The Bison women’s lacrosse team was on the road once again on Saturday, Apr. 24 as they traveled to Army West Point. The Orange and Blue were handed a 19-8 loss after the Black Knights went into halftime with a 13-3 lead. The Bison now sit at 3-4 in the Patriot League and 3-5 overall. 

“We had a slow start in our game against Army this weekend and we made a few of the same mistakes multiple times so we are super focused on improving those areas this week. Our mentality moving forward is to play with consistent intensity and to leave everything on the field,”  Mason Rode ’21 said.

Taylor Kopan ’24 came up strong for the Bison with her first career hat trick, while Symone Ryans ’23 held down the fort defensively with 11 saves in her first collegiate appearance. Laurel McHale ’22 was a steady force with a multi-point outing, contributing a goal and an assist. Rode also added three draw controls, a goal and a caused turnover. 

In the second half alone, the Black Knights outscored the Bison 6-5, but the Orange and Blue did not give up. The team responded with a 4-0 run over the course of a six minute span, with Kopan adding two of the goals herself. 

The Bison were unable to finish with the advantage as the Black Knights led in shots (43-14), shots on goals (30-12), ground balls (12-9) and draw controls (21-6). 

“We have a huge game against Navy this weekend. If we win we make the Patriot League tournament, and if we lose we are done. Going into this game we are really focused on playing a full sixty minutes with no let downs and really playing our hearts out,” McHale said. 

Next up for the team is a trip to the Naval Academy on Friday, April 30 to face the Midshipmen. This game is a make-up from their cancelled Patriot League opener.