Bucknell Men's Lacrosse Hosts Binghamton

Binghamton (1-2, 0-0 AEC) vs. Bucknell (4-0, 0-0 PL)
When: Saturday, March 5 – 1 p.m.
Where: Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium – Lewisburg, Pa.
Internet Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com
Follow on Twitter: @Bucknell_MLAX

Bucknell at a Glance
• For the second week in a row, Bucknell received votes in the USILA Coaches' and Inside Lacrosse Media Polls.
• The Bison are currently 4-0 (0-0 PL) following their 15-7 victory at Marist on Feb. 26. They are off to their first 4-0 start since 2007, when they ultimately finished 11-4 overall.
• With a win against Binghamton on March 5, Bucknell will start a season 5-0 for only the fourth time in program history. The Bison won their first five games in 2007, their first seven tilts in 1970 and all 12 of their contests in 1996.
• During the abbreviated 2021 season, Bucknell posted a 2-6 (1-5 PL) record, missing the Patriot League Tournament for only the third time since 2005.
• In 2020, the Bison went 5-1 (0-0 PL). The week their season was canceled due to the COVID-19 public health threat, they were ranked 20th in the USILA Coaches' Poll.
• In 2019, Bucknell logged 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 15 seasons.
• Bucknell was selected to finish seventh in the 2022 Patriot League preseason poll. Midfielder Harry Wellford represented the Bison on the Preseason All-Patriot League Team for the second-straight season.
• Bucknell returned defenseman Travis Talarico, a 2020 Inside Lacrosse Honorable Mention All-American.
• The Bison lost two-time All-Patriot League defenseman Bryant Boswell to graduation following the 2021 campaign.
• Bucknell will also need to replace four-year starting attackman Tommy Sopko, who finished just three goals shy of cracking the school's all-time career top-10 list; his final stat line read 118 points on 91 goals and 27 assists in 44 career games, all of which were starts.
• The Bison brought back senior attackman Alston Tarry, who led the team in assists in both 2021 (11) and 2020 (14).
• Bucknell also returned junior short-stick defensive midfielder Danny Striano, who paced the team in ground balls (30) a season ago. Striano is a critical faceoff wing for the Bison.
• Talarico, Wellford, senior offensive midfielder Matthew Barkauskas and senior faceoff specialist Nick Crovatto are serving as team captains this year.
• Frank Fedorjaka is in his 17th season as Bucknell's head coach and 22nd campaign as a collegiate head coach. He is just the second head coach in Bison men's lacrosse history.

Category Leaders
• Goals: Connor Davis (19) – 2nd in NCAA in goals/game (4.75) (lone freshman in top 20)
• Assists: Cam Doolan (9)
• Points: Connor Davis (20) –16th in NCAA in points/game (4.00) (lone freshman in top 30)
• Shots: Connor Davis (44)
• Ground Balls: Nick Crovatto (35) – 9th in NCAA in ground balls/game (8.75)
• Caused Turnovers: Reid Delanois (6)
• Face-Off Wins: Nick Crovatto (54)
• Face-Off Percentage: Nick Crovatto (.643) – 6th in NCAA
• Save Percentage: Max Nolan (.448)
• Goals Against Average: Max Nolan (10.24)
• Saves: Max Nolan (30)

School Record Holders on the 2022 Roster
• Nick Crovatto: Single-Game Ground Balls (14 vs. St. John's in 2022)
• Connor Davis: Single-Game Goals by Freshman (6 vs. Mercer & St. John's in 2022)

Patriot League Record Holders on the 2022 Roster
• Connor Davis: Consecutive Rookie of the Week awards (3)

Milestone Watch
• Nick Crovatto: Needs 30 faceoff wins to reach 250 in his career; already the fourth Bison to surpass 200 career wins
• Nick Crovatto: Needs 37 ground balls to crack Bucknell's single-season top 10 with 72
• Nick Crovatto: Needs one Patriot League Faceoff Specialist of the Week nod to match single-season school record of four
• Connor Davis: Needs 19 goals, his current total, to crack Bucknell's single-season top 10 with 38
• Connor Davis: Needs two Patriot League Rookie of the Week awards to match league and school records of five

Inside the Marist Box Score
• Bucknell toppled Marist, 15-7, on Feb. 26 to go unbeaten in its first four games for the first time since 2007.
• The Bison began to pull away from the Red Foxes during the second quarter, netting four of its five goals to carry a 7-2 edge into the intermission. They then broke open the game in the third frame, outscoring their opponent by a 7-2 margin to build what proved to be an insurmountable 14-4 advantage.
• Dutch Furlong paced the offense with a career-high seven points on a career-best five goals and two assists.
• Alston Tarry added four goals while freshmen Connor Davis (3g) and Cam Doolan (2g-1a) contributed three points apiece.
• Nick Crovatto was again exceptional in the x, winning 17 of 24 faceoffs and collecting a game-high 13 ground balls; he finished one ground ball shy of the school standard he matched during Bucknell's previous game against St. John's.
• Reid Delanois filled the stat sheet with two caused turnovers and five ground balls while Max Nolan picked up his fourth-straight win in net, stopping nine shots.
• The Bison held sizable advantages in both shots (53-31), shots on goal (37-16) and ground balls (53-21).
• On the strength of his latest outstanding performance in the x, Crovatto captured his third Patriot League Faceoff Specialist of the Week nod. He has won three of these four awards given out this young season.
• Crovatto is the first Bison to earn at least three Faceoff Specialist of the Week awards in a single campaign since Jarett Witzal captured four in 2016, which was the award's first season.

Binghamton at a Glance
• The Bearcats are currently 1-2 (0-0 AEC) following their tight 13-12 victory at Lafayette on Feb. 26.
• Binghamton was selected to place fifth in the 2022 America East Conference preseason poll, the same spot the team finished a year ago.
• During their truncated 2021 campaign, the Bearcats posted a 5-4 (5-4 AEC) record. They did not qualify for that season's America East Conference Tournament.
• Binghamton returned 2021 America East Conference Defensive Player of the Year Teddy Dolan.
• This will be the second meeting between the Bison and Bearcats.
• In 2020, Bucknell cruised to a 16-4 victory at Binghamton in what proved to be its second-to-last game. Will Yorke led the offensive onslaught, logging four goals and three assists, while the lock-down Bison defense only ceded eight shots on net for the duration of the contest.

A Look Ahead
• The Bison begin Patriot League action with a 4 p.m. game at Boston University on Saturday, March 12.

Note for NCAA rankings: Statistical rankings as of Monday, Feb. 28 (through games played on Sunday, Feb. 27)

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Players Mentioned

Matthew Barkauskas

Bryant Boswell

Nick Crovatto

Connor Davis

Reid Delanois

Cam Doolan

Dutch Furlong

Max Nolan

Tommy Sopko

Danny Striano

Travis Talarico

Alston Tarry

Harry Wellford

Will Yorke