The Boston University men's lacrosse team will host Bucknell on Saturday afternoon at Nickerson Field. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. The game will be televised live on NESNplus in New England, with fans outside the region able to watch the game live on the Patriot League Network.
Saturday is High School Lacrosse Day at Nickerson Field; teams with high school aged students can receive free admission. For more info, email GoBU@bu.edu. It is also Mass Bay Youth Lacrosse League Day; MBYLL members receive free admission, and participate in postgame autographs with the team.
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BACK HOME FOR THREE STRAIGHT
- BU will begin a three-game homestand on Saturday.
- The Terriers will welcome Harvard to Nickerson Field on Tuesday night before Lafayette visits on Saturday, March 23.
- All three tilts will be televised live on NESNplus.
IT'S GOOD TO BE HOME
- The Terriers are 3-0 at Nickerson Field this season.
- BU has outscored its opponents, 41-21, in those three triumphs.
- The Terriers have averaged 13.67 goals per game while only allowing 7.0 goals per game at home.
- BU has only given up an average of 7.0 goals per game in its last five home contests.
HISTORY WITH BUCKNELL
- BU is 2-4 all-time against Bucknell, including a 1-1 record at Nickerson Field.
- The Terriers snapped a three-game losing streak to the Bison with a 12-11 road win in last year's Patriot League quarterfinals.
- BU also earned an 11-9 home triumph in 2015.
- The Bison won the most recent meeting at Nickerson Field, 12-6, in 2017.
LAST TIME AGAINST BUCKNELL
- The Terriers trailed No. 10 Bucknell, 11-6, with 6:04 to play in the third quarter of a Patriot League quarterfinal contest on April 24, 2018.
- That was the last time Bucknell scored, however, as the Terriers tallied the final six goals of the game to defeat the third-seeded Bison, 12-11.
- Chris Gray tallied nine points (5g, 4a) and factored on four of the final five goals of the game, including a terrific feed to set up Brendan Homire's game-winner with 6:56 to play.
- Gray also finished with zero turnovers.
- Homire (2g, 1a) notched two of the final three goals, with Gray netting the tying goal off a pass from James Burr (2g, 1a).
- Sean Christman recorded an assist in addition to winning 12 faceoffs and securing five ground balls.
- Joe McSorley made 12 saves, including five in the second half.
BEST OF BU AGAINST BUCKNELL
- Chris Gray torched the Bison last year for 16 points (8g, 8a), including nine points in last year's playoff win.
- James Burr has tallied five points (4g, 1a) and five ground balls in four games.
- Brendan Homire has recorded four points (2g, 2a), one ground ball and one caused turnover in four contests.
- Chase Levesque found the back of the net in the 2017 meeting and also has five ground balls and three caused turnovers.
- Nicholas Ellerton has collected three ground balls while Drew Lukacs and Thomas Schmidt each have two ground balls and one caused turnover to their credit.
- Quintin Germain has also recorded two ground balls.
- Sean Christman went 28-of-50 at the faceoff X last year, securing nine ground balls and one assist.
- Joe McSorley combined for 22 saves in two games last year.
SCOUTING THE BISON
- Bucknell is 2-5 this season after a 12-7 loss at North Carolina on Tuesday.
- The Bison bested Holy Cross, 10-7, on March 9.
- Bucknell's other win was against Bryant on Feb. 10.
- Will Yorke leads the Bison in goals (15) and points (20) while Reed Malas has a team-high seven assists.
- Jarett Witzal has won 50.6% of the faceoffs he has taken this season.
- Christian Klipstein owns an 11.18 goals-against average and a .513 save percentage this season.
BURR DRAFTED BY BOSTON CANNONS
- Senior James Burr was selected by the Boston Cannons in the seventh round of the 2019 Major League Lacrosse Collegiate Draft on Saturday night.
- Burr is the third Terrier to be taken in the league's collegiate draft, joining 2017 graduates Dominick Calisto and Cal Dearth.
- Should he sign with the Cannons after his senior season, Burr will become the fifth Terrier to join an MLL franchise.Â
- He will have an opportunity to once again play with Dearth, who will enter his second full season with the Cannons in 2019.
INSIDE BURR'S BRILLIANT SEASON
- Senior James Burr is second in the Patriot League with 21 goals and he has added eight assists for 29 points in seven games.Â
- He has tallied at least four points in each of the last four games and has notched at least two goals in all seven contests.
- Burr has found the back of the net in 24 straight games and is program's all-time leader in goals with 118.
- He has also notched a goal in 16 straight Patriot League games in a streak that started on April 8, 2017, at Army West Point.
- Burr needs just three more points to move past Dearth into second on the program's leaderboard with 154 career points.
- In addition to his excellence on the field, Burr is a candidate for the Senior CLASS Award.
GRAY CONTINUES TO SHINE ON OFFENSE
- Sophomore Chris Gray leads the Patriot League and is second in the NCAA in both points (44) and assists (27).
- That's 20 more points than he had through seven games of his rookie campaign.
- Gray recorded five assists at Colgate on Saturday, which was the third time this season he collected five or more assists.
- He has not been held to fewer than four points all season.
- For his career, Gray has notched 115 points on 48 goals and 67 assists.
- Gray needs just four assists to become the Terriers' all-time leader in that category.
- A native of Wading River, New York, Gray was named to the initial Tewaaraton Watch List that came out on Feb. 28.
TIMMY TERRIFIC AT COLGATE
- Freshman Timmy Ley notched four goals in the Terriers' 9-7 loss at Colgate on Saturday.
- That performance extended his point streak to six games.
- He has tallied a goal in five of his first seven collegiate games and enters Saturday's game against Bucknell with 15 goals and three assists for 18 points.
- Ley's best goal scoring performance came in a 15-8 win against Dartmouth when he found the back of the net five times.
- He ranks third in the conference with a .500 shot percentage.
- Ley is second among Patriot League rookies and tied for fourth among all NCAA freshmen with 15 goals.
ALWAYS HAPPY TO HELP
- BU leads the Patriot League and is third in the country with 60 assists this season.
- The Terriers are also first in the conference and eighth in the nation in assists per game at 8.57.
- They have assisted on 73.1% of their goals this season.
- BU assisted on all seven of its markers on Saturday at Colgate.
NEED TO BE STRONG AT THE X TO WIN
- BU ranks third in the Patriot League with a .562 faceoff percentage.
- That is good for 20th in Division I.
- Sophomore Sean Christman is third in the conference with a .580 faceoff percentage.
- Classmate Kevin Snyder has also done well when called upon, as he has won 52.6% of his draws this year.
- Both of the Terriers' losses have come when they face off at less than 50%.
- BU has won 61.9% of its faceoffs at home this season.
DEFENSE DELIVERING FOR BU
- The Terriers are third in the conference and 11th in the nation in scoring defense.
- They have allowed only 9.29 goals per game this season.
- BU has given up 10 or more goals just twice this season, going 1-1 in those tilts.
MCSORLEY SAVING THE DAY
- Junior goalkeeper Joe McSorley is third in the Patriot League and 14th in the NCAA with a .561 save percentage.
- As a team, the Terriers rank second in the league with a .567 save percentage.
- McSorley is also fourth in the Patriot League in goals-against average (9.51) and saves per game (11.86).
CAUSING HAVOC ON DEFENSE
- BU ranks second in the Patriot League and eighth in the NCAA with an average of 10.86 caused turnovers per game.
- Juniors Chase Levesque and Reece Eddy are fifth and eighth, respectively, in the conference in caused turnovers per game.
- Levesque is fourth in the Patriot League with 13 total caused turnovers, while Eddy is tied for sixth with 11 caused turnovers.
