Women's Lacrosse Opens Season at Youngstown State

Friday, February 6

Youngstown, Ohio

6 p.m.

Bucknell University

Youngstown State

Women's Lacrosse Opens Season at Youngstown State

2/3/2026 2:40:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

LEWISBURG, Pa. — Bucknell women's lacrosse opens its 2026 season at Youngstown State on Friday, Feb. 6 at 6 p.m. The Bison will face a Penguins squad that is led by Liza Oakley, a former assistant coach with Bucknell, in her collegiate head coaching debut.

Bucknell is coming off of a 6-10 overall record and 2-7 Patriot League record in 2025, where the Bison had two players (Megan Krestinski and Jess Leon) earn All-Patriot League Second Team.

Bucknell (0-0) vs Youngstown State (0-0)

When: Friday, Feb. 6 — 6 p.m.

Where: Watson and Tressel Training Site / Youngstown, OH

Watch: YouTube (Youngstown State Penguins)

Live Stats: bucknellbison.com

Bucknell at a Glance

The Bison enter the 2026 season on Friday, Feb. 6 against Youngstown State.
Jess Leon was named to the 2026 Preseason All-Patriot League Team after a strong 2025 campaign.
The 2026 women's lacrosse captains are Katie Browne, Cat Dineen, Megan Krestinski and Caroline Sheridan.
Bucknell welcomed two new assistant coaches in the offseason; Emily Mitarotonda and Emma Telatovich.
The Bison also welcomed 12 freshmen this season, the largest class amongst the team.
Bucknell returned 26 players from the 2025 roster including 2025 All-Patriot League Second Team players Megan Krestinski and Jess Leon.
Bucknell lost top offensive powerhouses Allie Boyce and Taylor McClain to graduation.
In 2025, Bucknell went 6-10 overall and 2-7 in Patriot League play with its two conference wins coming against American and Lehigh.
Last season, Megan Krestinski led the team in scoring with 31 goals on the season and total points with 41. She also led the team in draw controls with 36.
Krestinski is also the leading returner in assists as she had 10, Taylor McClain led the category with 25, but has since graduated.
Jess Leon led the team in ground balls with 45, which was ranked 20th in the NCAA and led the Patriot League. She also led the team in caused turnovers per game with 2.27, which was ranked 13th in the NCAA. Leon holds third place in Bucknell history in caused turnovers in a single season with 36 in 2025.

Bucknell's Last Time Out

In the Bison's last time out, they closed out the 2025 season with a home loss to #15 Loyola 19-6 as senior Allie Boyce broke the Bucknell career goals record.
Despite both of the other Patriot League outcomes going Bucknell's way, the loss to Loyola meant that the Bison missed out on the 2025 Patriot League playoffs, with their last playoff berth coming in 2017.
Boyce scored her record tying goal on a free-position shot to start the second quarter, which tied Suzanne Raffaele '03 with 144 goals. The senior then found her record-breaking 145th goal in the fourth quarter off of a pick-and-roll to take sole possession of Bucknell's career goals record.
Alongside Boyce, four other Bison scored throughout the game. Alex Nesbitt, Alex Macutek, Carly Cenci and Caroline Sheridan had one goal each.

Youngstown State at a Glance

This game will serve as Youngstown State's season home opener as they enter the contest with a clean 0-0 record.
Youngstown State is led by a new head coach in Liza Oakley. Oakley joins the Penguins as its head coach after serving as an assistant coach at Bucknell under head coach Jackie Dando.
The Penguins roster consists of 13 freshmen, 10 sophomores, five juniors and five seniors.
In 2025, Youngstown State finished 7-8 overall and 2-4 in conference play. The Penguins were 3-5 at home on the season.
The Penguins lost their top three point grabbers, with Ava Kreutzer being the top returner in the category with 28 points off of 27 goals and one assist.

The Bucknell-Youngstown State Series