal of the contest, which came at the fourth quarter's 2:19 mark, proved to be the dagger.

With his first goal of the contest, Gray became the first Patriot League player to reach the 100-point threshold in a single campaign. His nine points, which came on five goals and four assists, gave him 108 (48g-60a) on the season, 11 more than the previous league standard set by Colgate's Peter Baum in 2012.

Burr added five points on four goals and a helper while Timmy Ley netted a hat trick. Five Terriers caused multiple turnovers while Sean Christman had a strong night in the faceoff x, winning 15 of 26 and scooping up a game-best 12 ground balls. Joe McSorley made 15 stops to outduel Klipstein.

For Bucknell, Yorke registered a hat trick while Tom Smith posted three points (2g-1a). Bryant Boswell filled the stat sheet, pacing the team in both ground balls (6) and caused turnovers (3). Freshman Nick Crovatto took over in the faceoff x in the second half and went a solid 8-for-14 with five ground balls.

Boston University held advantages in shots on goal (31-23), ground balls (53-43) and faceoffs (15-11). The Terriers stymied the Bison's normally strong clearing game, holding them 21-for-34 in the contest. Both teams combined for 50 turnovers on near equal totals.

Klipstein will graduate with 593 career saves, good for third in school history. His 17 saves against the Terriers gave him 184 on the season, the seventh-highest total in the Bison annals. Fellow senior Jarett Witzal will leave Lewisburg with school records in career faceoff wins (609), single-season faceoff wins (171, 2016), single-game faceoff wins (22, 2016), single-season faceoff percentage (.6173, 2016) and single-game ground balls (14, 2019). In addition, he finished second in school history with 276 career ground balls; his 2019 total of 96 was good for third in Bucknell's record book.

Entering their game against the Terriers, the Bison had won four games in a row. They earned the sixth seed in the Patriot League Tournament by winning their final three league games, which included a 12-11 victory at then first-place Lehigh.