Men’s Lax Drops Double OT Battle with UMBC, 9-8

Friday, April 24

Mechanicsburg, Pa. (Messiah College)

3 p.m.

Bucknell University

8-6

UMBC

6-6

Team	1	2	3	4	OT	OT 1	Final F
UMBC	4	2	1	1	0	1	9
Bucknell	3	1	4	0	0	0	8

Photo by: Steven Schoenfelder

Men’s Lax Drops Double OT Battle with UMBC, 9-8

4/24/2026 5:30:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

MECHANICSBURG, Pa. – Braden Smith scored his first goal of the season with 2:22 remaining in the second overtime period to lift UMBC to a 9-8 win over Bucknell in a non-league matchup on Friday at Messiah's Witmer Family Lacrosse Stadium. Both teams utilized most of their rosters in their regular-season finales, and the game turned into a battle of backup goalies.

Bucknell (8-6) senior Luke Renaud made eight saves with only three goals against in 40:28 of action, and Billy Stephens was even better for UMBC (6-6), posting nine saves in 20 shutout minutes. Three of those stops came in the first overtime period, when the Bison outshot UMBC 9-0 but could not find the back of the net.

Down 6-4 at the half, the Bison outscored the Retrievers 4-1 in the third quarter to take the lead. Sean Kerwick's first goal of the season off an Anthony Panetti assist gave Bucknell a 7-6 lead with 4:11 left in the third. Justin Webber tied it only 16 seconds later, but Peter Grandolfo put the Bison back in front with a nice spin move after taking a pass from Chris Begier with 11 seconds left.

That would be Bucknell's final goal of the day, as Stephens came in for his first action of the season and stood on his head. It remained a 9-8 game until Than Souza beat the shot clock with 4:47 to go in regulation. Renaud made a tough save on a low shot from Zack Johnson with 2:20 to go, but Stephens made two more stops at the other end to force overtime.

UMBC won the OT draw but turned it over coming out of a timeout. Bucknell peppered the goal, launching six shots on a one-minute unnecessary roughness penalty and nine total in the four-minute OT session.

Colin McCloy won the double-OT draw, but this time the Bison turned it over and Smith cashed in at the other end, taking the ball from X and splitting two defenders as the slide came in front.

Will Hopkins got the Bison on the board first with a roll dodge to the front of the cage just 1:38 into the game, the first of his two tallies in the opening period. Neither team led by more than a goal until Ryan Demato opened the second-quarter scoring to give the Retrievers a 5-3 lead.

Luke Brunner pulled the Bison within one with a bomb from up top, but UMBC's stingy defense kept Bucknell off the board for the final 10:55 of the half. Zach Coyle's tally with 4:50 left in the second gave the Retrievers a 6-4 lead at intermission.

Hopkins and Grandolfo led the Bison with two goals each, and Brunner notched a goal and an assist.

Bucknell outshot UMBC 50-30, led 32-26 in ground balls, and won the turnover battle 21-11. But the two UMBC netminders combined for 22 saves.

The Bison will now be watching the results of the four Patriot League games on Friday night to determine their postseason fate. Bucknell can be seeded as high as fourth, but there is also a scenario that would leave them out of the six-team tournament.