The Bison women’s lacrosse team had two close matches in the past few days. On Saturday, the women went up against St. Bonaventure and triumphed with a final score of 10-8. The Bison women went up quickly in the first half, leading 7-1 at halftime. Rookie Allie Boyce ’25 had another impressive performance, scoring her second hat trick in a row all in that first half.  

Defender Ella Payer ’23 scored her first goal of the season in the third quarter after getting forward in transition. Her goal was assisted by Caroline Miller ’23. Another senior, Emma Cashwell, also scored to increase the Bison’s lead to 10-3 at the end of the third quarter.  

The competition ramped up in that final quarter, as the Bonnies came back with an impressive five goals in a row.  However, the Bison women were able to keep their opponents at bay through the final whistle and ended the game with a 10-8 win. Goalie Caitlin Tucker ’22 had an impressive 12 saves and only allowed three goals in those first three quarters.  She finished the game with a season-high 14 saves. This victory was the third straight win for the Bison women, who faced off against Campbell two days later.  

The Bison’s three-game win streak unfortunately came to an end on Monday afternoon as the team went up against Campbell at the USA Lacrosse Headquarters in Maryland. The women fell 16-11 to the Fighting Camels after a hard-fought battle in windy conditions. Cashwell and Laurel McHale ’22 each had a hat trick, and McHale recorded two assists as well.

After the first quarter, the game was tied up at 2-2. By the end of the second quarter, however, the Fighting Camels had taken the lead by scoring another five goals. Nevertheless, the Bison fought back and scored three goals. Notably, Phoebe Macleod ’24 fed a nice pass through to Katie Wendell ’22 and Wendell finished with just 12 seconds left in the half to bring the score to 7-5.  

Campbell took a quick lead in the second half, putting up two more goals before Cashwell capitalized off a pass from Tatumn Kohlbrenner ’24. It seemed as though Cashwell scored again just a few minutes later after beating the goalie, but the goal was not given. Immediately after, the Bison faced a non-releasable yellow card on the clear, giving Campbell a one-man advantage.  Campbell went on to score twice more to go up 11-6. The Bison and the Camels continued battling and the third quarter ended, 14-9 in Campbell’s favor.  

In the fourth quarter, Miller and McHale both scored in an effort to close in on Campbell’s lead, but their opponent retaliated with a quick goal just 31 seconds after McHale scored. With the score at 16-11, the game ended and so did the Bison’s win streak.  

Boyce earned Patriot League rookie of the week for her strong performances. Boyce spoke on the last few games. She said: “It’s been a really exciting start to the season! Our team is having a lot of fun and we are improving every day. From the seniors to the freshmen, everyone is contributing and we are building lots of team chemistry. We have faced a few challenges so far but it’s only making us better. Two games left until Patriot League play so we are looking for some big wins to build momentum as we face Navy!”

The team also had three games over spring break facing UMBC, Binghamton and #17 ranked Navy in the Patriot League opener. Unfortunately, the Bison lost all three of these matches to these tough foes. Against UMBC, the Bison stayed close until the Retrievers scored 12 unanswered goals to end the game 20-5. McHale (2), Kohlbrenner (1), Boyce (1), Cashwell (1) scored the goals for the Bison.

A slow start against Binghamton put the Bison in a touch hole as the Bearcats went on a 8-0 run in the first half to lead 12-4 at halftime and ultimately won 20-10. Kohlbrenner continued scoring as she had two goals and two assists for the Bison. Cashwell also contributed two goals for the Bison as well as an assist and six faceoff wins. Emily Baird ’24, Boyce, McHale, Taylor Kopan ’24, and Miller all scored a goal for the Bison in the contest. 

In their first game of the Patriot League season, the Bison faced a tough task going up against the nationally ranked Navy Midshipmen. Another slow start put the Bison at a major disadvantage as Navy scored the first seven goals of the match and held the Bison scoreless in the first quarter. In the end, the Midshipmen’s defense was too strong for the Bison to mount a comeback as the game ended 15-3 in favor of Navy. McHale, Boyce, and Carly Cenci ’25 scored the three goals for the Bison with Cenci scoring her first collegiate goal.

The Bison will look to get back on track and earn their first Patriot League victory of the season as they host Lafayette on March 26 at 3pm. Lafayette is 1-6 on the season and in the midst of a four game losing streak.