Men's Lacrosse Aims for 2-0 League Start Saturday at Navy

Saturday, March 7

Annapolis, Md.

12 p.m.

Bucknell University

Navy

Photo by: Steven Schoenfelder

Men's Lacrosse Aims for 2-0 League Start Saturday at Navy

3/5/2026 11:34:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse

RV Bucknell (5-1, 1-0 PL) at RV Navy (3-2, 0-1 PL)
When: Saturday, March 7, 12 p.m.
Where: Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Annapolis, Md.
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: NavySports.com

Bucknell at a Glance

After opening up Patriot League action with a dramatic 12-11 win at Lehigh last week, the Bison are back on the road Saturday to face Navy. At 5-1 overall, Bucknell is off to its best start since 2022. The Midshipmen fell 15-10 at Boston University in their conference opener and are 3-2 on the season.
Bucknell, Army, Boston University, and Loyola were all winners in round one of Patriot League play.
The Bison will be looking for their first 2-0 Patriot League start since 2013, when they beat Navy and Lafayette on the way to a 5-1 league record.
The Bison come in ranked fifth in the league in scoring at 12.8 goals per game and third in goals-against at 9.17. Navy is sixth in goals allowed (11.4) but is the league's second-highest scoring team (13.2).
Michael Meyer has 20 goals through six games, one shy of Loyola's Mason Cook and Lafayette's Benjamin Dibattista for the Patriot League lead. Meyer is on a tear to start his senior season, with at least three goals in five of the six games, including each of the last four. Meyer logged six goals and an assist at Robert Morris, and he notched three goals and an assist in the win at Lehigh last time out.
Bucknell has six double-digit point-producers thus far. Sean Berrigan (10-8-18) is coming off a five-point (2G/3A) afternoon at Lehigh, including the assist on Will Hopkins' game-winning goal late in the fourth quarter. Berrigan is tied for ninth in the league in assists, and he is already just three shy of his career high of 21 points, set in each of his first two seasons.
Likewise, Luke Brunner (10-5-15) already within five points of his career high of 20, set last season. Preseason All-Patriot League selection Peter Grandolfo (11-3-14), Sean Murray (4-8-12), and Owen Kovacs (9-2-11) have also reached double figures. Junior middie Hans Huber (2-6-8) has been a productive second-line middie after missing all of last year with an ACL injury.
Colin McLoy earned his first career Patriot League Faceoff Specialist of the Week award on Monday. McLoy ranks third in the league in faceoff percentage (.608, 59-97) after winning 16 of 25 last week at Lehigh. The junior entered the season at 44.6 percent for his career, but he has been outstanding thus far. Ohio State transfer Zach Hepworth (.588, 30-51) has also been solid, and as a team Bucknell ranks 16th nationally at 60.3%.
Senior defenseman Will Pickering had a big day at Lehigh, scooping five ground balls and breaking up as pass on the team's final defensive possession with the Bison protecting a one-goal lead. Pickering is in his fourth year as a starting close defensemen, and he is joined by a pair of junior first-time starters in Corbin Lukanski and Caleb Lewis.
Bucknell has two senior goalies in Jaz Zanelli (3-1, 8.72 GAA, .400 SV%) and Luke Renaud (2-0, 9.78 GAA, .500 SV%). Zanelli started the first five games of the season, and Renaud went the distance in last week's win at Lehigh.
The Bison have done a solid job protecting the ball and rank 11th nationally in fewest turnovers per game at 13.7.
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.

Navy at a Glance

The Midshipmen have home wins over Iona (17-7), VMI (19-12) and #11/10 Penn State (12-11), and road losses at Towson (12-8) and Boston University (15-10).
Navy trailed Penn State 10-9 deep in the fourth quarter when Mac Haley scored three straight goals in less than three minutes.
Last week in Boston, the Terriers broke open a 7-7 game with a 6-1 second-half run.
Haley (11-11-22) is the Patriot League's No. 4 point-producer, and he also ranks fourth in the league in assists. Alec Gregorek (12-4-16), William Goers (13-2-15), Jack Flaherty (6-3-9), and Jack Ponzio (3-5-8) are other top scorers.
Goalie Dan Daly comes in with an 11.18 GAA and .469 save percentage. He made a season-high 15 saves last week at Boston University.
Navy has two outstanding faceoff men in Colin Shadowens (.563) and Zach Hayashi (.554). They rank fifth and sixth, respectively, in the Patriot League. Hayashi was selected as the Patriot League Preseason Faceoff Specialist of the Year.
The Mids have a strong ride, and they rank eighth nationally in opponent clearing percentage (.754).
AJ Marsh was picked as the Patriot League Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. March, Hayashi, and Ponzio were all Preseason All-PL picks. Seventh-year head coach Joe Amplo's team was picked third in the preseason poll, behind Army and Boston University.

The Bucknell-Navy Series

Bucknell is 8-16 against Navy in an all-time series that dates back to 1996.
Bucknell won the inaugural meeting 6-5 in Annapolis on the way to a perfect 12-0 season in 1996.
The Bison held an 8-7 series lead after winning five straight meetings between 2011-15, but the Midshipmen have won the last nine in a row.
Bucknell's last series win was an 8-7 verdict in Annapolis in 2015, and the last home win was a 9-6 decision on 2014. Sean Doyle's tiebreaking goal with 51 seconds remaining was the difference in 2015.
These two teams have met just once in the postseason, with Navy winning 9-8 against the top-seeded Bison in the 2009 Patriot League Tournament final at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.
On Bucknell's last visit to Annapolis in 2024, Navy won 13-12 in overtime in the season finale. Bucknell trailed 12-9 in the fourth quarter before drawing even on consecutive goals from Luke Brunner, Connor Davis, and Richie Striano. The Bison thought they had a game-winner with eight seconds remaining in regulation, but Will Hopkins' goal was waved off on a crease violation. Hans Huber had a shot saved on the first possession of overtime, and the Mids won it on Dane Swanson's goal with 1:53 left.
Last year at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium, Bucknell erased a five-goal deficit in the second half, but Navy scored the final three goals of the night to win 14-11. The Midshipmen seemed to be in control when Mac Haley scored at the 4:03 mark of the third quarter for an 11-6 lead. But the Bison responded in front of a big Senior Night crowd. Peter Grandolfo's fourth goal of the night tied the game at 11-11 with 11:06 to go. Bucknell won the next faceoff but couldn't get two shots to go. At the other end the defense got the ball on the deck twice but couldn't come up with the ground ball, and Navy made them pay when Haley fed Carter Ash for the go-ahead goal. After two Bison turnovers, Ash scored again with 6:13 left, and Navy added one more with 2:29 to go. Ash and Henry Tolker led the Mids with four goals each, and Navy finished with a decided edge in ground balls (43-29) and faceoffs (17 of 28).

Next Up

After playing its first two Patriot League games on the road, the Bison return home next Saturday (March 14) to take on defending-champion Colgate at noon.
The Raiders are 1-4 on the season, but the four losses are all to quality opponents in Penn State, Virginia, Harvard, and Loyola. After falling 13-11 to the Greyhounds in their PL opener last week, Colgate travels to Holy Cross this Saturday.