The Bison men’s lacrosse team faced Navy on March 4. Despite Connor O’Hara ’18 leading the Orange and Blue with a career high goal performance, the Bison could not hold off the Midshipmen and took the 13-7 loss, bringing their record to 0-2 in Patriot League play.

The Bison started off strong, taking an early 2-0 lead on goals by Sean O’Brien ’18 and O’Hara. However, Navy scored four straight goals afterwards, resulting in the Bison ending the first quarter down 5-3, entering halftime with a 6-4 deficit.

Bucknell came out for the second-half flat-footed and did not score another goal until the fourth quarter. During this drought, Navy scored five goals to expand their lead. O’Hara led the Bison offense with four goals in the game. He has 13 goals on the season. Will Sands ’18 complimented his teammate’s performance this season.

“O’Hara has really stepped up his game this year in all aspects. He has worked extremely hard and goes out to practice wanting to get better each and every day and he deserves the success that he has been having,” Sands said.

Sands also had a strong performance against the Midshipmen. He recorded one goal and three assists, and leads the team with 25 points on the season. Sands’ performance this year has earned him a spot on the Tewaaraton Award watch list, putting him in contention to be named as national MVP at the end of the season. Sands joins 49 other collegiate lacrosse players on this early season list to win the award. This is an extreme honor for Sands, but he gives the honor to his teammates.

“Without my team success, there really is no personal success. My teammates do a great job in putting me in situations to help them win games. Having their trust in me allows me to play relaxed and do what I do well,” Sands said.

The Bison will look to tighten up their play and get their first Patriot League win on March 11 against Holy Cross. Last season, the Bison started off 0-2 before winning five of their last six conference games. They are looking to make a similar comeback this year.