Bison Women’s Lacrosse had a hard fought game against conference rival Lafayette College. The Bison came up victorious, toppling the Leopards 17-15. 

Despite the score being so close, the Bison never trailed behind the Leopards throughout the entire game. 

Ella Payer ’23 had a special game, breaking a school record and becoming Bucknell’s all-time leader in draw controls. Payer has 172 in her career and the previous record prior to this game was 164, which was held by Bonnie Buechel ’09. 

Allie Boyce ’25 scored four goals, and Emily Baird ’24 and Caroline Sheridan ’26 scored three goals apiece. Rookie Megan Krestinski ‘26 had three assists. 

“I’m really excited about our season so far, and I’m looking forward to making a name for ourselves in the Patriot League,” Baird said. “We play at a faster pace compared to previous years and have great team chemistry. We have multiple goals a game that start from a caused turnover or save on the defensive end, transition through the midfield and are finished with an assist on attack. I’ve had some exciting multi-goal games, but I would not be scoring as much if it wasn’t for some great passes from teammates. It’s exciting on the offensive end that we have so many threats on the field. Our offense is young but everyone has done a great job stepping up, and I can’t wait to see where it takes us in the future.” 

The Bison scored eight goals in the first corner, making the score 12-6 at the half. 

At the start of the second half, the Leopards attempted a comeback, making a 5-1 run, but the Bison responded before the score tied with goals by Carly Cenci ’24, Boyce and Sheridan. 

With approximately six minutes left in the game, a draw control from Colleen Kelly ’24 resulted in a goal by Caroline Miller ’23 for a goal from the eight-meter line, the second of the day. 

Due to a draw control from Payer, the Bison managed to possess the ball for the final minute of the game after the Leopards went on another run to comeback. 

The game in itself was full of fouls with 14 out of the 32 goals coming from free-position shots. The Bison had a 38-26 shot advantage, a 21-15 lead in ground balls and a 20-16 advantage in draw controls. 

Senior goalkeeper Symone Ryans made eight saves for the Bison, earning her one hundredth career save in the process. 

“Our team started out very strong in the first and second quarters,” Ryans said. “Despite the weather conditions we played hard and fought until the last whistle. The game was back-and-forth in the second half, but we made key plays throughout that secured the win for us. With the help of the defense, I had a strong first half. We got the ball back to the offensive side allowing them to help build our lead. In the second half, while not perfect, helped make the stops we needed to slow Lafayette’s comeback. Especially in the fourth quarter, the defense forced a couple of critical empty possessions from Lafayette. We are looking forward to building as a team, and we are excited to play some more competitive games coming up in the next few weeks.”

Next, the Bison face league opponents Colgate and Lehigh where they hope to keep winning and breaking records.