Bison Women’s Lacrosse opened up their season at home against Rider University this past Tuesday, Feb. 18.
Rider dominated early on by establishing a 3-0 lead. It all started with three draw controls followed by successfully scoring off each possession. The Bison managed to recover after back-to-back goals from Megan Krestinksi ’26 and Alex Macutek ’28, followed by two more goals from the Taylor McClain ’25 and Allie Boyce ’25 duo.
As the game continued, both teams traded points back and forth and neither team managed to lead by more than one. The Orange and Blue saw goals from Ava Harris ’27 and Kat Reynolds ’28, with the latter being assisted by Aliza Thir ’25 to put the Bison up 8-7 halfway through the third. The game came down to strong defense, and neither team would score for another 17 minutes.
The Broncs ended the scoring drought with five minutes left in play and tied the game 8-8. They then went on to win the next draw, but the Bison forced a turnover and Kiera McClanahan ’27 picked up the ground ball.
As the Bison brought the ball down the field, McClain found Alex Nesbitt ’26 on the left side, who shot a low ball past Rider’s keeper for the go-ahead goal with just over three minutes left to play. As time ticked on and the Bison only led by one, their defense managed to keep Rider from tying it up one last time. Jess Leon ’26 and Krestinksi gathered turnovers. Rider made one last attempt on their final possession with 15 seconds left on the clock. After an unsuccessful feed to a Rider cutter, Nesbitt gathered the ground ball and held onto it as the buzzer sounded.
The Bison’s stellar defense is what ultimately won the game, forcing 18 turnovers and holding Rider to only eight goals. Goalie Colleen Kazanjian ’25 recorded seven goals. McClain added five assists and now has 66 career assists. Boyce had a respectable three goals.
The Bison are now 1-1 and look to improve this record this Saturday as they host Villanova at 1 p.m.
