Women's Lacrosse Goes for Two in a Row Sunday at Home vs. Mount St. Mary's

Sunday, March 3

Lewisburg, Pa.

12 p.m.

Bucknell University

Mount St. Mary's

Photo by: Lianne Garrahan

Women's Lacrosse Goes for Two in a Row Sunday at Home vs. Mount St. Mary's

2/28/2024 6:49:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Mount St. Mary's (0-4) at Bucknell (1-3)
When: Sunday, Mar. 3, 12 p.m.
Where: Graham Field at Holmes Stadium, Lewisburg, Pa.
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com
Streaming: ESPN+
Follow on Twitter:@Bucknell_WLAX

Bucknell at a Glance

Fresh off their first win of the season, the Bison welcome Mount St. Mary's to Graham Field on Sunday afternoon.
Slow starts had plagued the Bison in losses to Penn State, Villanova, and St. Bonaventure to start the season, but they reversed that trend last Saturday against Robert Morris. Bucknell raced to a 5-1 lead and never trailed in the game on the way to a 17-11 win over the Colonials.
Attackers Alex Nesbitt (4-3-7) and Allie Boyce (4-2-6) along with middies Emily Baird (3-0-3) and Megan Krestinski (1-1-2) carried much of the scoring load against RMU. Nesbitt's seven points were a career high.
Nesbitt has also been a key to Bucknell's ride. She is tied with defender Julia Backenstrass for the team lead in caused turnovers with five.
Boyce, who led the nation in shot accuracy last season, went 4-for-4 against Robert Morris and now has a team-high 12 goals on 17 shots through four games this season. Nesbitt (7-5-12), Baird (9-0-9), Krestinski (6-1-7), and Taylor Kopan (5-2-7) are next on the Bucknell points list.
Boyce, who is ninth in the Patriot League in goals per game, is nearing a milestone. She enters Sunday's game with 98 career goals, and she is close to becoming just the 10th 100-goal scorer in team history.

Bucknell Career Goals Leaders
1. Suzanne Raffaele     144     2000-03
2. Michelle Manion 140     1986-90
3. Bonnie Buechel 129     2006-09
4. Heidi Hammes 128     1996-99
5. Sue Gray 127     1981-84
Katelyn Miller    127     2011-14
7. Julia Braun 116     2008-11
8. Maddy Molinari 113     2014-17
9. Carol Donohue 107     2007-10
10. Ashley Evans 99     1998-01
    Allie Boyce 98     2022-pres.

Freshman midfielder Braeden Siverson is starting to make her presence felt in the draw circle. Siverson recorded eight draw controls at St. Bonaventure and then topped that total with nine in the win over Robert Morris. Siverson also scored three goals in those two games.
Goalie Colleen Kazanjian is coming off her best game of the season, a 10-save performance in the win over Robert Morris.
Bucknell is looking to improve on last year's 6-10 record. The Bison were picked ninth in the Patriot League preseason poll. The league is loaded with talent this year, with three teams ranked in the IWLCA national poll at times this season.
The Bison returned 195 of their 209 goals (93.3%) from last season. The 209 goals were the team's most since 2016. Boyce led the way with 50, while Kopan, Baird, and Krestinski all tallied 22. Taylor McClain recorded 13 goals and a team-high 33 assists.
Bucknell's biggest graduation loss was First Team All-Patriot League defender Ella Payer, who departed as the program's all-time leader in draw controls.
Head coach Jackie Dando is in her fifth season as Bucknell's head coach. Lisa Oakley is back for her second season working with the defenders and draw specialists, while Jordan Baerga is in her first year working with the attack unit.

Mount St. Mary's at a Glance/Series History

The Mountaineers have played a difficult early season schedule with losses to Towson, Delaware, Navy, and UMBC. Their most recent outing was a 15-11 home loss to UMBC on Wednesday despite six goals from Anna Salerno.
Salerno, a junior coming off a 20-goal season, already has 10 this year to lead the team. Mackenzi Furlong is next with seven goals, while three others have four each.
Hailey Chester leads the team with 17 draw controls, while Madison Harmening has nine ground balls and six caused turnovers.
The Mount was picked to finish fifth out of 10 teams in the MAAC preseason poll, behind Fairfield, Siena, Niagara, and Quinnipiac. A year ago, they finished 4-13 overall and 3-5 in their first season as a member of the MAAC. Mount St. Mary's played in the NCAA Tournament in 2021 and 2022, its final two seasons in the Northeast Conference.
Bucknell is 7-0 all-time against Mount St. Mary's in a series that began in 1988. This will be the Mountaineers' first trip north on Rt. 15 to Bucknell since 2011, when the Bison narrowly escaped with a 12-11 win.
The two teams met for the first time in seven years last spring, and Bucknell won 11-8 in Emmitsburg. The Bison employed a balanced offensive attack, with the 11 goals coming from nine different players. Allie Boyce and Taylor McClain both logged two goals and an assist, and Alex Nesbitt had a goal and three assists. Bucknell scored six first-quarter goals and led 8-2 at the half and 10-3 after three quarters. Abby Osmeyer and Dani Donoghue scored three times each for Mount St. Mary's.

Next Up

Bucknell has one more non-conference game before the start of Patriot League play. The Bison visit Kent State on March 9 for the first-ever meeting between the two programs, and then they host Boston University in the Patriot League opener on March 16.