Women's Lacrosse Hosts Binghamton Before Opening Patriot League Play at No. 17 Navy

Binghamton (3-4) at Bucknell (3-3)
When: Wednesday, March 16, 2 p.m.
Where: Graham Field at Holmes Stadium, Lewisburg, Pa.
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com
Follow on Twitter: @Bucknell_WLAX

Bucknell (3-3) at #17/17 Navy (6-1)
When: Saturday, March 19, 12 p.m.
Where: Navy-Marine Corps Stadium, Annapolis, Md.
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: NavySports.com
Follow on Twitter: @Bucknell_WLAX

Bucknell at a Glance

Bucknell hosts Binghamton in a Wednesday matinee, which is a makeup from the Feb. 19 game at Binghamton that was postponed due to icy field conditions. That game will be Bucknell's final tuneup prior to the start of the Patriot League slate, as the Bison make their PL debut on Saturday at nationally ranked Navy.
Bucknell is looking to rebound from a pair of losses last week to Campbell and UMBC. The UMBC game was originally scheduled to be played at Graham Field, but Saturday's snowstorm resulted in the game being pushed back a day and relocated to UMBC Stadium. The Retrievers prevailed 20-5, scoring the game's final 12 goals to break open what was just a three-goal margin in the third quarter.
Through six games this season the Bison have scored 71 goals and given up 71 goals. They have a slight shot advantage over their opponents (182-174) and have decided edges in ground balls (110-88) and caused turnovers (67-46).
Bucknell ranks sixth in the Patriot League in scoring at 11.8 goals per game. The Bison are third in shots per game (30.3), trailing only Navy (33.0) and Army (31.0).
Just under 55% of Bucknell's goals have been assisted, and the Bison lead the Patriot League in assists per game (6.5).
Laurel McHale scored five goals in the two games last week and now leads the team with 17 goals and 23 points on the season. McHale ranks fifth in the Patriot League in goals per game (2.83) and seventh in points per game (3.83).
Bucknell leads the league in caused turnovers per game (11.2) and ranks second to Navy in ground balls per game (18.3).
Allie Boyce (11) and Katie Wendell (10) are also double-digit goal-scorers for the Bison. McHale, Wendell, and Carly Cenci share team-high honors with six assists apiece.
Boyce has a goal in all six games to start her career, and back-to-back hat tricks in wins over Duquesne and St. Bonaventure led to her first Patriot League Rookie of the Week honor last week.
Ella Payer and Abby Neff are off to strong starts with the defensive unit. Payer, who was a Second Team All-Patriot League selection as a sophomore last season, leads the Patriot League in caused turnovers at 1.83 per game, and she ranks eighth in the league in draw controls with 4.67 per game. Neff is second in ground balls (2.67) and fourth in caused turnovers (1.50). Neff had seven ground balls in a win over Robert Morris, one shy of the school record. Payer collected a season-high eight draw controls in the win over Duquesne.
Thirteen Bison have recorded at least one goal and 14 have at least one point thus far.
The Bison went 3-6 during an abbreviated 2021 spring season. The wins came over Lafayette, American, and Colgate, all at home.
Bucknell was picked to finish eighth in the Patriot League preseason poll. Loyola was tabbed the preseason favorite, followed by Navy, Army, Lehigh, Boston University, Colgate, Holy Cross, Bucknell, American, and Lafayette.
The Bison returned nine starters, including three of the top four scorers and the bulk of the defensive unit, from last year's squad.
Seniors Emma Cashwell and Eva Macris, along with junior Payer, have been named captains for the 2022 season. Macris is in her second year as a captain.
Payer is Bucknell's lone returning All-Patriot League selection. She earned the honor as a sophomore after leading the team with 24 draw controls while playing strong defense. Midfielder Mason Rode, who graduated last spring, joined Payer on the All-PL Second Team.
Head coach Jackie Dando is in her third season as Bucknell's head coach. Each of the first two were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, however. Former Colgate star Haley O'Hanlon and Veronica John have joined the staff as assistant coaches.

Binghamton at a Glance

The Bearcats saw their two-game winning streak end with a 17-11 loss at Pittsburgh on Sunday. Prior to that, Binghamton had posted consecutive wins over Lafayette (18-8) and Marist (15-6).
Binghamton is 2-0 against the Patriot League this season with a 32-12 goal differential. In addition to the win over Lafayette, the Bearcats routed Colgate 14-4 on Feb. 16.
Olivia Muscolino (15-3-18) and Madison Murphy (15-0-15) are the team's top scorers. Muscolino, a freshman, scored three goals in her first four games but now has 12 in her last three. Kenna Newman has a team-high 11 assists, and Abigail Carroll (12) and Hayley Weltner (10) have also reached double figures in goals.
Sofia Afkham leads the squad with 33 draw controls, with 11 of those coming against Lafayette.
Emily Manning has started all seven games in goal and has 42 saves with 68 goals against for a .382 save percentage.
The Bearcats went 3-5 during the COVID-shortened 2021 season.

Navy at a Glance

Navy is ranked No. 17 in both the IWLCA Coaches' Poll and the Inside Lacrosse Poll this week. The Mids improved to 6-1 on the season with a 13-12 overtime win over No. 16 Johns Hopkins last Thursday, and they will host Bucknell coming off nine days of rest.
Navy's only blemish was a 10-9 home setback against Saint Joseph's on Feb. 25. The Mids have beaten Cal, George Mason, George Washington, Mount St. Mary's, No. 15 Drexel, and No. 16 Johns Hopkins.
Sophomore middie Leelee Denton has five hat tricks and leads the team with 16 goals and 20 points on the season. Kasey Dietzel (8-11-19), Reagan Roelofs (13-5-18), Gil Eby (10-5-15), Charlotte Ryan (13-1-14), Lola Leone (10-3-13), and Lindsay Beardmore (9-4-13) are also double-digit point-producers.
Navy has outscored its seven opponents 96-60 and outshot them 231-169.
The Mids have a 109-74 advantage on the draw circle, with Roelofs (35) and Dietzel (28) leading the way. Roelofs is fourth in the Patriot League with 5.82 DCs per game.
Christine Fiore ranks third in the league in ground balls with 2.57 per game.
Navy went 8-4 overall and 4-2 in the Patriot League last season. The Mids fell to Lehigh 13-12 in overtime in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals, which marked only the second time in the last 11 years that they did not reach the championship game.

Looking Ahead

After hosting Binghamton on Wednesday, Bucknell has nothing but Patriot League games the rest of the way.
The Bison are back home again on Saturday, March 26 against Lafayette.

Women's Lacrosse Hosts Binghamton Before Opening Patriot League Play at No. 17 Navy

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Allie Boyce

Emma Cashwell

Carly Cenci

Eva Macris

Laurel McHale

Abby Neff

Ella Payer

Mason Rode

Katie Wendell

Women's Lacrosse Hosts Binghamton Before Opening Patriot League Play at No. 17 Navy

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Allie Boyce

Emma Cashwell

Carly Cenci

Eva Macris

Laurel McHale

Abby Neff

Ella Payer

Mason Rode

Katie Wendell

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