Pictured Above: Senior midfielder Gretchen Fay (by Rich Formica)

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Staten Island, NY – The Bucknell women's lacrosse team, which came into the game leading the nation in scoring at 16.8 goals per game, were held to 10 goals below that average by Wagner's stout defense but were able to eke out a 6-5 victory over Wagner at cold and soggy Hameline Field this afternoon.
 
With the win, the visiting Bison from the Patriot League move their season record to 5-2 while the Seahawks fall to 1-5.
 
This was a closely-contested game throughout with neither team ever holding more than a two-goal advantage. The game was tied at 2-2, 3-3 and 4-4, before Bucknell scored two straight second-half goals to make it a 6-4 game. The Green & White got one back but were unable to knot the score a fourth time as Bucknell held on for the narrow win.
 
Wagner got out to a 2-0 lead as senior midfielder Gretchen Fay (Spring Lake Heights, NJ/Manasquan) deposited a goal off an assist by senior attacker Tori McGrath (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem Central) at the 22:07 mark, which was followed by a score by senior attacker Kimmy Tumolo (Mullica Hill, NJ/Clearview Regional) on a free position shot with 19:03 left in the half.
 
Bucknell answered with a free position goal of its own by Eve Lukowski with 16:50 remaining in the half which cut the deficit in half. Wagner maintained its 2-1 lead for nearly nine minutes until the Bison struck for a pair of goals in a 14-second span in taking their first lead.

Emily Becker scored off of a Lukowski feed at the 7:48 mark to tie the game at 2-2. Gretchen Richter then won the ensuing draw control and passed ahead to Sam RIckels who found Mary Margaret Kenney in stride and the sophomore middie hit the back of the net with 7:34 to go in the half, giving the Bison their first lead at 3-2.
 
With 37 seconds left in the half, Seahawk senior midfielder Shea Gegan (Belmar, NJ/Manasquan), who was coming off a six-goal game in the 11-9 win over Saint Joseph's on March 5, converted a free position shot to make it a 3-3 game at the break.
 
Wagner took its final lead of the game, at 4-3, with 24:24 remaining on a score by junior attacker Olivia Streilein (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) off a pretty feed from Gegan.
 
Bucknell answered with its second 3-0 run of the game on goals by Becker, Rickels and Maddy Molinari, the latter a free position shot with 12:44 left that put Bucknell out in front by a 6-4 margin.
 
McGrath then played a huge role in the game's final score. After poking the ball away from Bucknell goalie Jamie DeWitt, who had roamed out near midfield, McGrath found a cutting Fay in front, and the senior middie slipped the ball past DeWitt to make it a 6-5 game with 10:04 remaining.
 
Both defenses took over from there, with neither team able to find paydirt the rest of the way, as Bucknell held on for the hard-fought 6-5 win.
 
Becker paced the Bison with two goals while Lukowski, Rickels, Molinari and Kenney were credited with one each. Lukowski, who entered the contest leading the nation in scoring with 5.5 points per game, was the team's assist leader with two. For Wagner, Fay finished with two goals while Gegan had one goal and one assist. Tumolo and Streilein also scored one time each for the Seahawks while McGrath dished out a team-leading two assists.

Gegan led the Seahawks defensively with three caused turnovers, while senior defender Katie Quigley (Manlius, NY/Fayetteville Manlius) and junior defender Amanda Rey (Turnersville, NJ/Washington Township) came up with a pair of caused turnovers each.

In addition, Rey collected a team-high three draw controls on the afternoon. In goal, senior Katie Ferraro (Owings Mill, MD/McDonogh) turned away four shots while DeWitt was credited with six saves for the Bison.
 
Statistically, the game was as close as the final score would suggest as Bucknell held a narrow 16-15 edge in shots while ground balls were dead even at 23-23. The Seahawks won 8-of-13 draw controls and were 2-of-3 on free position shots while the Bison were 2-of-5 on FPO's. Wagner turned the ball over 20 times while forcing the Bison into committing 17 turnovers.
 
Wagner now hits the road for two straight games, at Albany (3/19) and at Delaware State (3/26), before hosting Columbia (3/30) in the final non-conference game of the season.
 
Today was a makeup game as these teams were originally scheduled to meet in the season opener for both, back on February 12, a contest that was postponed due to freezing conditions.
 
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