Bucknell Men's Lacrosse Takes on No. 13 Army West Point

No. 13 Army West Point (7-2, 3-1 PL) vs. Bucknell (7-2, 1-2 PL)
When: Saturday, April 2 – 1 p.m.
Where: Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium – Lewisburg, Pa.
Internet Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com
Follow on Twitter: @Bucknell_MLAX

Bison Celebrate 2001 Patriot League Title Team
• The Bison will welcome their 2001 Patriot League Championship team back to campus this weekend.
• The team will be recognized at halftime of Bucknell's game against No. 13 Army West Point.
• The 2001 squad went an unbeaten 6-0 in Patriot League action to earn its title; it also went 10-4 overall and captured the program's first NCAA Tournament berth.
• That season, Mark Juelis earned Honorable Mention All-America laurels; he was joined on the All-Patriot League First Team by Michael Cheng, Dennis Geraghty, J.C. Metivier and Brian Treacher.
• Kevin Smithies and Justin Sussman made the 2001 All-Patriot League Second Team while Wes Fetchet was recognized as the 2001 Patriot League Rookie of the Year.
• Geraghty netted 39 goals that season, which stands seventh in Bucknell history. Brian Loesch's 134 faceoff wins and 80 ground balls were both good for sixth in the program annals.

Bison Host White Out
• Saturday's game against Army West Point will be a white out.
• Bucknell students in attendance will receive a free white-out t-shirt and a food voucher.
• From 12:45 to 3 p.m., a free student shuttle bus will run on a loop from lower campus (behind Vedder Hall on St. George Street) to Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.

Bucknell at a Glance
• For the sixth week in a row, the Bison received votes in the USILA Coaches' Poll; with 20 points to No. 20 Lehigh's 36, they landed one spot outside of entering the national rankings for the first time this season.
• Bucknell is currently 7-2 (1-2 PL) following its 14-6 triumph over Colgate on March 26.
• The 2022 team was the fourth to start a season 5-0, joining the 1970, 1996 and 2007 squads. The Bison won their first five games in 2022 and 2007, their first seven tilts in 1970 and all 12 of their contests in 1996.
• At the NCAA Division I level, Bucknell ranks 13th in scoring margin (3.78), 14th in scoring offense (14.11) and tied for 18th in scoring defense (10.33). The Bison are also seventh in ground balls per game (37.00), 10th in both points (22.67) and assists (8.56) per game and 12th in caused turnovers per game (9.89).
• Attackman Connor Davis was added to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List on March 10. Currently, he is the lone freshman be recognized as a contender for this prestigious award, which honors the top college lacrosse player in the United States.
• 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 (35) – t-1st in NCAA in goals/game (3.89) (lone freshman in top 15)
• Assists: Alston Tarry (12)
• Points: Connor Davis (39) – 1st among NCAA freshmen in points/game (4.33) (lone freshman in overall top 40)
• Shots: Connor Davis (85)
• Ground Balls: Nick Crovatto (66)
• Caused Turnovers: Reid Delanois and Frankie Higgins (13)
• Face-Off Wins: Nick Crovatto (107)
• Face-Off Percentage: Nick Crovatto (.557)
• Save Percentage: Rich O'Halloran (.575)
• Goals Against Average: Rich O'Halloran (9.44)
• Saves: Max Nolan (44)

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 & Binghamton in 2022)

Patriot League Record Holders on the 2022 Roster
• Connor Davis: Overall Rookie of the Week awards (5) (tied with fellow Bison Charlie Streep, 2009)
• Connor Davis: Consecutive Rookie of the Week awards (3)

Milestones Met Last Week
• Nick Crovatto: Reached 100 faceoff wins on the season; now has 107

Milestone Watch
• Nick Crovatto: Needs four ground balls to crack Bucknell's career top 10 with 144
• Nick Crovatto: Needs six ground balls to crack Bucknell's single-season top 10 with 72
• Nick Crovatto: Needs 16 ground balls to crack Bucknell's single-season top five with 82
• Nick Crovatto: Needs 26 ground balls to crack Bucknell's career top five with 166
• Nick Crovatto: Needs 23 faceoff wins to crack Bucknell's single-season top 10 with 130
• Nick Crovatto: Needs 27 faceoff wins to become the fourth Bison to win at least 300 in career
• Nick Crovatto: Needs one Patriot League Faceoff Specialist of the Week nod to match single-season school record of four
• Connor Davis: Needs three goals to crack Bucknell's single-season top 10 with 38
• Connor Davis: Needs five goals to become the seventh Bison to score at least 40 in a single campaign
• Connor Davis: Needs 15 goals to become the second Bison to score at least 50 in a single campaign
• Connor Davis: Needs 25 shots to crack Bucknell's single-season top five with 110
• Connor Davis: Needs one Patriot League Rookie of the Week award to set new league and school records with six

Inside the Colgate Box Score
• Bucknell cruised past Colgate, 14-6, on March 26 behind a 14-save performance from Rich O'Halloran and five-point efforts from Connor Davis and Dutch Furlong.
• The Bison held the Raiders to six or fewer goals for the first time since 2011; that season, then No. Bucknell dispatched then No. 16 Colgate, 10-3, in the Patriot League Championship game.
• Davis and Furlong's five points each came on a hat trick and two helpers. Harry Wellford (2g-1a), Jack Feda (2g) and Nick Crovatto (1g-1a) also enjoyed multi-point outings.
• Crovatto went 12-for-23 in the faceoff x and paced all players with nine ground balls. '
• O'Halloran matched his career-high total in saves, set a week earlier in his first career start at then No. -/20 Loyola. For his peformance, he captured his first Patriot League Goalie and Bison Athlete of the Week awards.
• Bucknell's suffocating defense was led by Travis Talarico, who caused two turnovers and collected four ground balls. Frankie Higgins added a game-high three caused turnovers and two ground balls while Danny Striano contributed seven ground balls.
• The Bison led in shots on goal (29-22), ground balls (35-24) and faceoffs (13-11) while the Raiders held a slight edge in shots (42-40). Colgate turned the ball over 20 times and went 1-for-5 on the man advantage.

No. 13 Army West Point at a Glance
• This week, the Black Knights are ranked 13th in the USILA Coaches' Poll and in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.
• Army West Point will be Bucknell's third, and highest ranked, nationally ranked opponent of the 2022 campaign; both of the Bison's losses came to such foes.
• The Black Knights are currently 7-2 (3-1 PL) following their 14-12 victory at Loyola on March 26. They were ranked 16th in both polls at the time while the Greyhounds had received votes in each.
• At the NCAA Division I level, Army West Point ranks eighth in the following statistical categories: scoring offense (15.00), scoring margin (4.33), points per game (23.67), assists per game (8.67), saves per game (14.56) and man-down defense (.750). The Black Knights are also 10th in man-up offense (.500) and 16th in shot percentage (.322).
• Army West Point's losses came to then No. 6/8 Rutgers (10-13) and then unranked Lehigh (10-11). At the time of their loss to the Mountain Hawks, the Black Knights were slotted ninth in the national polls.
• Army West Point was selected to place third in the 2022 Patriot League preseason poll, also receiving a pair of first-place votes.
• The Black Knights placed four on the 2022 Preseason All-Patriot League Team, also capturing three of the four major preseason honors.
• Brendan Nichtern (Offensive Player), Marcus Hudgins (Defensive Player) and Wyatt Schupler (Goalkeeper) were recognized as 2022 Patriot League Preseason Players of the Year.
• In Army West Point's most recent game at Loyola, Nichtern broke its program records in career points and assists; he enters the Bucknell game with 241 and 143 respectively.
• Nichtern was the 2021 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year; he has also been recognized as an All-American by the USILA and Inside Lacrosse.
• Hudgins was the 2021 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year; like Nichtern, he also received All-America laurels from USILA and Inside Lacrosse.
• The Black Knights lead the all-time series with the Bison, 30-14. The series dates back to 1979, with the teams playing annually between 1988 and 2019.
• This will be Bucknell and Army West Point's first meeting since 2019. The 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 public health threat before the teams squared off; the 2021 contest was canceled in order for the Bison to make up their game with Navy, which was a part of their division during that truncated campaign.
• In 2019, Bucknell was clipped by the then No. 17/16 Black Knights, 15-13, despite a seven-point effort by Tom Smith.
• Nichtern netted the go-ahead goal with just 40 seconds remaining on the clock; Army West Point tacked on an additional tally 24 seconds later, taking advantage of a faceoff win.
• Of the 25 Bison-Black Knight games since 1999, 15 have been decided by a single goal.

A Look Ahead
• The Bison travel to No. 20 Lehigh on Sunday, April 10 for a 1 p.m. game that will be televised on the CBS Sports Network.

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

Bucknell Men's Lacrosse Takes on No. 13 Army West Point

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Players Mentioned

Matthew Barkauskas

Bryant Boswell

Nick Crovatto

Connor Davis

Reid Delanois

Jack Feda

Dutch Furlong

Frankie Higgins

Max Nolan

Rich O'Halloran

Tommy Sopko

Danny Striano

Travis Talarico

Travis Talarico

Alston Tarry

Harry Wellford

Harry Wellford