Women's Lacrosse Hosts No. 10 Loyola, Travels to Boston University in Busy Week

#10 Loyola (12-2, 6-0 PL) at Bucknell (6-7, 2-4 PL)
When: Wednesday, Apr. 19, 5 p.m.
Where: Graham Field, Lewisburg, Pa.
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com
Follow on Twitter: @Bucknell_WLAX

Bucknell (6-7, 2-4 PL) at Boston University (7-8, 2-5 PL)
When: Saturday, Apr. 22, 4 p.m.
Where: Nickerson Field, Boston, Mass.
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoTerriers.com
Follow on Twitter: @Bucknell_WLAX

Bucknell at a Glance

The Bison put themselves firmly back in the postseason picture with a convincing 20-11 Senior Day win over American on Saturday. Now Bucknell faces a big two-game week, with first-place Loyola in town on Wednesday followed by a trip to Boston University on Saturday.
The women's lacrosse team will be celebrating its annual Pride Game on Wednesday, sponsored by Bucknell's Athlete Ally chapter. The Bison women's lacrosse program celebrates the LGBTQIA+ community and stands firmly against any discrimination or violence toward this community.
The race for the final two of the six Patriot League Tournament berths is quite a jumble, with five teams all sitting on two conference wins. Bucknell, Colgate, and Holy Cross are all tied for fifth place at 2-4, and then Boston University and American are a half-game back at 2-5. Loyola (6-0), Army (6-1), and Navy (6-1) have already clinched postseason spots, and Lehigh is firmly in fourth place at 4-3.
There are two Wednesday games on tap this week, with Bucknell hosting Loyola and Holy Cross hosting Colgate, followed by a full slate on Saturday.
Bucknell used a complete performance in all phases to defeat American on Saturday, but most of the headlines were written by Allie Boyce. The sophomore attacker scored 10 goals, tying the Bucknell record originally set by Hall-of-Famer Sue Gray all the way back in 1984. The 10 goals are the second-most scored by any Division I player this season – Mercer's Shannon Urey scored 11 against Wofford earlier in the week – and Boyce's total was one shy of the Patriot League record and just two away from the NCAA mark.
Not only did Boyce score 10 goals against the Eagles, she did it on perfect 10-for-10 shooting. She came into the game ranked No. 2 nationally in shot percentage, and she is now No. 1 in all of Division I lacrosse with an eye-popping .729 accuracy. Boyce also ranks second in the nation in free-position goals per game (1.46) and 17th in overall goals per game (3.31).
Boyce now has 43 goals on the season, nine shy of Gray's 39-year-old Bucknell record. That is the fifth-highest single-season total in team history, and she is Bucknell's first 40-goal scorer since Emily Becker tallied 41 in 2016. Boyce is now second in the Patriot League in goals this season, trailing only Army's Brigid Duffy with 47.
On Monday, Boyce earned Patriot League Attacker of the Week and Bison of the Week honors.
Boyce wasn't the only Bison to enjoy a big day against American. Tatumn Kohlbrenner (1-3-4) and Caroline Miller (2-2-4) both had four-point games, and Taylor Kopan and Megan Krestinski also had two-goal games. Ella Payer spearheaded a strong defensive effort and also picked up a game-high 11 draw controls.
Bucknell ranks fourth in the Patriot League in scoring at 13.8 goals per game. A school-record streak of 10 straight games scoring 10 or more goals came to an end last week at West Point.
As a team, Bucknell's .532 free-position percentage is eight-best in the nation.
Taylor McClain (10-30-40), Emily Baird (21-7-28), Krestinski (17-7-24), Kopan (17-1-18), Alex Nesbitt (12-6-18), Miller (11-4-15), and Caroline Sheridan (10-3-13) are also double-digit goal-scorers.
McClain's 30 assists are fifth-most in a season in Bucknell history. The record is 36 set by Carol Donohue in 2008.
Baird has three four-goal games this season, and she has topped the 20-goal mark for the season. The middie also has 32 draw controls, 27 caused turnovers, and 27 ground balls. Her 2.08 caused turnovers per game are the most in the Patriot League and 17th-most in the nation.
Payer is the only player in the Patriot League ranked in the top 10 in the league in ground balls (2nd, 2.54), draw controls (4th, 5.69), and caused turnovers (3rd, 1.54).
Payer recently became Bucknell's all-time leader in draw controls. She now has 193 in her career. The previous school record was 164, set by Bonnie Buechel during her outstanding career from 2006-09. Payer is a two-time Second Team All-Patriot League honoree and has garnered two Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week citations this season.
As a team, Bucknell ranks 13th nationally in caused turnovers per game with 10.46. That is also the highest average 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 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 Miller and Caitlin McHale.
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.

Loyola at a Glance/Series History

The Greyhounds have dominated the Patriot League since joining the conference in 2014. They are 72-0 in regular-season league games and have won six of the eight Patriot League Tournament titles contested over that span. Loyola's only losses to a conference foe have come against Navy in the 2017 and 2018 title games.
This year's edition comes to Lewisburg with a seven-game winning streak, and Loyola has been in running-clock mode in all seven of those victories. Since dropping back-to-back games to No. 10 Florida (14-11) and No. 2 Syracuse (9-7) in mid-March, the Greyhounds have won seven games by an average margin of 13.1 goals. Their +8.3 scoring margin for the season is second-best in the nation behind Northwestern (+8.4).
Last week, Loyola rolled past No. 22 Princeton (20-10) ad No. 15 Army (19-5) to improve to 4-2 on the season against other ranked teams.
Loyola is the league's highest-scoring team at 15.6 goals per game. The majority of its offensive production has come from seven players: Georgia Latch (29-32-61), Jillian Wilson (42-13-55), Sydni Black (31-19-50), Chase Boyle (37-9-46), Emily Wills (19-26-45), Meg Hillman (24-6-30), and Anna Ruby (20-9-29).
Wilson leads the Patriot League and ranks third nationally with 135 draw controls, and Loyola leads the nation in team draw control percentage (.710).
Not only does Loyola score the 10th-most goals per game in the nation, the Greyhounds allow the third-fewest (7.29). Goalie Lauren Spence ranks second nationally with a 7.42 goals-against average.
Bucknell is 0-18 all-time against Loyola, including an 0-9 mark since the Greyhounds joined the Patriot League.
Loyola won last year's meeting 21-2 in Baltimore. Allie Boyce and Tatumn Kohbrenner scored Bucknell's goals, while Livy Rosenzweig scored six for Loyola.

Boston University at a Glance/Series History

The Terriers are 7-8 overall and 2-5 in the Patriot League after dropping a 13-9 decision at Lehigh on Saturday. Boston University did earn an impressive 12-11 win over No. 20 Navy on Apr. 8.
The Terriers are the league's sixth-highest-scoring team with 11.9 goals per game.
Boston University has four 20-goal scorers in Jennifer Barry (23-16-39), Claire Gola (27-7-34), Maddie MacMaster (20-12-32), and Matty Spaeth (23-4-27).
While Loyola's Jillian Wilson leads the Patriot League in draw controls, Barry is No. 2 with 117 on the season.
Gola ranks second in the league with 24 caused turnovers.
Reilly Agres has started 14 of the 15 games in goal and has a .430 save percentage and an 11.03 goals-against average. She made 10 saves in the win over Navy.
Bucknell is 1-8 all-time against Boston University and 0-8 since the Terriers joined the Patriot League in 2014.
The Bison won the inaugural meeting 12-8 in Boston in 1996.
Last year's game in Lewisburg was the closest in series history. Boston University won 11-10 in overtime late in the season to deal Bucknell's postseason hopes a major blow. Spaeth's only goal of the game was the winner in OT, not long after Caroline Miller scored a dramatic tying goal with 12 seconds left in regulation.

Looking Ahead

Bucknell wraps up the regular season on Thursday, Apr. 27 against Holy Cross at 4 p.m.
The quarterfinal round of the Patriot League Tournament is slated for Sunday, Apr. 30, with games hosted by the higher seeds.

Women's Lacrosse Hosts No. 10 Loyola, Travels to Boston University in Busy Week

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Emily Baird

Allie Boyce

Tatumn Kohlbrenner

Taylor Kopan

Megan Krestinski

Taylor McClain

Caitlin McHale

Caroline Miller

Alex Nesbitt

Ella Payer

Caroline Sheridan

Women's Lacrosse Hosts No. 10 Loyola, Travels to Boston University in Busy Week

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Emily Baird

Allie Boyce

Tatumn Kohlbrenner

Taylor Kopan

Megan Krestinski

Taylor McClain

Caitlin McHale

Caroline Miller

Alex Nesbitt

Ella Payer

Caroline Sheridan

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