This past weekend, the Bison Women’s Lacrosse team had their season opener against a highly competitive opponent, Penn State. This was a hard fought battle for the Orange and Blue, but unfortunately, it was not the result they had hoped for. 

The game started out strong with a possession draw for the Bison, made possible by Ella Payer ’23. Emily Baird ’24 came up with the ball and fed it to Carly Cenci ’25, putting the Bison on the board first in the game. 

Two minutes later, the Bison scored again with a goal from Caroline Miller ’23, assisted by Tatumn Kohlbrenner ’24. 

At around the the 9:15 minute mark, Penn State was able to secure their first goal of the game and was followed by another eight consecutive goals in the half, the score being 3-10 in favor of the Nittany Lions. 

The Bison were able to put up three more goals in the second half, but the Nittany Lions put up six more goals. The final score of the game was 6-16. 

Despite the loss, the game was the closest ending result in the past 17 competitions between the two teams. 

Katie Browne ’26 made her rookie debut scoring two goals in her first collegiate game. The rest of the goals were scored by Cenci, Miller, Allie Boyce ’25 and Taylor Kopan ’24. 

The closeness of this match is also credited to goalkeeper Symone Ryans ’23, as she made a career-high 16 saves. 

“We were all excited for the opportunity to play such a competitive team so close by,” Payer said. “We played hard from the start and never gave up. Now we know the adjustments needed as we move forward with our season. Overall it was a great learning experience and the team is ready to face UMBC.”

The Bison will travel to Marist for another matchup this Saturday Feb. 18.