Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
8-4, 4-2
American
3-10, 2-4
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bucknell | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 12 |
| American | 1 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 11 |
WLAX Clinches Playoff Berth with Narrow 12-11 Win over American
4/15/2026 4:03:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
LEWISBURG, Pa. — Bucknell women's lacrosse clinched its first playoff berth since 2017 as it defeated American 12-11 on the road on Wednesday afternoon thanks to its fourth quarter defense. Bella Crowley recorded nine total saves, including three in the final minutes of play which led a Bucknell defense that held American scoreless for the final 17 minutes after they scored seven times in the third.
The Bison have guaranteed themselves a spot in the 2026 Patriot League Women's Lacrosse Championships for just the seventh time in program history. Bucknell moved to 9-4 overall and 5-2 in the Patriot League with the road win. The Bison are just one win away from tying their second-best single-season win total of 10, which they saw in 2016 and 1998. The 1997 squad finished 13-3. Nine wins in a single season is the most Bucknell has recorded since its last playoff berth in 2017.
The first quarter opened with even play, but after back-to-back saves by Crowley, the Bison ended the quarter on a 4-0 run to take a 5-1 lead at the break. A second 4-0 run proved to be enough for Bucknell to maintain its lead through halftime despite American finding three goals in the quarter with two being on free-position opportunities. The third quarter was all American as it out-scored Bucknell 7-2 to tie the game up at 11 with 15 minutes left to play. Megan Krestinski opened the fourth with the eventual lone goal of the quarter and game-winner as both teams' defenses locked down and Crowley made crucial saves for the Bison.
Krestinski led the scoring efforts for the Bison as she tallied four goals. Caleigh Cummiskey and Katie Browne each ended the game with a hat-trick and one assist for four points apiece. Alex Macutek and Regan Sansiviero rounded out the scoring with one goal each and Sansiviero led the team in assists with two for three points.
Both teams were even on offense as each tallied 24 total shots in the game. Bucknell saw 14 on goal while American saw 15 and the Bison had three free-position shots to the Eagles five.
Despite the similarities in offenses, American dominated on the circle winning 20 of the 25 draw controls, with all five of the Bucknell wins coming from different players. The Bison were able to bypass the severity of that deficit by winning the ground ball battle 21-13, the turnover battle 15-20 and the caused turnover battle 14-12.
Five different Bison led the team in ground balls with three apiece including; Cat Dineen, Katie Wolin, Anna Cornell, Jess Leon and Regan Sansiviero. Wolin and Kate Hearns led the team in caused turnovers with three each.
Megan Krestinski opened up the scoring as she showed off a nice dodge and shot for a man-down Bison goal. About three minutes later, Julia Pope cut through the center and tied it up at one. After the American goal, Bella Crowley came up big in the back of the net with back-to-back momentum shifting saves as the Bison then went on a four-goal scoring streak with Caleigh Cummiskey scoring a woman-up goal, Krestinski getting her second of the day on a free-position goal, Katie Browne scoring off of a nice feed from Caroline Sheridan and Alex Macutek finding a nice high-to-low goal to make it 5-1 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter opened with a quick goal for Shannon Ailvius to bring the Eagles within three, but Browne answered with two-straight goals within 45 seconds of each other to make it 7-2 with 12:05 left in the first half. After about three minutes of scoreless play, Krestinski fired a shot for a score to become the second Bison to notch a first-half hattrick in addition to Browne and extend the scoring streak to three for Bucknell with 9:26 remaining at the media timeout. Out of the break, Sansiviero made it a 4-0 run for the Bison with a free-position goal to make it 9-2 halfway through the quarter. Kelly Linehan and Anastasia Burns then converted on back-to-back free-position shots to cut the deficit to five with 3:32 left in the second quarter, but on American's third straight free-position opportunity with two minutes to go, Crowley came up with a major save for the Bison to maintain a 9-4 lead at halftime.
Cummiskey opened the second half with a quick goal, but the Eagles answered with a 6-0 run, tying the game at 10 with 6:42 left in the third thanks to a 17-4 total edge in draw controls and having only one turnover in the third quarter after having 12 in the first half. After Bucknell took a timeout, Cummiskey scored on a free-position goal to re-gain the lead for Bucknell, but the Eagles found the last goal of the quarter to end it in an 11-11 tie.
Krestinski opened the final quarter of play with a quick goal to give the Bison a 12-11 lead with 14:43 left to go in regulation. Over ten minutes then went scoreless as each defense locked in, before American got possession and called a timeout with 4:24 left to play. Out of the break, the Eagles came up with two big shots but Crowley came up with two even-bigger saves to keep it at 12-11 with 1:14 to play. The Bison then failed on a clear and possession went back into the hands of American with 13 seconds left to play, Crowley then came up with the game-winning save as Bucknell held the Eagles scoreless for the final 17 minutes of the game to earn the 12-11 road win.
Bucknell women's lacrosse will next take the field on Saturday, April 18 at 3 p.m. for its senior day contest against Boston University. The game will be a part of a double-header in Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium as the men's team will play their senior day game at 11 a.m.
