Men’s Lax Falls in Overtime Defensive Struggle in Patriot League Tournament

Tuesday, April 28

Lewisburg, Pa.

7:30 p.m.

Bucknell University

8-7

Colgate (PL First Round)

6-8

Team	1	2	3	4	OT	Final F
Colgate	0	2	3	0	1	6
Bucknell	1	2	1	1	0	5

Photo by: Lauren Medeiros

Men’s Lax Falls in Overtime Defensive Struggle in Patriot League Tournament

4/28/2026 10:23:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

LEWISBURG, Pa. – Emmet Crotty scored on the first possession of overtime to send fifth-seeded Colgate to a 6-5 overtime win over fourth-seeded Bucknell in the first round of the Patriot League Men's Lacrosse Tournament on Tuesday night at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. The Bison finish the season 8-7 after returning to the postseason for the first time since 2022, while the Raiders move on to face No. 2 seed Loyola in the semifinals on Friday night at West Point.

It was a defensive struggle all night long, as both goalies backstopped outstanding defensive efforts, with takeaway after takeaway leading to the lowest-scoring game in Patriot League Tournament history. Bison senior Jaz Zanelli had one of the best games of his career with 11 saves, and Andrew Lehrman turned aside 16 shots for the Raiders, including a game-saving stop right before the final horn in regulation.

The two teams combined for only 11 goals on 71 shots, and there were 41 turnovers between the two sides, 25 of which were directly caused by a defender.

Neither team scored until the final minute of the first quarter. Zanelli's seventh save of the period led to a Sean Berrigan goal off a feed from Will Hopkins with 43 seconds left. The Bison carried an extra-man opportunity over into the second quarter, and Luke Brunner cashed after only 17 seconds.

After Owen Kovacs made it 3-0, Colgate finally got on the board exactly halfway through the second quarter on a drive to the goal by Casey Quinson. Freddy Fowler scored on the crease only 20 seconds later, and the two teams went to halftime in a 3-2 struggle.

Bucknell went man-up again early in the third quarter, and it was Brunner with his second of the day off a Hans Huber assist to put the Bison back up by two. That would be Bucknell's last goal for a span of 16 minutes, however, and Colgate rallied for three in a row to take its first led of the night.

Down 5-4 in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, Sean Berrigan scored the goal of the night. He plucked a ground ball out of a scrum in front of the goal and went behind-the-back to bring the Bison level.

Sean Berrigan makes something out of nothing with the behind-the-back finish! We're all tied up in the 4th at Christy. #rayBucknell #PLTop3

Watch: https://t.co/6t6BhP9tQ5 @ESPN | @PatriotLeague pic.twitter.com/X9ubq1UZ8J
— Bucknell Men's Lax (@Bucknell_MLAX) April 29, 2026

Bucknell's defense held strong in the late stages. John Young sprinted to the sideline off a missed shot and dove with his long pole to win back a possession with 2:20 remaining. The Bison turned it over behind the Colgate goal with 1:22 to go, and the Raiders had an opportunity to play for a final shot. Louie Germain had other ideas, as he stripped the stick right out of Quinson's hands. Hopkins connected with Kovacs on a long clearing pass, and Kovacs got off a decent look from about 12 yards out that was turned aside by Lehrman as the horn sounded.

The Raiders won nine of the 14 faceoffs, and John Carrabine nabbed the biggest one of the night to start overtime. Colgate cleared, and Hunter Drouin fired high on a quick shot. The Bison called timeout to reset their defensive personnel, but just after the restart, Crotty took a feed from Ryan Favaro, eluded one defender, and scored from seven yards out on the left wing.

Bucknell outshot Colgate 38-33 on the night, but the Raiders led 41-33 in ground balls and had 15 caused turnovers. The Bison entered the game ranked 10th nationally in fewest turnovers per game but struggled to take care of the ball in this one.

Brunner and Berrigan tallied two goals apiece. Will Pickering led the team with five ground balls, Young had four, and Germain logged three caused turnovers.