Women's Lacrosse Hosts Holy Cross Thursday

Holy Cross (6-10, 3-5 PL) at Bucknell (6-9, 2-6 PL)
When: Thursday, Apr. 27, 4 p.m.
Where: Graham Field, Lewisburg, Pa.
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com
Follow on Twitter: @Bucknell_WLAX

Bucknell at a Glance

The Bison close out the 2023 season with a home game against Holy Cross on Thursday.
The top four seeds are set for the Patriot League Tournament: Loyola, Army, Navy, and Lehigh. It's a complete jumble for the two remaining spots, however, as five teams are either 3-5 (Holy Cross, Boston U., Colgate) or 2-6 (Bucknell, American) heading into the final round of league play. Possibilities exist for two-, three-, four-, or even a five-way tie for fifth place.
Unfortunately for the Bison, none of the complicated tiebreaker scenarios result in them obtaining a top-six seed. Holy Cross, meanwhile, can clinch a tourney berth with a win over Bucknell, or with a loss if Lehigh defeats Colgate in Bethlehem.
In addition to the Holy Cross-Bucknell and Lehigh-Colgate games, American hosts Boston University and Lafayette hosts Army on Thursday. The final game of the regular season features Loyola at Navy on Friday at 6 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
Bucknell dropped a pair of games last week, falling 21-5 to No. 10 Loyola at home and 13-9 to Boston University on the road.
The Bison couldn't dig out of an early 4-0 hole in Boston on Saturday and fell despite advantages in shots (33-28), ground balls (19-8), and draw controls (14-12). Bucknell ran into a hot goalie, as Reilly Agres made 16 saves for the Terriers.
Allie Boyce scored two more goals in that game, giving her 46 on the season. That is the second-highest total in the Patriot League, trailing only Army's Brigid Duffy with 48. Boyce's 46 goals are also the third-most in Bucknell history. Hall-of-Famer Sue Gray scored 52 in 1984 and 47 in 1983. Earlier this season, Boyce tied Gray's single-game record with 10 goals against American.
Boyce continues to lead the entire nation in shooting percentage at .697, with 46 goals on only 66 shots. She is 21-for-27 on free-position attempts, and that .778 percentage is also the best in Division I, while her 1.4 free-position goals per game are third-most in the nation.
Boyce also has seven assists this season, and her 53 points put her one away from the top-10 in team history.
Boyce, who was named the national player of the week after that 10-goal game against American, has a goal in every game this season and all but one in her career.
Taylor McClain's 30 assists are fourth-most in the conference and fifth-most in a season in team history. The Bucknell record is 36 by Carol Donohue in 2008. McClain's 42 career assists are one shy of a spot in the team's top-10.
Ella Payer remains the only player in the Patriot League to rank in the top 10 in ground balls (2nd, 2.50), caused turnovers (2nd, 1.64), and draw controls (5th, 5.29).
Payer already owns the Bucknell career record for draw controls with 193, and her 74 in 2023 rank fifth on the single-season list. Payer had 82 DCs last year, including a school-record 15 against Holy Cross.
Emily Baird leads the Patriot League with 2.0 caused turnovers per game, putting her just in front of teammate Payer. Baird, who is also fifth in the league in ground balls (2.07), is 19th nationally in caused turnovers. Her 30 CTs are tied for sixth-most in a season in Bucknell history.
Boyce (46-7-53) and McClain (11-30-41) are 1-2 on the team in scoring, while Baird (21-7-28), Megan Krestinski (19-8-27), Taylor Kopan (19-1-20), and Alex Nesbitt (14-6-20) have all hit the 20-point mark.
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.

Holy Cross at a Glance/Series History

The Crusaders are 6-10 on the season and 2-4 on the road. They played twice at home Last week, defeating Colgate 13-7 on Wednesday before falling to Lehigh 17-15 on Saturday.
Lauren Drillock tallied six goals and two assists in the Lehigh game, tying her career high with eight points. She is the team's top scorer with 58 points from 43 goals and 15 assists, and she has 16 goals in her last four games. She also leads the team with 41 draw controls.
Isabella Miller (18-15-33), Henna Brennan (23-7-30), and Sally Zinsner (21-9-30) also have at least 30 points on the season.
Tori Cini is the lead goalie with 13 starts and 15 appearances. She has a .415 save percentage and allows 13.47 goals per game.
Bucknell has a narrow 16-15 lead in an all-time series that dates back to 1991, which was the first year of the Patriot League.
The Crusaders have won the last three meetings, including a 19-9 verdict last season in Worcester. Bucknell's last win was an 11-8 away decision in 2017.
This will be Holy Cross' first trip to Lewisburg since 2018. The two teams did not meet in the COVID-impacted 2020 and 2021 seasons.
These two teams also met in the regular-season finale last season, and it was a long final three quarters for the Bison. Bucknell led 5-3 at the end of one period, but Holy Cross outscored the Bison 7-0 and outshot them 14-0 in the second. Taylor Kopan had a five-point game and Ella Payer logged a school-record 15 draw controls, but the Bison could not overcome 23 turnovers. Symone Ryans came off the bench to record 14 saves.

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Players Mentioned

Emily Baird

Allie Boyce

Taylor Kopan

Megan Krestinski

Taylor McClain

Alex Nesbitt

Ella Payer

Symone Ryans