Saturday, March 4
Lewisburg, Pa.
4 p.m.
Bucknell University
vs
St. Bonaventure
Photo by: Lianne Garrahan
Women's Lacrosse Welcomes St. Bonaventure Saturday
3/2/2023 6:45:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
St. Bonaventure (1-4) at Bucknell (2-2)
When:Â Saturday, March 4, 4 p.m.Â
Where:Â Graham Field, Lewisburg, Pa.
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats:Â BucknellBison.com
Follow on Twitter:Â @Bucknell_WLAX
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Bucknell at a Glance
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When:Â Saturday, March 4, 4 p.m.Â
Where:Â Graham Field, Lewisburg, Pa.
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats:Â BucknellBison.com
Follow on Twitter:Â @Bucknell_WLAX
Â
Bucknell at a Glance
- Coming off back-to-back road wins over Marist and Robert Morris, the Bison women's lacrosse squad returns home to face St. Bonaventure on Saturday. Now 2-2 on the season, Bucknell has two more non-conference games before hosting Navy in the Patriot League opener on March 18.
- Bucknell's two recent wins have followed similar scripts. In both games, the Bison ran out to huge early leads and then scored some big second-half goals to thwart comeback attempts. In the Marist game on Feb. 18, Bucknell raced to a 9-1 lead before the Red Foxes closed within 14-10 early in the fourth quarter. Consecutive goals from the red-hot Emily Baird and Allie Boyce put an end to the Red Foxes' hopes. Last week at Robert Morris, the Bison led 11-1 at the half before the Colonials scored the first four goals of the second half. This time it was Baird again with two straight goals 33 seconds apart followed by another from Caroline Sheridan to make it a 14-5 game after three quarters.
- Baird is suddenly one of the hottest goal-scorers in the league with eight in her last two games, four each against Marist and Robert Morris. The junior from Dallas, Texas had been known primarily as a defensive stalwart and had just two career goals before this recent explosion. Baird isn't just scoring goals, as she also collected five ground balls and seven draw controls in the last two contests.
- Baird's eight goals are the most on the team, just ahead of Boyce and Taylor Kopan with seven each. Megan Krestinski leads an impressive rookie group with six goals. All told, 12 different Bison have scored at least one goal this season.
- Taylor McClain has been on a feeding frenzy of late. The sophomore attacker has 10 assists in the last two games – four against Marist and a career-high six against Robert Morris – and her 14 assists on the season are tied with Navy's Ava Yovino for the Patriot League lead. McClain also ranks second nationally in assists per game (3.50) and third in Division I in total assists.
- McClain's six assists against Robert Morris were two shy of the school single-game record. Carol Donohue handed out eight assists against Wagner in 2008. The last Bison with at least six in a game was Christina Manis against Temple in 2017.
- Senior defender Ella Payer ranks third in the Patriot League with 24 draw controls. Payer now has 143 career DC, which are fourth-most in team history and 21 shy of Bonnie Buechel's school record.
- Senior defender Caitlin McHale leads the team with eight ground balls and is second to Payer with 15 draw controls.
- Symone Ryans has started all four games in goal and has 39 saves with 46 goals against. Her 9.8 saves per game is the second-highest mark in the Patriot League.
- The Bison are coming off a 6-10 season in 2022. Bucknell was 6-6 overall and 3-2 in the Patriot League after an 18-12 win over second-place Navy, but the Bison dropped their final four games – two coming by just one goal – and finished one game out of a Patriot League Tournament spot.
- Bucknell was picked to finish seventh in the Patriot League preseason poll. Loyola, which is ranked eighth nationally in the IL/IWLCA Poll, was tabbed the preseason favorite, followed by Army, Navy, Lehigh, Colgate, American, Bucknell, Boston University, Holy Cross, and Lafayette.
- The Bison graduated three of their top five scorers, but they did bring back 110 of their 176 goals from last season. That includes a team-high 36 from Allie Boyce (36-5-41), who was one of the Patriot League's top newcomers a year ago. Tatumn Kohlbrenner (20-10-30), Taylor Kopan (22-5-27), Caroline Miller (14-7-21), and Taylor McClain (6-12-18) are other top returning point-producers.
- Payer is in her second year as a team co-captain, and she is joined this year by classmates McHale and Caroline Miller.
- Payer is a two-time Second Team All-Patriot League selection (2021, 2022), and she was also named to the 2023 Preseason All-Patriot League Team. Payer, who was also an Academic All-Patriot League honoree last season, ranked third in the Patriot League in caused turnovers with 21 and seventh in the league in draw controls with 82. That draw control total was the second-highest in team history and was boosted by a school-record 15 DCs in the final game of the season at Holy Cross.
- Head coach Jackie Dando is in her fourth season as Bucknell's head coach, and she is joined by a new pair of assistants in Liza Oakley and Katie Lasater. Oakley handles the defense and draws, while Lasater works with the attackers and goalies.
- The Bonnies are 1-4 on the season, with the lone victory a 12-10 home decision against Akron last Saturday. They have since played a mid-week game, falling 14-12 to Siena on Wednesday.
- St. Bonaventure started the season with losses to Niagara (13-5), Canisius (13-9), and Arizona State (16-13).
- Fiona McGovern (10-7-17), Jessica Notaro (12-1-13), and Abby Hiltz (6-7-13) are the team's top point-producers.
- Brit Colangelo paces the defense with 10 caused turnovers and 11 ground balls, while Jayne Manzelli has a team-high 16 draw controls.
- Ashley Herrick has played every minute in goal and has 46 saves with 66 goals against.
- The Bonnies have a new coach this season in LeighAnn Stauffer, a 2017 St. Bonaventure graduate. She had spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach at George Washington.
- Bucknell is 3-6 all-time against St. Bonaventure, including a 10-8 win in Olean last season. The two teams last met in Lewisburg in 2021, with the Bonnies prevailing 11-10 in overtime.
- In last year's game, Bucknell led 10-3 after three quarters before the Bonnies pumped in five straight goals in the fourth to make it close. Allie Boyce scored three times and Caroline Miller added two more goals to pace the Bison. Caitlin Tucker had a huge day in the cage with 14 saves, while Herrick had 15 for St. Bonaventure.
- Bucknell heads back on the road next Saturday to face Mount St. Mary's at 3 p.m., and then Navy visits Graham Field for the Patriot League opener on March 18.
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