Browne’s Late Goal Gives Women’s Lax Dramatic 14-13 Win over Lafayette

Wednesday, April 17

Lewisburg, Pa.

7 p.m.

Bucknell University

5-8, 3-4PL

Lafayette

4-10, 1-6PL

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Lafayette	5	2	4	2	13
Bucknell	4	3	4	3	14

Photo by: Lianne Garrahan

Browne’s Late Goal Gives Women’s Lax Dramatic 14-13 Win over Lafayette

4/17/2024 11:15:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

LEWISBURG, Pa. – Katie Browne scored her third goal of the game off a Regan Sansiviero feed with 4.9 seconds remaining in regulation to give the Bucknell women's lacrosse team a dramatic 14-13 victory over visiting Lafayette on Wednesday night at Graham Field at Holmes Stadium. Megan Krestinski and Allie Boyce added four goals each for the Bison, who moved into a tie for fifth place in the Patriot League standings with two games left in the regular season.

KATIE BROWNE WINS IT FOR THE BISON! High drama at Graham Field as Brown's goal with 4.9 seconds to go caps a big comeback win! #rayBucknell @PatriotLeagueTV | @ESPN pic.twitter.com/reN8wfKyIA
— Bucknell Women's Lax (@Bucknell_WLAX) April 18, 2024

Bucknell had to fight uphill throughout much of the night and didn't take its first lead until the fourth quarter. It was a 7-7 game at the half, and then Lafayette stormed out of the locker room with four straight goals in less than four minutes. Two straight tallies by Sara Rogers gave the Leopards an 11-7 lead, but the Bison battled back.

Browne scored a momentum-breaker from the 8-meter arc, and then Braeden Siverson charged down the left alley to make it 11-8. Emily Baird juked a defender at the top of the arc and cut straight down the middle to made it a one-goal game, and then Boyce struck on a free-position attempt with 29 seconds left in the third quarter to knot the game at 11-all.

Siverson gave the Bison their first lead of the night with 8:16 remaining in the fourth period, beating the shot clock in traffic for her second goal of the night. Just 2:34 later, Boyce finished a Krestinski feed to make it 13-11.

After Lafayette's four-goal flurry to start the second half, Bucknell's defense pitched a shutout for the next 19:42, thanks in large part to goalie Colleen Kazanjian. The junior netminder made five of her 11 saves during that span, enabling the Bison to rattle off six straight goals.

But the Leopards were not finished. Reserve middie Sophia Spallone answered the Boyce goal just 35 seconds later, and then after a Bison turnover, Spallone scored again to make it a 13-13 game with 3:25 to play,

Lafayette had a big night on the draw circle, winning 20 of 29, and Emma Ruckh nabbed a big one right after the tying goal, but Baird stole the ball right back for the Bison. After a timeout, Lexie Coldiron made a terrific save to rob Krestinski, but Kazanjian returned the favor with a big stop on Abby Romano's low shot with 49 seconds left. Haleigh Albrecht came up with the ground ball off the save, but after a stoppage in play, Lafayette threw the ball away.

Bucknell called timeout with 28 seconds left and had to go the length of the field, but Krestinski drew a foul in the midfield with 20 seconds to go, which stopped the clock and sent Lafayette shorthanded on the green card. After the restart, Baird passed to Sansiviero at goal-line extended, and Sansiviero found a cutting Browne for the game-winner with less than five seconds remaining.

Lafayette won the final draw control but ran out of time, and the Bison celebrated their fifth win of the season. Bucknell is now 3-4 in the Patriot League and moved into a fifth-place tie with Lehigh. The Bison were even with Colgate at the start of the night, but the Raiders fell to Boston University. Colgate and American are one game out at 2-5.

Krestinski added two assists to her four goals for a six-point showing. She scored or assisted on all four of Bucknell's first-quarter goals as the Bison trailed 5-4 after one. Lafayette went up 7-5 on Claire Culligan's tally 4:30 into the second period, but goals by Browne and Krestinski helped square the match at 7-7 by halftime.

Baird had a strong all-around game with three caused turnovers, four draw controls, and two ground balls. Krestinski and Boyce were both 2-for-2 on free-position chances, as the Bison went 5-for-9 on the night.

Rogers paced Lafayette with three goals and two assists, while Olivia Hover added three goals of her own. Katie Marrs registered a game-high eight draw controls, and Nora Burns had five caused turnovers and five grounds balls. Coldiron finished with nine saves.

The game was slowed by 15 cards, eight to Bucknell and seven to Lafayette. The Leopards finished with a narrow 30-29 edge in shots, while Bucknell had a 20-16 advantage in ground balls.

Next up for the Bison is a home date with Army West Point on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Black Knights are 5-2 in league play after edging Holy Cross 17-16 on Wednesday evening. It will be Senior Day at Graham Field, as Bucknell's 10 seniors will be recognized before the game.

Head coach Jackie Dando's postgame thoughts: