Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
2-0
UMBC
0-2
Bison Defeat UMBC 18-10 in 2026 Home Opener
2/13/2026 5:31:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
LEWISBURG, Pa. — Bucknell women's lacrosse rode a 12-4 first half to an 18-10 win over UMBC in Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium, despite being out-scored 4-0 in the fourth quarter. With their first home victory and second consecutive win of the 2026 season, the Bison moved to 2-0 overall.
Megan Krestinski led Bucknell in scoring with a career-high seven goals on seven shots, which ties her at second in the Bison record books for goals in a single game. She also recorded a team high three assists to give her 10 points which ties her with Allie Boyce for fifth in the record books in total points in a single game.
Two other Bison notched hat-tricks on the afternoon as Caroline Sheridan finished the game with four goals and one assist and Caleigh Cummiskey found three goals and one assist. Freshman Katie Powers scored her first collegiate goal as one of four Bison that recorded one goal in the game. The other three Bucknell goal scorers were Katie Browne, Kat Reynolds and Regan Sansiviero.
UMBC and Bucknell were close in shot attempts with the Bison having 30 and the Retrievers having 29. Both teams notched 18 shots on goal, but Bucknell converted all 18 into goals while the Retrievers were only able to convert 10. The Bison out-paced UMBC in ground balls 15-13.
Bucknell's goalies stood tall in the net as Bella Crowley and Julia Dembowitz combined for 11 saves compared to the Retrievers four. Crowley started in net for Bucknell and had a .600 save percentage in the game with nine saves and six goals against. Dembowitz recorded two saves and four goals against.
UMBC utilized a deficit in draw controls to start a comeback in the second half as they finished the game with 17 draws compared to Bucknell's 13. Alex Macutek led the Bison in draw controls with five and Madie Thistlewaite followed closely behind with three.
The turnover battle was pretty similar throughout the game with both teams struggling more in the second half of play to maintain possession. Bucknell recorded 17 turnovers to win the battle as UMBC had 19.
The Retrievers led the Bison in caused turnovers with 11 to Bucknell's eight. Jess Leon led the Bison in the category with three and Sansiviero followed with two.
The Bison remained successful on their clears going 16-for-18 as the Retrievers finished 12-for-19 in the category.
The first quarter of play was all offense as it saw 11 goals. Caleigh Cummiskey opened the game with a quick goal off of a Megan Krestinski assist. UMBC answered about a minute later with a goal from O'Callaghan. The Bison then had two unassisted goals in a row from Krestinski and Caroline Sheridan. The Retrievers were able to find the back of the net once again about a minute after the Bison's third goal, but Bucknell quickly answered with four goals in a row including three from Krestinski, who saw a first quarter hat-trick. The other goal came from Sheridan. Tess Curtis then found a goal for UMBC to break the Bison run, but Krestinski found her fifth of the quarter with just over 30 seconds left in the quarter to put Bucknell up 8-3 at the end of the first.
The second quarter saw much less scoring power with only five total goals. Bucknell dominated the quarter as they scored four in a row to take a 12-3 lead with two-minutes left in the half. Krestinski found her sixth of the game, Sheridan her third, Cummiskey her second and Regan Sansiviero found her first of the game. The Retrievers avoided being blanked in the quarter with a MacIntosh goal that came with just eight seconds left in the half. Bucknell went into the locker room at halftime with a 12-4 lead.
Sheridan got her fourth of the game to open the third quarter. About 30 seconds later, Emily Knapp found the back of the net for UMBC, but Cummiskey immediately responded with her third of the game on an unassisted goal. Bella Crowley made a low save and off of the clear, Katie Browne got her first goal of the game to put Bucknell up by 10 at the third quarter media timeout. Out of the break, Bucknell's defense came up with a stop, but the Bison immediately turned the ball over which resulted in Knapp's second goal of the quarter. Crowley notched another save and on Bucknell's next offensive possession, Kat Reynolds got in on the scoring with a free-position goal. The Bison won the next draw and Krestinski buried her seventh of the game. The third quarter ended with Katie powers earning her first collegiate goal on a rocket of a shot to give Bucknell a 18-6 advantage.
The fourth quarter opened with over six and a half minutes of scoreless play before UMBC broke the stalemate with four consecutive goals to close the gap to single-digits. The final four minutes went scoreless as Bucknell moved to 2-0 in 2026.
The Bison will take to the field next on Sunday, Feb. 15 at 11 a.m. as they take on Penn State in University Park.
