Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
10-6
Holy Cross (PL First-Round)
7-10
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holy Cross | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 13 |
| Bucknell | 3 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 14 |
WLAX Advances to Semifinals with 14-13 Win Over Holy Cross
4/26/2026 4:10:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
LEWISBURG, Pa. — The number four seeded Bucknell women's lacrosse team defeated number five seeded Holy Cross 14-13 in Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium to earn a spot in the Patriot League Women's Lacrosse Semifinals. The Bison were able to squeak out a one goal win thanks to a 7-0 run in the second half that just withstood a 5-0 Holy Cross run to end the game. Bella Crowley and the Bucknell defense came up with a big stop with 19.1 seconds left in regulation to secure the Bison win.
Bucknell will now take on number one seeded Navy in Annapolis on Thursday, April 30 at 3 p.m. The last and only other time Bucknell has won a Patriot League Tournament game was in their first playoff run back in 2003 where they then fell to American.
Megan Krestinski broke the single-season points record as she recorded four points in the contest to give her an overall 74 on the season. Carol Donohue '10 previously held the single-season points record with 71 in 2008.
Krestinski's four points, on three goals and one assist, led the Bison alongside Caroline Sheridan who found four points on two goals and two assists. Katie Browne recorded three goals which tied with Krestinski for the highest goal scorer of the game. Caleigh Cummiskey was the third Bison to record three points in the game as she found two goals and one assist. Kat Reynolds recorded two points on one goal and one assist and four other Bison found one goal apiece to round out the Bucknell scoring.
Despite losing the draw control battle 23-6, the Bison limited their turnovers to just six compared to Holy Cross' 15 and caused 10 turnovers while the Crusaders only caused three.
Bella Crowley came up with six saves in the contest, including the game-saving save with under 20 seconds left in regulation. She ended the game with a .333 save percentage. Julia Dembowitz saw a couple minutes of game time in the contest and saved two if three shots that came her way.
The first quarter was a defensive battle with small scoring streaks as Bucknell opened hot with two straight and Holy Cross then came back to tie it 3-3 with two straight goals before the horn blew to end the quarter. The second was another story of runs as Bucknell opened the 15 minutes with a goal, Holy Cross went on a four goal run to take the lead and then the Bison scored three straight to tie the game up at seven. Holy Cross got the first goal of the third, but Bucknell then dominated the final 11 minutes of the quarter as it scored five unanswered to take a 12-8 lead. The fourth quarter was dominated by Holy Cross, who out-scored the Bison 5-2, but it wasn't enough to overcome a Bucknell team that stood tall when the final shot came through.
Bucknell opened the game up with back-to-back draw control wins and free-position goals to make it 2-0 with 12:02 remaining in the first. The Bison then got through a defensive bout while down two women due to cards to keep Holy Cross off the board until Hadley Cepiel got one back for the Crusaders after almost seven minutes of scoreless play. Out of the media timeout Megan Krestinski got her second goal of the game to tie the single-season points record at 71 as well as expand the lead to two. Holy Cross then went two-for-two on the draw and found back-to-back goals to tie the game at three with 3:40 left in the quarter. Back to back free position shots, one for each team, were then blocked which took us to the end of the first quarter in a 3-3 tie.
Estella Geller opened the second quarter with a free-position goal to re-gain the lead for the Bison, but Holy Cross quickly answered with a 4-0 run to take the lead for the first time in the game and extend it to a 7-4 lead at the media timeout with 7:53 remaining in the half. The Bison then went on a 2-0 run with goals from Caroline Sheridan and Kat Reynolds to make it a one goal game with three minutes left in the first half. In the final two seconds of the half, Krestinski found Caleigh Cummiskey for a game-tying goal, making it 7-7.
After over three minutes of scoreless play opened the half and two saves from Bella Crowley, Annabelle Brennan found the back of the net to give Holy Cross an 8-7 lead but Bucknell then found a 3-0 run with goals from Sheridan and Krestinski to take a 9-8 lead with 10:23 left in the third quarter. Five minutes of scoreless play later, Alex Macutek made it a 3-0 Bison run as she found a lane for a goal with under 10 seconds left on the shot clock to make it 10-8 and then Bella Crowley came up with a big save on the defensive end and the Bucknell defense earned its offense another opportunity with the ball. The Bison offense then capitalized as Cummiskey and Katie Browne scored back-to-back goals, ending the third quarter with a 12-8 lead.
The fourth quarter opened with back-to-back Katie Browne goals as she notched a hattrick and gave the Bison a 14-8 lead over the Crusaders. Holy Cross then broke Bucknell's 7-0 scoring run and scored four straight to cut the deficit to two with 4:37 remaining in regulation. With 19.1 seconds left to play Holy Cross took a shot and Bella Crowley and the Bucknell defense came up with a big save to keep Bucknell up by one and secure the second-ever Patriot League Semifinal appearance for Bucknell.
Bucknell women's lacrosse will now travel to Annapolis to take on the number one seeded Navy in the Patriot League Semifinals on Thursday, April 30 at 3 p.m.
