Saturday, March 1
Worcester, Mass.
1 p.m.
Bucknell University
at
Holy Cross
Photo by: Brett Newcomb
Men's Lax Heads to Holy Cross for First Patriot League Game of 2025
2/28/2025 10:07:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Bucknell (2-2) at Holy Cross (2-3)
When: Saturday, March 1, 1 p.m. Â
Where: Kuzniewski Field - Worcester, Mass.Â
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: goholycross.com
ÂBucknell at a Glance
- The Bison look to get back into the win column on Saturday and improve their record to a winning one with its away contest at Holy Cross on Saturday at 1 p.m.
- After opening the 2025 season with back-to-back wins over Merrimack and St. Bonaventure, the Bison have lost their last two contests with Dartmouth and Hobart.Â
- The game against Hobart was a tight contest in which the Bison lost 13-12 in heartbreaking fashion. The Bison led 12-9 midway through the fourth quarter when the Statesman scored four unanswered goals and took the lead with 2:30 remaining.
- Bucknell held multi-goal leads several times throughout the game, but persistence was the story for Hobart. Davis notched his fourth goal of the game early in the fourth quarter to give the Bison a 12-9 lead. The Bison looked comfortable until the Statesman flipped the momentum with three goals in 1:18 of play to tie the game 12-12.With 2:30 remaining, Cade Dino finished his hat trick with the game-winner on a shot through the five-hole of Jaz Zanelli.
- Zanelli finished the game with 18 saves. The Statesman had plenty of offensive opportunities, dominating the face-offs 21-7. Hobart took 46 shots compared to Bucknell's 47.
- The Bison had plenty of opportunities late, possessing the ball for nearly the final minute of play. Davis missed just wide on a shot with 15 seconds and another shot that was saved with three seconds.
- Michael Meyer added another five assists to his incredible tally to start the season. He entered the game ranked ninth in the nation in assists and brought his season total to a career-high 14. His 14 assists already eclipsed his 12 assists from each of the previous two seasons. Heading into this weekend's game, Meyer is ranked fifth nationally in assists per game.
- Connor Davis scored four goals, his fourth consecutive game with as many. He now sits at 129 career goals and is nine goals away from all-time school leader Justin Zackey '94 (138). Davis comes into this weekend ranked second nationally in goals per game.Â
- The Bison as a unit enter this weekend ranked second nationally in assists per game with 11.75, fifth in man-up offense (.667), points per game with 28.50, fourth in scoring offense with 16.75 goals per game, 10th in caused turnovers with 10.50 per game, 11th in saves per game with 14 and 10th in shot percentage (.337).
- Bucknell features the Patriot League's top point-producer in Michael Meyer (11-14-25) and the third point-producer in the league in Connor Davis (21-2-23).Â
- Davis leads the Patriot League in goals per game (5.25) and shots per game (11). Meyer leads in assists per game (3.50).
- Will Hopkins (6-6-12) is the third member of the starting attack trio, and he is also off to a strong start after moving from midfield to attack this season.
- Peter Grandolfo (4-3-7), Sean Berrigan (5-6-11), Owen Kovacs (6-1-7), Luke Brunner (5-2-7), Cam Doolan (3-2-5) and Anthony Panetti (2-3-5) all have at least five points.
- Defensive middie John Young leads the team with 17 ground balls, while Jack Tully has 12. Ben Concepcion is 28-for-49 (.571) on the season in face-offs.
- Will Pickering leads the defensive unit with 10 caused turnovers, while freshman Ollie Hau has six.Â
- The Bison are a solid 87.9 percent on clears through four games, while holding opponents to 83.1 percent.
- Bucknell's EMO unit is a terrific 10-for-15 thus far, while opponents are only 5-for-19.
Holy Cross at a Glance
- The Crusaders are off to a 2-3 start in 2025. Holy Cross has been up and down as they opened the season with a loss at Providence, won two games in a row against Queens and UMass-Lowell and most recently dropped two games back-to-back against Sacred Heart and Dartmouth.
- In Holy Cross's last game against Dartmouth, the Crusaders fell 14-4 at home. Dartmouth got out to the 5-0 lead in the first quarter, scoring the eventual game-winner with 1:21 remaining in the opening frame.
- Holy Cross got on the board with 11:21 remaining in the second, with a man-up goal by sophomore Jude Lynch.
- Senior John Mitchell and freshman Andrew Ottomanelli tacked on back-to-back goals in the third quarter to break down the Dartmouth lead, but a six goal run over the tail end of the third and the start of the fourth by Dartmouth put the game out of reach.
- Sophomore Ryan Botek scored the final goal for the Crusaders with 2:21 to play in regulation.
- Junior JR Long recorded 11 saves in net, marking his fourth game this season with double digit saves.
- Sophomore Gavin Ouhrabka led both sides at the faceoff X, going 10-for-13 (.769) in the contest.
- The top three point getters on the Crusaders are Jon-Luke Duley (10-1-11), Jude Lynch (8-1-9) and John Mitchell (3-5-8).
- JR Long has played every minute in the net for Holy Cross through five games notching a 12.20 goals against average and a save percentage of .445.
The Bucknell-Holy Cross Series
- The Bucknell-Holy Cross series marks the first Patriot League match-up for the Bison in 2025.
- Bucknell is 32-1 all-time against Holy Cross with the one loss coming back in 2017. The Bison are currently on a five-game winning streak over the Crusaders.
- On the road against Holy Cross, Bucknell has an undefeated record 15-0.Â
- In last season's match-up, Connor Davis and Cam Doolan combined to score nine goals, including two crucial ones in the fourth quarter to lift the Bucknell men's lacrosse team to a 12-9 victory in its Patriot League opener against Holy Cross at a rain-soaked Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium Saturday. A second-half surge by Holy Cross tied the game at 9-9 with nine minutes to play, but Davis and Doolan scored back-to-back goals to put an end to a 15-minute Bucknell scoring drought.
- The Bison led by as many as five in the second quarter, but they managed just one goal over the first 23 minutes of the second half. Holy Cross used a 6-1 run to turn an 8-3 deficit into a 9-9 tie. After Davis and Doolan scored their fifth and fourth goals of the contest, respectively, Luke Brunner put the game on ice with an empty-net goal with 1:26 to play.
Next Up
- Bucknell returns home for a Patriot League game against Boston University. The game will be on Saturday, March 8 at 12 p.m. at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.Â
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