Men's Lax Hosts Navy Friday on Senior Night

Navy (7-6, 3-4 PL) at Bucknell (5-8, 2-5 PL)
When: Friday, Apr. 25, 7 p.m.
Where: Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium, Lewisburg, Pa.
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com

Bucknell at a Glance

The final day of the 2025 regular season has arrived, with four Patriot League games on the Friday slate. Bucknell wraps up its campaign with a Senior Night home contest against Navy at 7 p.m.
At 2-5 in Patriot League play, the Bison have a chance to move up to a tie for sixth place with a win over 3-4 Navy and a Loyola (3-4) loss at first-place Army (6-1), but the Greyhounds would hold that three-way tiebreaker for the final Patriot League Tournament spot. Meanwhile, Navy must win to have a shot at a postseason spot, and it can still finish as high as the No. 5 seed. The Midshipmen will be in the unusual position of rooting for Army in its 4:30 p.m. game vs. Loyola. If Army and Navy both win, the Mids would be assured of a tourney berth.
The Bison will be looking to end the season on a high note with a win over Navy in the final game for seniors Jack Dudas, Ben Bonafede, Cam Doolan, George Talarico, Ryan Caione, Grant Malas, and Connor Davis.
Bucknell is coming off a 20-11 loss to No. 4 Army last Saturday at West Point. That contest was level at 4-4 at the end of the first quarter and it was 7-6 midway through the second, but the Black Knights broke it open with a four-goal flurry late in the first half followed by a seven-goal third quarter.
Bucknell was able to put up 11 goals on the nation's No. 1 defense. The Black Knights came into the game yielding only 6.55 goals per game. The Bison had seven by halftime, but Army's red-hot shooters proved to be too much.
Davis recorded two goals at Army. His third-quarter tally was his 40th of the season, and he joined Justin Zackey (1993-94) as the only Bison with two 40-goal seasons. It was only the eighth 40-goal campaign in team history. Davis, who broke Zackey's career scoring record earlier this season, is the first Bucknell player with three seasons of at least 38 goals.
Davis is one of three 40-goal scorers in the Patriot League, along with Army's Jackson Eicher (45) and Colgate's Jack Turner (41). Davis' 3.08 goals per game ranks third in the league and 10th nationally.
Davis now has 148 career goals, extending his Bucknell record. He tied Justin Zackey's 31-year-old standard against Lehigh and broke the mark against Loyola. Davis' 148 goals are fourth-most among all active Division I players. Cornell's CJ Kirst has 224, followed by Princeton's Coulter Mackesy with 158 and Pratt Reynolds of Siena with 156. Davis has averaged just under a hat trick (2.90 goals per game) over his career. He has scored a goal in all but five of his 51 career games and has a point in all but two.
Michael Meyer had scored multiple points in every game this season before being held off the sheet at Bryant two weeks ago. Meyer bounced back with a hat trick at Army, and he leads the team with 56 points on the season. Meyer has blown by his previous career highs in goals (25), assists (31), and points. Meyer enters Friday's action ranked third in the Patriot League and ninth nationally in assists, and fifth in the PL and 17th nationally in points.
Meyer recorded his 100th career point earlier this season and now has 111 on 56 goals and 55 assists.
After missing his first two seasons with injuries, Kovacs has emerged as another top scoring threat on the attack unit. Kovacs has started the last eight games and now has 18 goals and four assists on the season.
Bucknell ranks 13th nationally in scoring at 13.08 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 (15-11-26), Sean Berrigan (10-11-21), Anthony Panetti (10-11-21), Luke Brunner (14-6-20), Peter Grandolfo (14-6-20), and Cam Doolan (12-5-17).

Close defenseman Will Pickering leads the team with 24 caused turnovers to go with 28 ground balls. Pickering ranks fourth in the Patriot League and 12th nationally in CTs with 1.85 per game.
Bucknell's man-up unit is 20-for-46 (.435) on the season. That figure ranks 17th 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 14.08 per game. That is the seventh-best mark in the nation.
Colin McLoy has gotten hot at the faceoff X down the stretch. In his last four games, McCloy is 65-for-123 (.528) with 38 ground balls. He recorded a career-high 10 GBs against Bryant, and his 4.5 GBs per game rank fourth in the Patriot League.
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.

Navy at a Glance

The Midshipmen got out to a great start in Patriot League play with a 13-9 win over then-20th-ranked Boston University, but more recently they have dropped three of their last four and now need a win and some help to qualify for the Patriot League Tournament.
After dropping an agonizing 12-11 verdict at home to arch-rival Army on Apr. 12 – the Black Knights scored three times in the last 2:06 to steal the win -- Navy dropped a 16-11 verdict at Loyola last Friday.
Mac Haley leads a balanced Navy scoring leaderboard with 36 points on 19 goals and 17 assists. William Goers (13-17-30), Jack Ponzio (17-10-27), Jack Flaherty (12-14-26), and Carter Ash (19-5-24) have all reached 20 points.
LSM Sean Gallagher leads the squad with 43 ground balls.
Injuries have hampered Navy at the faceoff X this season. Zach Hayashi (49-65, .516) and Colin Shadowens (67-128, .523) have split time on the draws in recent games.
Dan Daly has started all 13 games in goal and has a .533 save percentage and 10.51 GAA. He ranks sixth in the Patriot League in both categories.

The Bucknell-Navy Series

Bucknell is 8-15 against Navy in an all-time series that dates back to 1996.
Bucknell won the inaugural meeting 6-5 in Annapolis on the way to a perfect 12-0 season in 1996.
The Bison held an 8-7 series lead after winning five straight meetings between 2011-15, but the Midshipmen have won the last eight in a row.
Bucknell's last series win was an 8-7 verdict in Annapolis in 2015, and the last home win was a 9-6 decision on 2014. Sean Doyle's tiebreaking goal with 51 seconds remaining was the difference in 2015.
These two teams have met just once in the postseason, with Navy winning 9-8 against the top-seeded Bison in the 2009 Patriot League Tournament final at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.
A year ago, Navy won 13-12 in overtime in the season finale. Bucknell trailed 12-9 in the fourth quarter before drawing even on consecutive goals from Luke Brunner, Connor Davis, and Richie Striano. The Bison thought they had a game-winner with eight seconds remaining in regulation, but Will Hopkins' goal was waved off on a crease violation. Hans Huber had a shot saved on the first possession of overtime, and the Mids won it on Dane Swanson's goal with 1:53 left.

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Players Mentioned

Sean Berrigan

Ben Bonafede

Luke Brunner

Ryan Caione

Connor Davis

Cam Doolan

Jack Dudas

Peter Grandolfo

Will Hopkins

Hans Huber

Grant Malas

Colin McLoy

Michael Meyer

Anthony Panetti

Will Pickering

Richie Striano

George Talarico