Women's Lacrosse Set for Big Week with League Games at Colgate, Home vs. Lehigh

Bucknell (5-4, 1-1 PL) at Colgate (1-7, 0-2 PL)
When: Wednesday, March 29, 5 p.m.
Where: Andy Kerr Stadium, Hamilton, N.Y.
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: ColgateAthletics.com
Follow on Twitter: @Bucknell_WLAX

Lehigh (6-3, 1-2 PL) at Bucknell (5-4, 1-1 PL)
When: Saturday, Apr. 1, 1 p.m.
Where: Graham Field, Lewisburg, Pa.
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com
Follow on Twitter: @Bucknell_WLAX

Bucknell at a Glance

Fresh off a fast-paced 17-15 road win over Lafayette on Saturday, the Bison are right back in action with two more Patriot League games this week. Bucknell visits Colgate on Wednesday evening before returning home to face Lehigh on Saturday on Alumni Appreciation Day.
Bucknell is now 1-1 in Patriot League play, with the loss a 21-13 decision at home to Navy on March 18.
The Patriot League currently has three teams in the ILWomen/IWLCA Division I Poll: No. 9 Loyola, No. 13 Army, and No. 24 Navy. Those three teams are a combined 24-4 overall and 7-0 in league games. American is also unbeaten in the Patriot League at 2-0, and Bucknell is next at 1-1.
Bucknell is the Patriot League's third-highest-scoring team at 13.4 goals per game, trailing only Army (16.2) and Navy (15.0). The Bison have scored in double digits in eight straight games dating back to a 16-6 season-opening loss at Penn State, and that is tied for the longest streak of 10-goal games in program history. The 2008 squad also scored 10+ goals in eight straight.
Senior Ella Payer also had a record-setting week. She became Bucknell's all-time leader in career draw controls early in the Lafayette game. She had nine in the game, including a big one with 1:07 to go that allowed the Bison to run out the clock after the Leopards had pulled within 17-15. Payer also logged five ground balls and four caused turnovers, and on Monday she was named the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season.
Payer now has a Bucknell-record 172 career draw controls. The previous school record was 164, set by Bonnie Buechel during her outstanding career from 2006-09.
Payer now ranks fourth in the Patriot League in draw controls per game (5.89), ground balls per game (2.33), and caused turnovers per game (1.44). She is the only player in the league ranking in the top 10 in all three categories.
Wednesday's game at Colgate will feature a matchup between first-year twin sisters Megan and Molly Krestinski. Megan is off to a strong start for Bucknell with 10 goals and six assists on the season. She had a hat trick earlier in the year against UMBC and served up a season-high three assists at Lafayette on Saturday. Molly has eight goals for Colgate, including her first hat trick on Saturday against Army.
A pair of sophomores are leading the Bison attack. Taylor McClain (10-27-37) ranks second in the Patriot League and fourth in the nation in assists, and she is also fourth in the league in total points. The only players in Division I women's lacrosse averaging more than McClain's 3.0 assists per game are Marquette's Mary Schumar (4.0), Navy's Ava Yovino (3.9), and Syracuse's Emma Ward (3.2).
Allie Boyce (24-6-30) ranks second in the league in goals per game (2.67), and her .667 shooting percentage is third-best in the nation. Boyce also ranks fifth nationally with 1.1 free-position goals per game. She is 10-for-15 from the 8-meter arc this season.
Boyce now has a goal in every game this season and all but one in her career, and she has recorded at least one point in all 25 career games.
Emily Baird (14-6-20), Krestinski (10-6-16), Alex Nesbitt (10-6-16), and Taylor Kopan (14-1-15) also have double-digit points. Freshman Caroline Sheridan (8-1-9) is coming off a hat trick against Lafayette.
In addition to her career-best scoring totals, Baird also ranks among the team leaders with 28 draw controls, 18 ground balls, and 13 caused turnovers.
Like Boyce, Kopan scored in every game this season, extending her goal-scoring streak to 15 in a row dating back to 2022.
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 Army, 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 was tabbed the preseason favorite, followed by Army, Navy, Lehigh, Colgate, American, Bucknell, Boston University, Holy Cross, and Lafayette.
Payer is in her second year as a team co-captain, and she is joined this year by classmates Caitlin McHale and Caroline Miller.
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.

Colgate at a Glance/Series History

A young Raiders squad comes into Wednesday's game with a 1-7 record and five straight losses dating back to a 12-6 win over Niagara on Feb. 26.
In Patriot League play, Colgate has fallen 11-8 at home to Boston University at 12-8 on the road at No. 13 Army. The Raiders trailed 9-8 with eight minutes remaining at West Point on Saturday before the Black Knights scored the game's final three goals.
Colgate averages 8.9 goals per game while allowing 14.0.
Kyra Lucey (7-12-19) leads the team in assists and points, while freshman Caroline Panzirer (14-2-16) is the top goal-scorer.
Helena Morrison has started all eight games in goal and has 68 saves with 109 goals against.
Colgate leads the all-time series 36-6 dating back to 1981, but the Bison have won two straight for the first time in series history. Each of the last seven meetings have been decided by three goals or fewer, including four one-goal games in that span.
Bucknell won a 15-14 thriller last year at Graham Field. Caroline Miller's shorthanded goal with 39 seconds remaining was the game-winner, and Allie Boyce tied a Bucknell freshman record with seven goals. The Bison won the game despite Colgate's 25-8 edge in draw controls.
The Bison also won 13-11 at home in 2021 and fell 12-11 in their last trip to Hamilton in 2019.

Lehigh at a Glance/Series History

The Mountain Hawks are 6-3 overall and 1-2 in the Patriot League. After opening league play with a 15-3 rout of local rival Lafayette, Lehigh fell to two of the PL's nationally ranked teams in Loyola (16-6) and Navy (15-4).
Lehigh will host Army on Wednesday night before heading to Lewisburg.
The Mountain Hawks are the Patriot League's No. 2 defensive team behind Loyola, with a 9.08 team goals-against average. Offensively, Lehigh is seventh in the league scoring 11.4 goals per game.
The bulk of Lehigh's offensive production have come from five players: Olivia Memeger (20-17-37), Gabby Schneider (20-13-33), Emma Eberhardt (19-9-28), Katia Carnevale (22-3-25), and Cassie Marte (9-6-15).
Marte also has 43 draw controls, 18 ground balls, and 16 caused turnovers.
Lehigh has one of the league's top goalies in Hayley Hunt, who has started all nine games this season and has 68 saves with 76 goals against. She had a season-high 15 saves against Saint Joseph's.
Lehigh has a 34-11 lead in an all-time series that dates back to 1978. The Mountain Hawks have won the last 13 meetings since Bucknell's last win, a 12-11 overtime verdict in Bethlehem in 2009.
Lehigh has won the last six at Graham Field. Bucknell's last home win over the Mountain Hawks was a 15-5 verdict in 2006.
Last season, Lehigh prevailed 16-11 at the Ulrich Sports Complex. Bucknell led 8-7 at halftime but was outscored 9-3 in the second half. Bucknell dominated the draw controls by a 22-9 count, led by a career-high nine from Ella Payer, but Hunt helped offset that disparity by making 12 saves, including eight in the second half.

Looking Ahead

After the Lehigh game, Bucknell will have a week off before heading to West Point on Saturday, Apr. 8.

Women's Lacrosse Set for Big Week with League Games at Colgate, Home vs. Lehigh

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Emily Baird

Allie Boyce

Taylor Kopan

Taylor McClain

Caitlin McHale

Caroline Miller

Alex Nesbitt

Ella Payer

Ella Payer

Caroline Sheridan

Women's Lacrosse Set for Big Week with League Games at Colgate, Home vs. Lehigh

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Emily Baird

Allie Boyce

Taylor Kopan

Taylor McClain

Caitlin McHale

Caroline Miller

Alex Nesbitt

Ella Payer

Ella Payer

Caroline Sheridan

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