Men's Lacrosse Opens Patriot League Play Saturday at Lehigh

Saturday, February 28

Bethlehem, Pa.

11 a.m.

Bucknell University

Lehigh

Photo by: Steven Schoenfelder

Men's Lacrosse Opens Patriot League Play Saturday at Lehigh

2/26/2026 11:58:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse

Bucknell (4-1, 0-0 PL) at Lehigh (2-2, 0-0 PL)
When: Saturday, Feb. 28, 11 a.m.
Where: Ulrich Sports Complex, Bethlehem, Pa.
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: LehighSports.com

Bucknell at a Glance

Bucknell opens Patriot League play on Saturday at Lehigh at 11 a.m. It will be the first of four league games on the slate on Saturday, with Boston University hosting Navy, Army hosting Holy Cross, and Colgate hosting Loyola, all starting at noon.
The Bison enter league play with a 4-1 record after holding off Hobart 12-10 last Saturday. Lehigh is 2-2 after falling 16-7 at No. 6 Richmond last week. The Mountain Hawks also have a 14-13 road win over No. 17/19 Michigan and a 14-13 double-overtime loss to Fairfield. The two teams have had one common opponent. Both handily defeated Iona on the road.
Bucknell enters Patriot League play ranked fifth in the Patriot League in goals per game (13.0) and second in goals-against average (8.80).
The Bison feature one of the Patriot League's hottest goal-scorers in Michael Meyer, who is tied with Lafayette's Benjamin Dibattista for the league lead with 17. Meyer had a six-goal game at Robert Morris earlier in the season, he has at least three goals in four of the team's five games, and he has 13 goals in his last three outings. Meyer's 3.40 goals per game rank 10th nationally.
Freshman Sean Murray is tied for sixth in the league in assists with seven. Murray is coming off a two-goal, two-assist day against Hobart, when he had a hand in two of the biggest goals of the game. With the score tied at 10-10 late in the fourth quarter, he scored the go-ahead goal and then assisted on a key insurance goal from Owen Kovacs.
Peter Grandolfo (10-3-13) has also hit double-digit goals and is tied with Sean Berrigan (8-5-13) for second on the team in points. Luke Brunner (7-5-12), Murray (3-7-10), and Kovacs (8-2-10) have also reached the 10-point mark.
Junior Hans Huber (2-6-8) moved up to the first midfield line last week and has made an impact after missing all of last season with a knee injury.
Boosted by an 11-2 win over St. Bonaventure, the Bison rank 14th nationally and second in the Patriot League allowing only 8.8 goals per game. Senior Will Pickering anchors the close defense unit, where he is grouped with a couple of first-year starters in juniors Caleb Lewis and Corbin Lukanski.
Jaz Zanelli has started all five games in goal and has an 8.72 goals-against average and a .400 save percentage. Fellow senior Luke Renaud turned in an outstanding relief appearance against Hobart, when he made seven saves and allowed only six goals in 49 minutes of action.
The Bison rank second in the Patriot League and 19th nationally with a .600 team faceoff percentage. Zach Hepworth (30-50, .600) and Colin McLoy (43-72, .597) have been the team's primary faceoff men.
The St. Bonaventure win was the 400th in program history. The team's inaugural season came in 1968.
Frank Fedorjaka is in his 21st season as head coach at Bucknell, and he is joined on the staff by defensive coordinator Kyle Gallagher, offensive coordinator Matt Kerwick, and new assistant coach Jackson Mumford.

Lehigh at a Glance

The Mountain Hawks enter league play ranked sixth in goals per game (12.5) and seventh in goals-against (12.19).
Sophomore Luke Breslin (8-13-21) leads the Patriot League in assists per game and is second in points per game. Freshman Finn Morgan (13-2-15) is tied for fourth in goals per game. Breslin started the season back-to-back eight-point games against Fairfield (2-6-8) and Iona (4-4-8). Morgan recorded six goals and an assist against Fairfield in his collegiate debut.
Senior Richard Checo leads the Lehigh defense. Checo broke the NCAA record for career caused turnovers with his 162nd last week against Richmond. Earlier this month, Checo was named to the watch list for the Tewaaraton Award, presented to the national player of the year.
Junior Kasey Heath is in his second season as Lehigh's starting goalie. He has a .435 save percentage and a 12.23 GAA through four games.
Junior Connor Riley has taken most of Lehigh's faceoffs and is converting at a 57.3% clip (55-96).
Coach Will Scudder's team went 5-10 overall and 4-4 in the Patriot League last season. The Mountain Hawks were seeded fourth in the Patriot League Tournament but fell 14-10 to eventual-champion Colgate in the quarterfinal round.

The Bucknell-Lehigh Series

The Bison hold a 39-20 lead in an all-time series that dates back to 1969. Lehigh had won five in a row until the Bison prevailed 11-10 in Lewisburg last season. Each of the last two, and three of the last four, clashes have been one-goal games.
Bucknell is 2-1 against Lehigh in Patriot League Tournament play. The Bison won 13-5 at home in the 2011 semifinals on the way to the league title. The Mountain Hawks prevailed 11-5 in the 2013 championship game in Bethlehem, and the Bison won 13-8 at home in the 2015 quarterfinals.
Lehigh has won the last three meetings in Bethlehem, with Bucknell's last win there a 12-10 verdict in 2019.
In last year's game at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium, Bucknell came up with a big defensive stand in the closing seconds to hold off Lehigh 11-10. Goalie Luke Renaud made a big save with his team down a man with 37 seconds left, and then Ollie Hau stripped Dakota Eierman as he charged toward the cage in the last five seconds. It was a balanced scoring attack for the Bison, as Owen Kovacs, Cam Doolan, Anthony Panetti, and Sean Kerwick all scored two goals.
Lehigh won a 9-8 defensive struggle in Bethlehem in 2024. Neither team led by more than two goals all day, and Bucknell hung around de-spite Lehigh's 15-6 edge in faceoffs. Connor Davis, Michael Meyer, and Hans Huber scored two goals each for the Bison.

Next Up

This is the first of eight straight Patriot League contests before the Bison finish the regular-season with a non-league game against UMBC at Messiah College on Apr. 24.
Next up is a trip to Navy next Saturday, March 7, at noon. The Midshipmen improved to 3-1 after edging No. 11/10 Penn State 12-11 last week. Navy travels to Boston University to start conference play this Saturday.