Women's Lacrosse Visits No. 14 Army on Saturday

Bucknell (5-6, 1-3 PL) at No. 14 Army (11-1, 5-0 PL)
When: Saturday, Apr. 8, 4 p.m.
Where: Michie Stadium, West Point, N.Y.
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoArmyWestPoint.com
Follow on Twitter: @Bucknell_WLAX

Bucknell at a Glance

The Bison women's lacrosse squad looks to snap a two-game losing streak and move up in the Patriot League ranks when it travels to No. 14 Army on Saturday.
Bucknell's best result of last season was an 18-12 win over Army at Graham Field. After finishing 12-6 in 2022, the Black Knights have taken it to the next level this year and a currently ranked No. 14 nationally. They won their first 11 games before dropping a 14-13 decision to No. 13 Yale on Wednesday.
Bucknell has been one of the Patriot League's top offensive teams this season, but the Bison are looking for some defensive improvement after yielding 48 goals in the last three games. After beating Lafayette 17-15 on March 25, the Bison have fallen 16-13 at Colgate and 17-13 at home to Lehigh.
Bucknell ranks fourth in the Patriot League in scoring at 13.4 goals per game, and on Saturday the Bison will try to slow down the league's top-scoring unit. Army is averaging 16.0 goals per game.
Bucknell has scored at least 10 goals in 10 straight games, which is a school record. The previous mark was eight in a row in 2008.
Each of Bucknell's top seven scorers are underclassmen, led by a pair of sophomores in Taylor McClain (10-27-37) and Allie Boyce (29-7-36). Junior Emily Baird (20-6-26) is having a breakout offensive season after entering 2023 with two career goals.
Freshmen Megan Krestinski (14-6-20), Alex Nesbitt (11-6-17), Caroline Sheridan (9-2-11), and Katie Browne (8-2-10) have all been significant offensive contributors. Krestinski scored a career-high four goals against Colgate last week, going up against her twin sister Molly.
Baird recorded her third four-goal game of the season last time out against Lehigh, and she has hit the 20-goal mark for the season. The middie also has 30 draw controls, 20 caused turnovers, and 21 ground balls. Her 1.82 caused turnovers per game are the most in the Patriot League.
Senior defender Ella Payer is having another big season. She is the only player in the Patriot League ranked in the top 10 in the league in ground balls (3rd, 2.55), draw controls (4th, 5.55), and caused turnovers (3rd, 1.55).
Payer recently became Bucknell's all-time leader in draw controls. She now has 180 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.
Despite being held off the scoresheet last week against Lehigh, McClain still ranks third in the league and 11th in the nation in assists.
Boyce's 2.64 goals per game rank fourth in the Patriot League. She also ranks fourth nationally in free-position goals per game (1.18) and fifth nationally in shooting percentage (.659). Boyce has a goal in every game this season and all but one in her career.
As a team, Bucknell's .554 shooting percentage on free-position shots ranks eighth among all Division I teams.
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.

Army at a Glance/Series History

The Black Knights are in the midst of an outstanding season and have entered the national rankings for the first time. In addition to the 11-1 overall record, they are a perfect 5-0 in Patriot League play with wins over Boston University (17-15), Holy Cross (23-6), Colgate (12-8), Lehigh (15-14), and American (18-10).
Freshman Brigid Duffy (45-17-62) leads the Patriot League in goals and ranks second in points behind another freshman, Ava Yovino of Navy. This will not be the first time a Bucknell team has faced Duffy this season, as she was also a key member of the Army women's soccer squad. Bucknell defeated the Black Knights in a penalty kick shootout in Patriot League championship match in the fall. Duffy has a Bucknell connection as well. Her uncle, Ian Wood, is Bucknell's head athletic trainer and is currently working with the Bison women's lacrosse team.
Army has four other players with at least 20 goals: Kathleen Sullivan (25-34-59), Julia Gorajek (24-8-32), Julia Franzoni (26-4-30), and Jolie Riedell (21-6-27).
Franzoni has a team-high 70 draw controls followed by Duffy with 53 and Riedell with 38.
Goalie Lacey Bartholomay has started all 12 games and has 87 saves with 89 goals against for a league-best .494 save percentage.
Bucknell and Army have split six all-time meetings. The Bison won the first two in 2016 and 2017 before the Black Knights won three in a row.
Bucknell won last season 18-12 at Graham Field behind some red-hot shooting. Army entered that game in first place in the Patriot League with a 5-0 record, but the Bison used an 8-1 run in the second half to take control. Tatumn Kohlbrenner and Allie Boyce scored four goals each, and Taylor Kopan and Emma Cashwell tallied three apiece for Bucknell, which scored 18 goals on 31 shots. Gorajek led Army with four goals and three assists.

Looking Ahead

Bucknell returns home on Saturday, Apr. 15 to face American at 1 p.m. That will be Senior Day at Graham Field.

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Players Mentioned

Emily Baird

Allie Boyce

Katie Browne

Emma Cashwell

Tatumn Kohlbrenner

Taylor Kopan

Megan Krestinski

Taylor McClain

Caitlin McHale

Caroline Miller

Alex Nesbitt

Ella Payer

Caroline Sheridan