Saturday, March 11
Emmitsburg, Md.
3 p.m.
Bucknell University
at
Mount St. Mary's
Photo by: Ben Popko
Women's Lacrosse Heads to Mount St. Mary's Saturday
3/9/2023 1:53:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
Bucknell (3-2) at Mount St. Mary's (1-4)
When:Â Saturday, March 11, 3 p.m.Â
Where:Â Waldron Family Stadium, Emmitsburg, Md.
Watch:Â ESPN3
Live Stats:Â MountAthletics.com
Follow on Twitter:Â @Bucknell_WLAX
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Bucknell at a Glance
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When:Â Saturday, March 11, 3 p.m.Â
Where:Â Waldron Family Stadium, Emmitsburg, Md.
Watch:Â ESPN3
Live Stats:Â MountAthletics.com
Follow on Twitter:Â @Bucknell_WLAX
Â
Bucknell at a Glance
- The Bison bring a three-game winning streak and a red-hot offense into Saturday's road contest against a Mount St. Mary's team that has played in the last two NCAA Tournaments. Bucknell has piled up 54 goals during the streak, which consists of one-sided victories over Marist (17-12), Robert Morris (15-8), and St. Bonaventure (22-6).
- The Patriot League is off to a good start in 2023, as the 10 teams have combined for a 36-23 record. No. 7 Loyola and No. 14 Army are both undefeated at 5-0 and nationally ranked in the ILWomen/IWLCA poll, while 5-1 Navy is the first team outside the top-25.
- Bucknell is now the fourth-highest-scoring team in the league at 14.0 goals per game.
- After two straight games in which the Bison ran out to big early leads, only to see the opponent make a rally in the second half, Bucknell left no doubt in last Saturday's win over St. Bonaventure. The Bison scored eight goals in the first quarter, led 14-3 at halftime, and only once in the second half allowed the Bonnies to score consecutive goals.
- Sophomore attacker Allie Boyce was one of last week's offensive stars, matching her career high with seven goals along with an assist. Boyce scored five times in the first half and now leads the team with 14 goals on the season. Boyce, who also had a seven-goal game last season in a win over Colgate, is fourth in the Patriot League in goals per game (2.80).
- Boyce has been one of the nation's most accurate shooters thus far. Her 14 goals have come on 19 shot attempts, good for a .737 shooting percentage. That figure ranks No. 2 nationally, behind only Louisville's Kylea Dobson (.750).
- Also high on the NCAA stats leaderboard is sophomore Taylor McClain, who ranks second in the Patriot League and fourth nationally in assists per game (3.80). League leader Ava Yovino of Navy is also the NCAA leader with 4.14 apg. McClain and Yovino are both Floridians and are former club teammates with Florida Select, where they were coached by McClain's father, John.
- McClain has multiple assists in every game this season and has 15 in the last three games. She also has three goals this season, giving her a team-high 22 points. Her 4.40 points per game average is fifth-best in the Patriot League.
- Freshman attacker Alex Nesbitt made her first career start against St. Bonaventure and had a huge impact on Bucknell's big first-half surge. Nesbitt assisted on the first two goals of the day, then she forced two turnovers on clears that led directly to Bison goals the other way, and then she added four goals of her own for a career-best six-point afternoon.
- Junior attackers Jamie Fedorjaka (2G) and Taylor LaMantia (1G), along with freshman attacker Regan Sansiviero (2A) all logged their first career points against St. Bonaventure.
- Perhaps overshadowed by the 22-goal outburst was a terrific defensive performance last week. The Bison limited the Bonnies to 14 total shots and only six goals. Senior Ella Payer was named Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week after tallying three ground balls and two caused turnovers, and she led a dominant effort on the draw circle with 10 draw controls.
- Payer now has 34 draw controls on the season, fourth-most in the Patriot League, and her 153 career DCs are now just 11 shy of Bonnie Buechel's team record.
- Emily Baird and Caitlin McHale are tied for seventh in the Patriot League in caused turnovers per game (1.20). Baird has played both defense and midfield in her career, and she is thriving as a two-way threat in 2023. In addition to the six caused turnovers, she is second on the team with nine goals and third on the squad with 11 draw controls. Baird had back-to-back four-goal games against Marist and Robert Morris, and she added a goal and an assist against St. Bonaventure.
- Symone Ryans has started every game in goal for the Bison and has 43 saves with 50 goals against. Her 8.60 saves per game are the fourth-highest in the 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 seventh 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.
- Payer is in her second year as a team co-captain, and she is joined this year by classmates 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. Oakley was a four-year letterwinner as a defender and a three-time Northeast Conference All-Academic selection during her playing days at Mount St. Mary's. As a senior in 2018, she helped her team rank third in Division I in scoring defense.
- The Mount fell to 1-4 on the season after a 16-8 loss at Navy on Wednesday. Their win came at home last Saturday against La Salle, 18-7, buoyed by an eight-goal game from VCU graduate transfer Abby Osmeyer.
- Dani Donoghue leads the team with 13 goals, followed by Osmeyer with 11. Erin Anderson has a team-high seven assists to go with her five goals.
- Freshman Logan Cook leads the team with 17 draw controls, eight coming in the La Salle win.
- Mount St. Mary's was an NCAA Tournament team last season. The Mountaineers finished 15-5 overall and 7-1 in the Northeast Conference, and they beat Wagner and Bryant in close games to win a second straight NEC Tournament title. Mount St. Mary's fell to Patriot League champ Loyola 17-6 in the first round of NCAAs.
- Mount St. Mary's will not be back to defend those titles, however, as the school re-affiliated to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) in advance of the 2022-23 academic year. The Mount previously participated in the MAAC in 1997 and 1998 before moving to the NEC.
- Ninth-year head coach Lauren Skellchock returned five of her seven All-NEC honorees from last season. Mount St. Mary's was picked second behind Fairfield in the MAAC preseason poll.
- Bucknell is 6-0 all-time against Mount St. Mary's, but the two sides have met just twice in the last 20 seasons. The last game came in 2016 in Emmitsburg, when the Bison prevailed 11-5 behind three-goal performances from Emily Becker and Gretchen Richter.Â
- Patriot League play kicks off next Saturday, March 18, when Bucknell hosts Navy at 12 p.m.
- The Bison do have one more non-conference game, at home against Villanova on Wednesday, March 22, and then it's nothing but Patriot League contests the rest of the way.
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