Women's Lax Travels to No. 7 Loyola, Hosts Boston U. on Senior Day in Busy Week of PL Action

Bucknell (6-7, 3-3 PL) at #7 Loyola (13-1, 6-0 PL)
When: Wednesday, Apr. 20, 7 p.m.
Where: Ridley Athletic Complex, Baltimore, Md.
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: LoyolaGreyhounds.com
Follow on Twitter: @Bucknell_WLAX

Boston University (1-13, 0-7 PL) at Bucknell (6-7, 3-3 PL)
When: Saturday, Apr. 23, 2 p.m.
Where: Ridley Athletic Complex, Baltimore, Md.
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com
Follow on Twitter: @Bucknell_WLAX

Bucknell at a Glance

It's another busy and important week for the Bison women's lacrosse squad, which will be looking to solidify its first Patriot League Tournament berth since 2017 with games at No. 7 Loyola and at home against Boston University.
The Bison came up one goal short in a tight 12-11 road loss at American on Saturday. That dropped Bucknell one spot into fifth place in the Patriot League standings with three games remaining. The top six teams in the 10-team league qualify for the Patriot League Tournament. The top two seeds earn byes into the semifinals, while the third and fourth seeds get to host quarterfinal games.
At 3-3 in league play, the Bison are a half-game behind fourth-place American (3-2), a half-game in front of sixth-place Lehigh (2-3), and a full game ahead of Holy Cross and Lafayette (2-4). Loyola and Navy are tied at the top at 6-0 – they face each other in the regular-season finale in Baltimore on Apr. 28 – with Army in third place at 5-2.
Saturday's home game against Boston University will be senior day, with Bucknell recognizing its 10 seniors: Emma Cashwell, Eva Macris, Laurel McHale, Meredith Murphy, Abby Neff, Amy Roche, Macie Ruda, Emily Sullivan, Caitlin Tucker, and Katie Wendell.
Saturday's game at American was a heartbreaker. The Bison led 8-5 at the half and 10-8 after three periods, but the Eagles scored three straight goals in the fourth quarter to take the lead. Taylor Kopan tied the game with 2:49 remaining, but AU won it on a goal from Kendall Goldblum with 1:26 to go.
Bucknell's young attack group had a big day. Sophomore Taylor McClain tallied a goal and a career-high four assists for five points. The sophomore Kopan scored a career-high four goals, and freshman Allie Boyce remained hot with three goals.
Boyce enters the week with a team-high 32 goals, including 19 in the last five games. Boyce is the leading freshman goal-scorer in the Patriot League, and she ranks 10th overall with 2.46 goals per game. Her goal tally includes a seven-goal outburst against Colgate on March 30, which tied the Bucknell freshman record.
Cashwell has registered a point in every game this season and has 13 goals, four assists, and 23 draw controls in her last five games. She is second on the team with 32 points (22G, 10A) on the season.
Kopan and McClain both joined the starting lineup five games ago, and the Bison are 3-2 in that span. In those five games, Kopan has 12 goals and three assists, and McClain has five goals and 11 assists. McClain leads the team with 11 assists on the season, even though she just jumped into the starting group recently.
Defender Ella Payer recorded six draw controls at American to give her an even 100 in her career, and she also had primary defending duties on American's all-time scoring leader Emma Vinall, who was kept off the scoresheet. Payer's 68 draw controls this season are now fourth-most in team history, and her 100 career DCs are ninth-most in team history.
Bucknell turned in perhaps its most complete performance of the season in an 18-12 win over Army on Apr. 9. The offense recorded 18 goals on only 31 shots, and the defense limited the Patriot League's highest-scoring team to nine goals in the first 57 minutes of the game, with Army's last three coming in the closing minutes after the Bison had already built an 18-9 lead. The Black Knights entered the game averaging 19.0 goals en route to a 5-0 Patriot League record.
Four Bison earned weekly honors after their terrific performances in the Army game. Cashwell (3G, 1A, 8DC) was named Patriot League Midfielder of the Week; Neff (3CT, 2GB) was named PL Defensive Player of the Week; Boyce (4G, 1A) was selected as the PL Rookie of the Week; and Kopan (3G, 1A) earned Bison Athlete of the Week honors.
Neff and Boyce were both honored by the Patriot League for the third time this season.
Neff and Payer are tied for third in the Patriot League in caused turnovers with 1.46 per game. Neff also ranks fourth in ground balls (2.23), and Payer ranks seventh in draw controls (4.85).
As a team, Bucknell leads the league and ranks 15th nationally in caused turnovers per game at 9.69 per game.
The Bison have also done a good job protecting the ball this season. They rank third in the league in fewest turnovers per game at 13.7, and they are clearing at a terrific 89.7-percent clip. That clearing rate ranks second in the league and 23rd nationally.
Bucknell welcomed senior goalie Caitlin Tucker back from injury last week, and she recorded nine saves against Army and a season-high-tying 14 at American. Tucker has a .464 save percentage and 12.60 goals-against average on the season.
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.
Seniors 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 joined the staff this season as assistant coaches.

Loyola at a Glance/Series Records

The Greyhounds have been one of the nation's top teams all season and come into Wednesday's game with a 13-1 overall record and a perfect 6-0 mark in Patriot League play.
Loyola routed third-place Army 16-7 on Saturday and somehow fell from sixth to seventh in the IWLCA Coaches' Poll.
The Greyhounds are 4-0 against other ranked teams this season, with their only loss a 14-13 setback at Syracuse on March 29.
Loyola has won 63 straight Patriot League games, which is an NCAA record for consecutive conference victories. The previous mark was 61 by Massachusetts from 2011-18.
Loyola's potent attack is led by graduate student Livy Rosenzweig, a four-time All-American who has already rewritten the team record book. She shattered the Loyola career records for assists and points last season, and she now has 192 goals, 201 assists, and 393 points. Rosenzweig, who has multiple goals in every game this season, tops the team with 65 points on 48 goals and 17 assists.
The Greyhounds average a league-high 16.4 goals per game on the season, and they have six players with at least 20 goals and 30 points.
Defensively, Loyola has allowed a league-low 8.7 goals per game. Kaitlyn Larsson has started all 14 games in goal and has a .469 save percentage and 8.73 goals-against average.
Bucknell is winless in 17 all-time meetings against Loyola. The teams met twice last season in the COVID-modified scheduling format. Loyola won 21-3 at Graham Field and 20-3 in Baltimore.

Boston University at a Glance/Series Records

The Terriers are enduring a tough season with a 1-13 overall record, 0-7 in the Patriot League. Boston University's lone win game on Apr. 6, a 17-15 verdict on the road at Merrimack.
Most recently, Boston University dropped a tough 13-12 decision to Lehigh at home on Saturday.
Lauren Kaye (21-14-35), Matty Spaeth (24-2-26), and Jennifer Barry (13-8-21) are the team's top point-producers.
The Terriers have struggled defensively, conceding an average of 16.2 goals per game.
Bucknell is 1-7 all-time against Boston University. The Bison won the initial meeting in Boston 12-8 in 1996, but the Terriers have won all seven since joining the Patriot League in 2014. That includes an 18-8 win in the 2016 Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals and a 19-7 win at Graham Field in the most recent clash back in 2019.

Next Up

Bucknell closes out the 2022 regular season at Holy Cross on Friday, Apr. 29 at 4 p.m. If the Bison are able to qualify for the Patriot League Tournament, they would have to turn right around and play a quarterfinal game the following Sunday.

Women's Lax Travels to No. 7 Loyola, Hosts Boston U. on Senior Day in Busy Week of PL Action

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Allie Boyce

Emma Cashwell

Taylor Kopan

Eva Macris

Taylor McClain

Laurel McHale

Meredith Murphy

Abby Neff

Ella Payer

Amy Roche

Mason Rode

Macie Ruda

Emily Sullivan

Caitlin Tucker

Katie Wendell

Women's Lax Travels to No. 7 Loyola, Hosts Boston U. on Senior Day in Busy Week of PL Action

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Allie Boyce

Emma Cashwell

Taylor Kopan

Eva Macris

Taylor McClain

Laurel McHale

Meredith Murphy

Abby Neff

Ella Payer

Amy Roche

Mason Rode

Macie Ruda

Emily Sullivan

Caitlin Tucker

Katie Wendell

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