Thursday, April 27
Lewisburg, Pa.
4 p.m.
Bucknell University
6-10, 2-7PL
21
vs
22
Holy Cross
7-10, 4-5PL
1
2
3
4
F
Holy Cross
5
7
4
6
22
Bucknell
7
5
6
3
21
Photo by: Lianne Garrahan
Women’s Lax Drops Wild 22-21 Affair to Holy Cross in Season Finale
4/27/2023 8:24:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
LEWISBURG, Pa. – On a day that belonged to the offenses, goalie Tori Cini made two saves in the final stages of the game to preserve a wild 22-21 win for Holy Cross over Bucknell in the final game of the 2023 regular season on Thursday at Graham Field. Freshman Alex Nesbitt scored five goals and sophomore Allie Boyce had four, including her 50th of the season, to pace the Bison in the highest-scoring game in team history.
A game filled with dramatic momentum swings featured 43 goals on 79 shots, and eight different players recorded hat tricks. Nesbitt's five goals marked a new career high, and she also added an assist to tie her personal best with six points. Classmate Megan Krestinski also logged six points with three goals and three assists, including a highlight reel behind-the-back goal in the first half. Taylor Kopan scored three goals, and Taylor McClain tallied two goals and three assists.
Sally Zinsner paced Holy Cross (7-10, 4-5 PL) with four goals and an assist, while Henna Brennan tallied three goals and three assists and had a hand in both the tying and go-ahead goals 12 seconds apart late in the contest. The Crusaders clinched a Patriot League Tournament berth with the win.
The match was tied at 12 at the half, and neither team led by more than two goals until the Bison broke a 13-all tie with a five-goal run in the third quarter. Krestinski fed Nesbitt for Bucknell's first three goals of the second half. Nesbitt was bloodied while drawing a foul inside the arc, and Kopan subbed on to score from the 8-meter line. Aliza Thir grabbed her own rebound and scored to make it 17-13, and then Tatumn Kohlbrenner fed Boyce to give the Bison the five-goal cushion with 6:42 left in the third period.
Zinsner ended the run with a transition goal, and then Bucknell turned it over on the ensuing draw, and Charlotte Wittstock nabbed the loose ball scored just 22 seconds later. Kate Burns scored with 1.9 seconds left in the third to make it 18-16, and then Holy Cross scored twice in the first 1:43 of the fourth to tie the game at 18-all.
After a quick swap of goals, Bucknell took a 20-19 lead when Kopan jumped on a rebound and popped it back home for her third goal of the day, and then Boyce pocketed goal No. 50 on the season on a free-position attempt, and the Bison led 21-19 with 6:35 to go.
Two-goal leads were hardly safe in this shootout, and Lauren Drillock got one back for the Crusaders just 50 seconds later. Bucknell thought it had the two-goal lead back when Boyce scored again from the 8-meter arc, but she was knocked down by a defender as she scored and the goal was waved off as she was ruled to have stepped in the crease.
Brennan fed Christine Fabrizi for the tying goal with 2:26 remaining, and then Brennan picked up the draw control and scored herself just 12 seconds later to make it 22-21.
Bucknell had a big advantage on the draw circle for most of the day, but Brennan grabbed another big one and Holy Cross called timeout with 1:51 left. Boyce reached in from the restraining line to check the ball away from Brennan, and Emily Baird picked up the ground ball. The Bison cleared and found Kopan alone in front of goal, but Cini was there for her eighth save of the day.
Holy Cross turned it over again with 50 seconds to go, and this time the Bison worked the ball around to Boyce on the right side, but her shot was saved by Cini with 10 seconds left.
Bucknell finished with a 46-33 shot advantage and led 27-20 in draw controls, although Holy Cross won eight of the 10 in the fourth quarter. Cini and Symone Ryans recorded nine saves apiece.
This was the first game in Bucknell history in which both teams scored 20 or more goals. The previous highest-scoring one-goal game was an 18-17 win over Ohio State in 2008, and the previous team mark for most goals in a game was 37 in a 30-7 loss at Loyola in 1986.
Boyce became the second Bison ever to score 50 goals in a season, joining Sue Gray who recorded 52 in 1984. Boyce might have had more on Thursday, but in the fourth quarter alone she hit the post three times, including one off the crossbar that bounced down behind the goalie and somehow stayed out, and also had the goal waved off on the crease violation.
McClain's three assists gave her 33 on the season, fourth-most in team history and three shy of Carol Donohue's school record.
Senior defender Ella Payer finished the season with 78 draw controls, fifth-most in team history. She already held the Bucknell career record and finished with 197, 33 more than the previous mark.
Bucknell finished the season with a 6-10 record, while Holy Cross will be on the road for a Patriot League Tournament quarterfinal game on Sunday.
A game filled with dramatic momentum swings featured 43 goals on 79 shots, and eight different players recorded hat tricks. Nesbitt's five goals marked a new career high, and she also added an assist to tie her personal best with six points. Classmate Megan Krestinski also logged six points with three goals and three assists, including a highlight reel behind-the-back goal in the first half. Taylor Kopan scored three goals, and Taylor McClain tallied two goals and three assists.
👀 MEGAN KRESTINSKI with a goal for the highlight reel! #rayBucknell | #PLTop3 | #SCTop10
— Bucknell Women's Lax (@Bucknell_WLAX) April 27, 2023
Watch: https://t.co/PpAekHsqnT@PatriotLeagueTV | @ESPN pic.twitter.com/urtzxLfCHB
Sally Zinsner paced Holy Cross (7-10, 4-5 PL) with four goals and an assist, while Henna Brennan tallied three goals and three assists and had a hand in both the tying and go-ahead goals 12 seconds apart late in the contest. The Crusaders clinched a Patriot League Tournament berth with the win.
The match was tied at 12 at the half, and neither team led by more than two goals until the Bison broke a 13-all tie with a five-goal run in the third quarter. Krestinski fed Nesbitt for Bucknell's first three goals of the second half. Nesbitt was bloodied while drawing a foul inside the arc, and Kopan subbed on to score from the 8-meter line. Aliza Thir grabbed her own rebound and scored to make it 17-13, and then Tatumn Kohlbrenner fed Boyce to give the Bison the five-goal cushion with 6:42 left in the third period.
Zinsner ended the run with a transition goal, and then Bucknell turned it over on the ensuing draw, and Charlotte Wittstock nabbed the loose ball scored just 22 seconds later. Kate Burns scored with 1.9 seconds left in the third to make it 18-16, and then Holy Cross scored twice in the first 1:43 of the fourth to tie the game at 18-all.
After a quick swap of goals, Bucknell took a 20-19 lead when Kopan jumped on a rebound and popped it back home for her third goal of the day, and then Boyce pocketed goal No. 50 on the season on a free-position attempt, and the Bison led 21-19 with 6:35 to go.
Two-goal leads were hardly safe in this shootout, and Lauren Drillock got one back for the Crusaders just 50 seconds later. Bucknell thought it had the two-goal lead back when Boyce scored again from the 8-meter arc, but she was knocked down by a defender as she scored and the goal was waved off as she was ruled to have stepped in the crease.
Brennan fed Christine Fabrizi for the tying goal with 2:26 remaining, and then Brennan picked up the draw control and scored herself just 12 seconds later to make it 22-21.
Bucknell had a big advantage on the draw circle for most of the day, but Brennan grabbed another big one and Holy Cross called timeout with 1:51 left. Boyce reached in from the restraining line to check the ball away from Brennan, and Emily Baird picked up the ground ball. The Bison cleared and found Kopan alone in front of goal, but Cini was there for her eighth save of the day.
Holy Cross turned it over again with 50 seconds to go, and this time the Bison worked the ball around to Boyce on the right side, but her shot was saved by Cini with 10 seconds left.
Bucknell finished with a 46-33 shot advantage and led 27-20 in draw controls, although Holy Cross won eight of the 10 in the fourth quarter. Cini and Symone Ryans recorded nine saves apiece.
This was the first game in Bucknell history in which both teams scored 20 or more goals. The previous highest-scoring one-goal game was an 18-17 win over Ohio State in 2008, and the previous team mark for most goals in a game was 37 in a 30-7 loss at Loyola in 1986.
Boyce became the second Bison ever to score 50 goals in a season, joining Sue Gray who recorded 52 in 1984. Boyce might have had more on Thursday, but in the fourth quarter alone she hit the post three times, including one off the crossbar that bounced down behind the goalie and somehow stayed out, and also had the goal waved off on the crease violation.
McClain's three assists gave her 33 on the season, fourth-most in team history and three shy of Carol Donohue's school record.
Senior defender Ella Payer finished the season with 78 draw controls, fifth-most in team history. She already held the Bucknell career record and finished with 197, 33 more than the previous mark.
Bucknell finished the season with a 6-10 record, while Holy Cross will be on the road for a Patriot League Tournament quarterfinal game on Sunday.
Team Stats
HC
BUCKNELL
Shots
33
46
Turnovers
11
12
Caused Turnovers
10
7
Draw Controls
20
27
Free-Position Shots
6
5
Ground Balls
13
20
Game Leaders
Players
G
5
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
1
CT
0
G
4
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
2
CT
1
G
3
A
3
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
1
CT
0
G
3
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
1
CT
0
Players Mentioned
M
/ Women's LacrosseA
/ Women's Lacrosse
M
/ Women's LacrosseA
/ Women's LacrosseM
/ Women's Lacrosse
A
/ Women's LacrosseA
/ Women's Lacrosse
D
/ Women's Lacrosse
G
/ Women's Lacrosse
D
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