LEWISBURG, Pa. - Freshman Timothy Shannehan collected a career-high nine points and was part of a starting attack unit that combined for 12 goals as the Boston University men's lacrosse team cruised to a 21-12 win at Bucknell on Saturday at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.

BU (5-1, 1-1 PL) held an 8-5 lead at halftime before a seven-goal third quarter separated the Terriers from Bucknell (2-4, 0-2 PL). Shannehan finished the day with four goals and a career-high five assists while his running mates senior Jimmy O'Connell and junior Jimmy Kohr each notched four goals and one assist; for O'Connell, the four goals is a career best.

Graduate student James Corcoran totaled a career-best four points on one goal and a career-high three assists while freshman Andrew Pape notched his first career two-goal game in his first-ever start for the Terriers. Senior Zach Travaglini tallied a personal-best four points on two goals and two assists, with junior Tommy Garofalo setting new career highs in goals (2), assists (1) and points (3) as well. Sophomore LSM Donald Varnerin recorded the first two-point day of his career with a goal and an assist while sophomore Tyler Fox found the back of the net and freshman Ben Morris recorded an assist. 

The Terriers boasted one of the best man-up units in the nation coming into Saturday and they were on another level against Bucknell, scoring on seven of their nine EMOs. 

Senior Will Barnes made 12 saves and allowed just 10 goals in another terrific performance. Varnerin notched two caused turnovers and five ground balls in addition to his pair of points. Freshman Madden Murphy went 12-for-25 at the X with five ground balls before classmate Daine Kostes came in and won a career-best six of the nine draws he took, gathering a personal-best four ground balls in the process.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Bucknell struck first at 11:36 of the first quarter to take a 1-0 lead.
• That was the last lead of the day for the Bison, as BU immediately answered off a faceoff win when Varnerin picked up a ground ball and fed it to Shannehan for a quick strike just eight seconds after the Bison scored.
• Shannehan then assisted on man-up goals by Kohr and O'Connell to extend the lead to 3-1.
• Connor Davis brought Bucknell back within one with 5:18 left in the first, but Corcoran connected with O'Connell just over two minutes later to restore the two-goal edge.
• Garofalo then picked up a ground ball after Kohr hit the post and immediately found the back of the net during an EMO to push the lead to 5-2 in the final minute of the opening quarter.
• Neither team broke through in the second quarter until the 9:50 mark when Pape backed down his defender and scored on a nice individual effort to make it 6-2.
• Less than a minute later, Shannehan scored again to make it 8-2 before Bucknell scored three of the final four goals of the quarter to cut its deficit to 8-5 at the break.
• BU was on the front foot to start the second half, as O'Connell, Kohr and Shannehan all scored to create an 11-5 score with 10:44 left in the third quarter.
• The teams then traded goals, with Fox's first goal of the year coming between a pair of Bison markers.
• The Terriers then tallied three straight goals, as Kohr, Shannehan and Corcoran all hit the target to make it 15-7.
• Bucknell ended the third quarter and started the fourth frame with a goal, but BU rattled off five consecutive goals in a span of 5:05 to extend its advantage to 20-9.
• Varnerin then closed the scoring with 5:03 to play. Freshman Finn Lawrence picked off a pass on the ride and had his transition chance stopped, but Varnerin scooped up the rebound and scored.
• The Bison added a pair of goals to create the final score.

GAME NOTES

• Shannehan is just the second freshman in program history to record a nine-point game and the first since Chris Gray did it twice in 2018.
• Gray's last effort with nine more points was at Bucknell, as he totaled five goals and four assists in a win that started what is now a seven-game win streak against the Bison.
• Shannehan leads BU with 33 points on 17 goals and a team-high 16 assists.
• Kohr continues to pace the Terriers with 18 goals.
• The seven man-up goals is a program record. The Terriers had previously scored five man-up goals on four different occasions, most recently in 2023 against Lehigh.
• This was the fourth time that BU scored over 20 goals; prior to Saturday, the most recent time was in a 22-6 win at Holy Cross on March 30, 2024.
• BU forced six failed clears and recorded seven caused turnovers.
• The Terriers collected 41 ground balls to just 28 for the Bison.

UP NEXT

• BU will return home to Nickerson Field on Saturday, March 15, to host Loyola Maryland.
• Game time is scheduled for 12 p.m., with the women's team to host Bucknell afterwards at 4 p.m.