The Bison men’s lacrosse team has only played four games over four weekends thus far this season, and Nick Crovatto ’22 has already captured three Patriot League Faceoff Specialist of the Week Honors. These accomplishments come to no surprise, though, since the Bison sits at an incredible 4-0 record, with Crovatto leading as the primary faceoff specialist for the past three years.

The team captain earned these honors in matches against Mercer, Saint John’s, and Marist University. The New Canaan, Conn. native won 11 out of 19 faceoffs and picked up seven ground balls in the home opener. Against Saint John’s, Crovatto won a whopping 18 out of 22 faceoffs, becoming the fifth Bison in team history to earn 200 faceoff wins during his collegiate athletic career. The senior also managed to capture the team’s record for single-game ground balls (14), and contributed two assists to the match. His performance  resulted in his third weekly award commending his victory in 17 out of 24 faceoffs, while also collecting 13 ground balls and forcing two turnovers. 

Crovatto ascribes his own accomplishments to the cooperation of his teammates. “I have to credit Frankie Higgins and Danny Striano. They are the reason the faceoff unit does well,” he added. Fellow senior Higgins ’22 is a defender and defensive midfielder. Striano ’23 is a junior midfielder. 

Crovatto being the team captain is well-deserved, as he has accomplished so much for the Bison in his four years, even prior to his league awards streak. His sophomore and junior years were cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. The team played only six games in 2020 and only eight in 2021. Despite these low-numbers, Crovatto started all fifteen games played in these two years. His sophomore year, he collected the team-best 45 ground balls, was the Patriot League leader in faceoff wins, and was second in the league for ground balls (18th nationally). In his junior year Crovatto won 64 out of 144 faceoffs. 

With a faceoff specialist like Crovatto and their best start to a season since 2007 (4-0), the Orange and Blue have high hopes for the rest of the season.

“We are happy to be 4-0. We are looking forward to this week. We need to have another great week in order to be 5-0 going into league play – which is important to us,” Crovatto said. 

Crovatto and the Bison face off against Binghamton this Saturday March 5 in our very own Lewisburg, Pa. 

Career Stats:

21 games played

203 faceoffs won

51.3 percent faceoff win percentage 

96 ground balls