Bucknell Men's Lacrosse Travels to Bryant for Sunday Tilt

Sunday, February 9

Smithfield, R.I.

12 p.m.

Bucknell University

Bryant

Photo by: Sam Miller

Bucknell Men's Lacrosse Travels to Bryant for Sunday Tilt

2/4/2020 8:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse

Bucknell (1-0, 0-0 PL) vs. Bryant (0-0, 0-0 NEC)
When: Sunday, February 9 – 12 p.m.
Where: Beirne Stadium – Smithfield, R.I.
Internet Video: NEC Front Row
Live Stats: BryantBulldogs.com
Follow on Twitter: @Bucknell_MLAX

Bucknell at a Glance
• The Bison are currently 1-0 (0-0 PL) following their 16-9 victory over Furman in their season opener on Feb. 1.
• In 2019, Bucknell posted a 6-9 (4-4 PL) record. The Bison closed the regular season on a four-game winning streak and earned their 13th Patriot League Tournament berth in the past 15 seasons.
• Bucknell was selected to tie for sixth in the 2020 Patriot League preseason poll. Bryant Boswell represented the Bison on the Preseason All-Patriot League Team.
• Seniors Grayson Burns, Matt Fedorjaka, Conor Shears and Will Yorke are serving as team captains in 2020.
• Bucknell returned its three All-Patriot League honorees from a year ago in Boswell, Shears and Yorke. In Yorke, Tommy Sopko and Alston Tarry, the Bison also returned their top three point producers from that season.
• Following the 2019 campaign, Bucknell lost four-year starting goalie Christian Klipstein and four-year primary faceoff specialist Jarett Witzal to graduation. Klipstein was a two-time All-Patriot League selection while Witzal graduated as the school record holder in seven different statistical categories, including career faceoff wins and single-season faceoff percentage.
• The Bison will play eight games at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium during the 2020 regular season, highlighted by a late February tilt with Ohio State.
• Bucknell is a relatively young team, featuring just five seniors and 27 underclassmen. In 2020, the Bison welcomed 17 newcomers who hail from an impressive 10 different states: California (3), Connecticut (2), Maryland (2), New Jersey (2), New York (2), Pennsylvania (2), Delaware, Missouri, New Hampshire and Texas.
• Frank Fedorjaka is in his 15th season as Bucknell's head coach and 20th campaign as a collegiate head coach. He is just the second head coach in Bison men's lacrosse history.

Category Leaders
• Goals: Will Yorke (5) – t-4th in NCAA
• Assists: Alston Tarry (4) – t-4th in NCAA
• Points: Alston Tarry (6) – t-6th in NCAA
• Shots: Will Yorke (10)
• Ground Balls: Nick Crovatto (12) – t-2nd in NCAA
• Caused Turnovers: Hunter Newman (3) – t-3rd in NCAA
• Face-Off Wins: Nick Crovatto (18) – t-3rd in NCAA
• Face-Off Percentage: Nick Crovatto (.667) – 5th in NCAA
• Save Percentage: Ben Clark (.429)
• Goals Against Average: Ben Clark (8.28)
• Saves: Ben Clark (6)

Inside the Furman Box Score
• Bucknell raced out to a 10-1 lead in the first half and never looked back in a 16-9 victory over Furman in the season opener for both teams on Feb. 1.
• Will Yorke netted all five of his goals in the first half to help the Bison build their advantage, which proved too great for the Paladins to overcome.
• Nick Crovatto's performance in the x helped Bucknell get off to its strong start. The sophomore won 10 of 13 faceoffs (.769) in the first half; he finished the game as the winner of 18 of 27 (.667).
• In addition, Crovatto collected 12 ground balls, two shy of the school standard set by Jarett Witzal last year against Army West Point.
• Alston Tarry (2g-4a), Harry Wellford (3g), Tommy Sopko (2g) and Matt Fedorjaka (1g-1a) also had multi-point outings for the Bison, with Wellford's hat trick representing the first goals of his collegiate career.
• For their roles in the victory, Yorke (Offensive Player of the Week) and Travis Talarico (Defensive Player of the Week) were honored by the Patriot League.
• Bucknell held sizable advantages in shots (55-28), shots on goal (34-16) and ground balls (42-24); the Bison also went 15-for-16 on their clears compared to the Furman's 19-for-26 performance.
• This was the first meeting between the Bison and Paladins.

Bryant at a Glance/Series History
• Bryant is set to open its 2020 campaign against Bucknell. It will also be the Bulldogs' first game at Beirne Stadium; they used to play their home games at the Bryant Track & Turf Complex.
• Bryant had an uncharacteristically down year in 2019, finishing 3-11 (1-5 NEC). The Bulldogs, who lost five starters to season-ending injury during non-conference action, failed to qualify for the NEC Tournament for the first time since joining the league in 2010.
• Bryant returns all of its 2019 All-NEC honorees: long-stick midfielder Zach Coffey (1st), attackman Marc O'Rourke (1st), defenseman Jack Horan (2nd) and midfielder Trevor Weingarten (2nd).
• The Bulldogs have won six of the past nine NEC regular-season titles. They own five tournament crowns, with their most recent coming in 2017.
• With the addition of three new members, Bryant's NEC will have an entirely new look in 2020. The NEC is now the largest Division I men's lacrosse conference with 10 teams, which have been split into two divisions.
• The Bison lead the all-time series with the Bulldogs, 6-1. They have met every season since 2013, and all but two of those games was decided by two or fewer goals.
• Last year at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium, Bucknell edged Bryant, 9-6, in a defensive battle. Will Yorke netted a five goals during the second half while Christian Klipstein made 13 overall saves to lead the Bison to a victory in their home opener.

A Look Ahead
• The Bison host Sacred Heart for their home opener on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 12 p.m.