Men's Lax Faces Bryant on Long Island Saturday Afternoon

Bucknell (5-6, 2-4 PL) vs. Bryant (6-4, 3-1 America East)
When: Saturday, Apr. 12, 12 p.m.
Where: Howitt Middle School, Farmingdale, N.Y.
Watch: YouTube
Live Stats: BryantBulldogs.com

Bucknell at a Glance

The Bison continue their busy week with a non-league, neutral-site game against Bryant on Long Island on Saturday. The game is part of the 2025 Dalers Lacrosse Classic, presented by Shore 2 Shore Lacrosse. Both teams are coming off wins. Bucknell downed Le Moyne 11-7 in a snowstorm in Syracuse on Tuesday, while the Bulldogs routed NJIT 15-6 in Newark last Saturday.
Bucknell was stout defensively and at the faceoff X against Le Moyne. The Bison forced 16 turnovers, received seven saves from Luke Renaud in difficult conditions, and held the Dolphins to 10-for-16 on clears. Colin McLoy continued to perform well on the draws. He was 13-for-19 with eight ground balls, just three days after going 14-for-25 with eight GBs against Loyola.
Michael Meyer paced a balanced scoring attack with two goals and three assists, and he now has 53 points on the season from 22 goals and 31 assists. Meyer is third in the Patriot League and seventh nationally in assists per game (2.82) and fifth in the PL and 10th nationally in points per game (4.82).
Meyer, a native of East Northport (Northport HS), is one of three Long Islanders on the Bucknell roster who will be returning home on Saturday. Senior Ben Bonafede (Bay Shore) and freshman Jack Tully (Garden City) both starred at Chaminade High School.
Connor Davis scored his 34th goal of the season at Le Moyne. He ranks fourth in the Patriot League and 14th in the country with 3.09 goals per game. Davis also has 10 assists, and his 4.00 points per game are ninth-most in the league.
Davis now has 142 career goals, extending his Bucknell record. He tied Justin Zackey's 31-year-old standard against Lehigh and broke the mark against Loyola. Davis' 142 goals are fourth-most among all active Division I players. Cornell's CJ Kirst has 214, followed by Princeton's Coulter Mackesy with 154 and Pratt Reynolds of Siena with 147. Davis has averaged just under a hat trick (2.90 goals per game) over his career.
After missing his first two seasons with injuries, Owen Kovacs has emerged as another top scoring threat on the attack unit. Kovacs has started the last six games and now has 14 goals and four assists on the season.
Bucknell ranks 13th nationally in scoring at 13.2 goals per game.
Nine Bison have reached double-digit points this season. In addition to Meyer, Davis, and Kovacs, other top scorers are Will Hopkins (14-11-25), Sean Berrigan (9-8-17), Luke Brunner (13-4-17), Peter Grandolfo (11-5-16), Cam Doolan (11-4-15), and Anthony Panetti (7-7-14).

Close defenseman Will Pickering leads the team with 20 caused turnovers to go with 23 ground balls. Pickering ranks fifth in the Patriot League and 15th nationally in CTs with 1.82 per game.
Bucknell's man-up unit is 17-for-38 (.441) on the season. That figure ranks 15th nationally and fourth in the Patriot League.
The Bison have done a good job taking care of the ball, as they lead the league in fewest turnovers with 13.73 per game. That is the fifth-best mark in the nation.
Goalie Luke Renaud stopped a season-high 17 shots against Loyola. He made 11 saves in the second half of a tight game, including three big ones in the final 90 seconds to help force overtime. Renaud has a 5-3 record this season with a .517 save percentage and 11.27 GAA.
Head coach Frank Fedorjaka is in his 20th season as Bucknell's head coach. After two stints as an assistant under Hall-of-Famer Sid Jamieson, Fedorjaka succeeded Jamieson after his retirement in 2006. Jamieson founded Bucknell's varsity lacrosse program in 1968, and Bucknell has had only two head coaches in the 57-year history of the program.

Bryant at a Glance

The Bulldogs are 6-4 overall and 3-1 in the America East. They are tied for the league lead with UMBC, and Bryant owns a 12-7 head-to-head win over the Retrievers.
On Bryant's ledger are a couple of close losses to ranked teams, 7-5 to Ohio State and 10-8 to Brown. The Bulldogs also have wins over Merrimack (19-4), Quinnipiac (18-10), St. John's (9-6), UAlbany (12-11), UMBC, and NJIT (15-6).
Bryant features a pair of 30-point scorers in Dawson Rielly (27-5-32) and Brian Russell (14-17-31). Rielly has three five-goal games this season, including one on Saturday against NJIT. Freshman Zac Amend (15-7-22) has multiple goals in four straight games.
JJ Murphy is the primary faceoff specialist. He is 104-for-191 (.545) on the season with a team-high 62 ground balls.
Defenseman Drew Lucas has 16 caused turnovers, 28 ground balls, and also a goal and three assists. Lucas was a Preseason All-AE selection.
Scott Einarson has started all 10 games in goal and has a .541 save percentage and 9.31 GAA. He has recorded double-digit saves six times, with a high of 15 against Ohio State.

The Bucknell-Bryant Series

The Bison are 7-1 all-time against Bryant. The teams met in eight straight years from 2013-20. Bucknell won the first meeting 10-8, the Bulldogs won 12-9 the following year, and then the Bison won the next six.
All eight games have been decided by three goals or fewer, and two of Bucknell's wins were by just a single goal.
The last clash came in 2020 in Smithfield, R.I., and Bucknell prevailed 11-9. That was part of a 5-1 start, but then the season would be shut down only a few weeks later due to the pandemic.
In that 2020 meeting, the Bison got out to a slow start before outscoring Bryant 8-3 in the second half. Harry Wellford led the team with four goals, and Ben Clark was sensational in goal with 17 saves.

Next Up

After the Bryant game, the Bison will have two remaining in the regular season. Bucknell visits Army on Saturday, Apr. 19 and hosts Navy on Friday, Apr. 25.

Men's Lax Faces Bryant on Long Island Saturday Afternoon

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sean Berrigan

Ben Bonafede

Luke Brunner

Connor Davis

Cam Doolan

Peter Grandolfo

Will Hopkins

Owen Kovacs

Colin McLoy

Michael Meyer

Anthony Panetti

Will Pickering

Luke Renaud

Jack Tully

Men's Lax Faces Bryant on Long Island Saturday Afternoon

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sean Berrigan

Ben Bonafede

Luke Brunner

Connor Davis

Cam Doolan

Peter Grandolfo

Will Hopkins

Owen Kovacs

Colin McLoy

Michael Meyer

Anthony Panetti

Will Pickering

Luke Renaud

Jack Tully

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