Women’s Lacrosse Readies for Patriot League Home Opener Against #26/24 Army

Saturday, March 21

Lewisburg, Pa.

1 p.m.

Bucknell University

Army

Photo by: Steven Schoenfelder

Women’s Lacrosse Readies for Patriot League Home Opener Against #26/24 Army

3/17/2026 3:00:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

LEWISBURG, Pa. — Bucknell women's lacrosse is gearing up for its Patriot League home opener on Saturday, March 21 against Army West Point. The game is set for a 1 p.m. start as the Bison host the Black Knights in Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.

Bucknell is currently 4-3 overall and 0-1 in Patriot League play after dropping to a two-game losing streak with losses to Arizona State and Navy. Army comes into the game 6-2 overall and 2-0 in the Patriot League after extending its winning streak to three with a conference upset win over #16/17 Loyola Maryland.

This will be the 10th meeting between the two teams since they first met in 2016 where the Bison took a 19-9 win. The Black Knights currently hold a 6-3 overall record and a three game winning streak over Bucknell.

Bucknell (4-3, 0-1) vs #26/24 Army (6-2, 2-0)

When: Saturday, March 21 — 1 p.m.

Where: Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium — Lewisburg, Pa.

Watch: ESPN+

Live Stats: bucknellbison.com

Bucknell at a Glance

Bucknell enters the contest 4-3 with home wins over Youngstown State, UMBC, St. Bonaventure and Rider and road losses to Penn State, Arizona State and #5 Navy.
Caleigh Cummiskey leads the team in scoring with 24 goals. She is 19th in the NCAA in goals per game (3.43) and 34th in total goals with 24.
Cummiskey also ranks 49th in points with 33 and 26th in points per game (4.71).
Megan Krestinski is tied for 34th in the NCAA in goals per game (3.00).
Krestinski leads the Bison in assists with 15. She is tied for 45th in the NCAA for total assists and 34th in assists per game (2.14).
Krestinski also leads the team in total points with 36 (21G/15A). She is tied for 41st in the NCAA in points with 36 and 14th in points per game (5.14).
Jess Leon leads Bucknell in ground balls with 19. She is tied for 30th in the NCAA in ground balls per game (2.71).
Leon also leads the team in caused turnovers with 12.
Gigi Abernethy leads the Bison in draw controls with 13.
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.

Bucknell's Last Time Out

Despite holding the lead for a majority of the first quarter, the Bucknell women's lacrosse team fell to #5 Navy 17-6 as the Midshipmen dominated the final three quarters of play in the conference opening game for both teams. After the Bison went up 3-2, Navy won nine straight draws and turned it into nine straight goals to secure a lead that Bucknell would be unable to come back from. With the loss, the Bison fell to 4-3 on the season and 0-1 in the Patriot League.
Bucknell opened the game hot as it was able to go the first ten minutes without trailing the Midshipmen, but a 2-0 run for Navy to end the first gave it a 4-3 lead. The second quarter was a dominant show by the Midshipmen as they extended its scoring run to nine to take an 11-3 lead before Bucknell got its lone goal of the quarter to make it 11-4 at halftime. A low-scoring third quarter with just three Navy goals and one Bucknell goal resulted in the Midshipmen extending their lead to nine with one quarter left to play. The final quarter of play went the same way as the third with three Midshipmen goals and one Bison goal to make it a 17-6 win for #5 Navy,
Freshman Katie Powers led Bucknell in scoring with two goals on two shots. Caleigh Cummiskey, Megan Krestinski, Alex Macutek and Alex Nesbit each notched one goal apiece to round out the Bison's six goals. Krestinski and Nesbitt added a second point apiece as they recorded the lone Bucknell assists of the contest.
Kate Hearns led the Bison in ground balls with four and freshman Anna Cornell followed closely behind with three. Cornell also led the team in caused turnovers with three.
Navy was dominant throughout the final three quarters of play, which all started on the draw as the Midshipmen won 19 and the Bison only reeled in six. Gigi Abernethy and Krestinski led Bucknell in draw controls with two apiece.
Saves were even amongst the two teams at eight, but there was a glaring difference in shots on goal as Navy had 21 to Bucknell's 12. Bella Crowley started in net for the Bison and recorded five saves and 13 goals against in almost 40 minutes of play. Julia Dembowitz also saw time in the goal for Bucknell and had three saves and four goals against in almost 21 minutes played.

#26/24 Army at a Glance

The Black Knights enter the game 6-2 overall and 2-0 in the Patriot League after defeating #16/17 Loyola Maryland on Saturday.
Army is on a three game winning streak with wins over Fairfield, Boston U. and Loyola Maryland.
The lone Black Knight losses came at the hands of #11/15 Colorado and #2/2 Northwestern.
In its last time out, Army West Point women's lacrosse made history on Saturday afternoon handing Loyola Maryland (4-4, 1-1 Patriot League)their first loss in Patriot League regular season games in 95 tries and their first victory over the Greyhounds in program history by a score of 18-10. Army (6-2, 2-0 Patriot League) was led by senior Allison Reilly's eight-point performance and secured their first ranked win of the 2026 season.
Brigid Duffy leads Army in goals with 29, caused turnovers with 16 and ground balls with 24.
Allison Reilly leads the team in assists with 34 and points with 55.
Ellie Nawa leads the Black Knights in draw controls with 48.

The Bucknell / Army Series

This will be the 10th meeting between Army and Bucknell in program history.
The two teams met for the first time in 2016 where the Bison won 19-9.
Army holds a 6-3 record over Bucknell.
The Black Knights are currently on a three-game winning streak over the Bison.

Up Next

Bucknell women's lacrosse will continue its two-game homestand as it hosts Colgate for a mid-week conference game on Wednesday, March 25 at 5 p.m. in Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.