Men's Lax Returns Home to Face Lafayette Saturday at Noon

Saturday, March 28

Lewisburg, Pa.

12 p.m.

Bucknell University

Lafayette

Photo by: Steven Schoenfelder

Men's Lax Returns Home to Face Lafayette Saturday at Noon

3/26/2026 5:11:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Lafayette (5-4, 1-2 PL) at Bucknell (6-3, 2-2 PL)
When: Saturday, March 28, 12 p.m.
Where: Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium, Lewisburg, Pa.
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com

Bucknell at a Glance

After playing three of its first four Patriot League games on the road, the Bison now get three of their final four at home, starting this Saturday when Lafayette visits Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. Bucknell is 48-9 all-time against the Leopards but will be looking to avenge a one-sided 14-5 loss in Easton a year ago.
The Patriot League standings are quite jumbled heading into the last weekend in March. Boston University suffered its first conference loss last week to Colgate but still has sole possession of the PL lead at 3-1. Navy and Loyola are a half-game back, and then Bucknell, Holy Cross, and Lehigh are just one back at 2-2.
Bucknell has beaten Colgate (14-12) and Lehigh (12-11) and fallen to Navy (16-12) and Loyola (13-12) in league play. Lafayette started the PL slate with a milestone 10-9 win over No. 8/9 Army – its first-ever win over the Black Knights – but since then the Leopards have lost two straight to Holy Cross (11-9) and Navy (15-9).
The Bison come in ranked third in the league in scoring at 12.8 goals per game and third in goals-against at 10.67. Lafayette allows the second-fewest goals in the league (9.89) and is sixth in scoring (11.9).
Bucknell leads the Patriot League and ranks eighth nationally in assists per game at 8.78. Of Bucknell's 115 goals, 79 (68.7%) have been assisted.
Bucknell has done a good job staying out of the penalty box of late. The Bison were flagged only once over the last two games, and that was a coincidental penalty in the Colgate game, so the man-down unit has not seen any action since the Lehigh game on Feb. 28.
Of Bucknell's 14 goals against Colgate, 12 were assisted. The Bison now rank seventh nationally in assists per game (8.63).
The Bison feature one of the Patriot League's top point-producers in senior attackman Michael Meyer (27-13-40). Meyer ranks third in the league in goals and points and eighth in assists. He has multiple points in every game this season, including a six-goal game against Robert Morris and a six-assist outing against Colgate. Meyer and Boston University's Timothy Shannehan are the only two players in the country to have a six-goal and a six-assist game this season.
In the national rankings, Meyer is ninth in goals per game, 19th in points per game, and third in man-up goals with five.
Meyer surpassed the 150-point mark in his career (84-68-152) last week at Loyola, and he is now tied for ninth with Sean Doyle on Bucknell's career points list and ninth on the career assists chart. He needs 13 more goals to jump into the top 10 on that chart and 16 to become the eighth 100-goal scorer in team history.
Fellow senior attackman Owen Kovacs (18-5-23) scored a career-high five goals in the win over Colgate and has eight goals in the last two games. Kovacs missed his first two seasons due to injury and then broke out with 19 goals in 2025. He is already one shy of that total this season, and he ranks 23rd nationally in shooting percentage (.450).
Bucknell now has nine double-digit point-producers thus far. In addition to Meyer and Kovacs, Sean Berrigan (11-11-22), Luke Brunner (14-8-22), Peter Grandolfo (16-5-21), Sean Murray (10-9-19), Hans Huber (4-8-12), Anthony Panetti (5-6-11), and Will Hopkins (4-6-10) have all hit double figures. Berrigan and Brunner have surpassed their career scoring highs.
Colin McLoy has been named Patriot League Faceoff Specialist of the Week twice this season. He is converting at a 55.8% clip on the season, fifth-best in the Patriot League and 28th nationally.
Bucknell has used two senior goalies this season. Jaz Zanelli has made five starts and has a .472 save percentage and an 8.99 GAA. Luke Renaud has started four games and has a .407 save percentage and 13.01 GAA. Zanelli has played very well in relief in each of the last two weeks.
The Bison have done a solid job protecting the ball and rank 11th nationally in fewest turnovers per game at 14.1. They committed a season-low nine giveaways last week at Loyola.
Bucknell has committed only three penalties in the last three weeks after being flagged an average of four times per game over the first six. The Bison have gone three straight games without conceding an EMO goal.
The St. Bonaventure win on Feb. 6 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.

Lafayette at a Glance

The Leopards come in at 5-4 overall and 1-2 in Patriot League play. The highlight of their season was the 10-9 win over then-No. 8/9 Army on March 6. Lafayette had been 0-43 all-time against the Black Knights, who were 6-0 coming into that game.
Lafayette also has wins over Binghamton (10-9), NJIT (19-9), Mount St. Mary's (19-5), and St. John's (11-9).
Head coach Pat Myers was an assistant coach at Bucknell from 2006-08. He is in his eighth season leading the Leopards.
Lafayette features one of the Patriot League's top goal-scorers in Benjamin Dibattista (26-4-30). The sophomore from Massachusetts is fourth in the PL in goals per game. He exploded for eight in the win over NJIT and has at least one in every game this season.
Other top scorers include Jett Klassen (11-8-19), Nicholas Blalock (8-9-17), Joseph Duggan (12-4-16), Joshua Heaney (12-4-16), and Aidan Kopen (10-5-15).
Senior goalie Joe Doherty is having a strong season with a .538 save percentage and 9.19 GAA in eight starts. He is second in the Patriot League in SV% and third in GAA.
Lafayette also has the league's No. 2 faceoff man in Nick Faccone, who is converting at a 60.4% clip.
The Leopards are the third-best riding team in the nation. Opponents are clearing only 71.0 percent of the time. Only Boston University (.687) and Duke (.704) are better.

The Bucknell-Lafayette Series

The Bison are 48-9 in an all-time series that dates back to their inaugural season in 1968. They have met every year since then, with the exception of the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign.
Of Lafayette's nine wins, five have come by one goal, including four in overtime. The Leopards won 14-13 in OT in 2023, and then after the Bison ran away with a 17-8 verdict at home in 2024, Lafayette jumped out to a big lead and won 14-5 in Easton last season.
Bucknell has won the last seven meetings at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.
In last year's game at Kirby Stadium, Lafayette scored seven times in the first quarter, led 9-0 at halftime and 11-0 early in the third quarter before the Bison finally dented the scoreboard. Joshua Heaney paced the Leopards with five goals and two assists, while Will Hopkins and Luke Brunner scored twice each for the Bison.
In the last meeting in Lewisburg in 2024, Bucknell broke open a 7-3 game at the half with an eight-goal third quarter. Connor Davis had a huge day with seven goals, five coming in that third-quarter explosion. Michael Meyer added three goals and Hans Huber had two goals and an assist. Will Pickering led a strong defensive effort with six ground balls.

Next Up

The Bison are home again next Saturday against Army at noon. The Black Knights have dropped three straight since starting the year 6-0 and will host Lehigh this Saturday.