Women's Lax Hosts First-Place Army Saturday at Graham Field

Army West Point (10-3, 5-0 PL) at Bucknell (5-6, 2-2 PL)
When: Saturday, Apr. 9, 3 p.m.
Where: Graham Field at Holmes Stadium, Lewisburg, Pa.
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com
Follow on Twitter: @Bucknell_WLAX

Bucknell at a Glance

Bucknell is in the thick of the Patriot League postseason hunt with five games remaining in the regular season, and the Bison will have a tough test at home on Saturday against first-place Army.
Bucknell enters the weekend in fifth place with a 2-2 Patriot League record. The Bison are a half-game behind fourth-place American, but four other teams lurk just a game back at 1-3. Army (5-0), Navy (4-0), and Loyola (3-0) are all still unbeaten in league play.
The Bison posted back-to-back PL home wins over Lafayette (16-9) and Colgate (15-14) before falling at Lehigh 16-11 last Saturday.
In their most recent outing, the Bison had a three-goal lead against the Mountain Hawks, but the reigning Patriot League Tournament finalist scored nine of the 12 second-half goals to pull away.
Bucknell's win over Colgate last Wednesday was a thriller. The Raiders erased a 13-9 deficit with four straight fourth-quarter goals. Allie Boyce's seventh goal of the day gave Bucknell a 14-13 lead with 4:40 to go, but a non-releasable yellow card gave Colgate late life. The Raiders tied it with 1:07 to go, but Ella Payer's huge draw control led to Caroline Miller's game-winning, shorthanded goal with 39 seconds remaining. That gave the Bison wins over Colgate in consecutive seasons for the first time ever.
Boyce's seven goals tied the Bucknell freshman record, first set all the way back in 1979 by Anne Kennedy. That is the second-highest goal total in school history, and it helped Boyce earn Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors for the second time this season.
Payer now has 55 draw controls this season, which is the fifth-highest single-season total in school history. She needs three more to catch Arriana Sajjad (2012) for the No. 4 spot on the list. Payer also has 92 career draw controls and is only seven away from jumping into the top 10 in team history.
Boyce has taken over as the team league in goals with 25. Laurel McHale is next with 21, and McHale also has nine assists for a team-high 30 points. Emma Cashwell leads the team with 10 assists to go along with her 18 goals.
Payer (1.55), Eva Macris (1.36), and Abby Neff (1.36) rank 2-3-4 in the Patriot League in caused turnovers per game. Neff (3rd, 2.27) and Macris (10th, 1.91) are both in the top 10 in ground balls per game, and Payer is seventh in draw controls at 5.0 per game.
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 Cashwell and 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.

Army at a Glance

The Black Knights are in the midst of an outstanding season, although they just had their 10-game winning streak snapped in a 20-15 loss at Yale on Wednesday.
Army started the season 0-2 with road losses to ranked opponents Temple and Rutgers, then ripped off 10 wins in a row, including Patriot League verdicts over Boston University (13-7), Holy Cross (21-10), Colgate (20-12), Lehigh (22-15), and American (17-14).
Army is the highest-scoring team in the Patriot League at 15.8 goals per game, and that figure jumps to 19.0 per game in league play.
Jolie Riedell (41) and Julia Gorajek (39) are the top two goal-scorers in the Patriot League, and Kathleen Sullivan has a league-high 63 points from 37 goals and 26 assists. Caroline Raymond (24-12-36) and Carleigh Armstrong (33-0-33) are also top point-producers. That quintet has accounted for 74 percent of the team's goals this season.
Army has used six different goalies this season, although Lacey Bartholomay has started all 13 games. She has a .426 save percentage and 12.25 goals-against average.
Bucknell is 2-3 all-time against Army. The Bison won the first two meetings – 19-9 in 2016 and 11-8 in 2017 – but the Black Knights have claimed the last three.
Army won 19-8 last spring at West Point. The Bison got on the board first, but Army scored the next 10 goals in a row to take command. Taylor Kopan recorded her first career hat trick for the Bison, while Riedell, Cameron Manor, and Jackie Brattan all scored four times for the Black Knights.
This will be Army's first trip to Lewisburg since 2018. The Black Knights won that one 10-9 at Graham Field, thanks to Rilee Scott's tie-breaking goal with 35 seconds remaining.

Looking Ahead

After hosting Army on Saturday, Bucknell will play three of its final four games on the road. Next up is a trip to Washington, D.C., to face American on Apr. 16 at 1 p.m.

Women's Lax Hosts First-Place Army Saturday at Graham Field

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Allie Boyce

Emma Cashwell

Taylor Kopan

Eva Macris

Laurel McHale

Caroline Miller

Abby Neff

Ella Payer

Mason Rode

Women's Lax Hosts First-Place Army Saturday at Graham Field

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Allie Boyce

Emma Cashwell

Taylor Kopan

Eva Macris

Laurel McHale

Caroline Miller

Abby Neff

Ella Payer

Mason Rode

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