WORCESTER, Mass. - The Holy Cross men's lacrosse team fell to No. 15 Bucknell, 7-2, in Patriot League action at the Hart Center Astroturf. The Crusaders fall to 3-6 overall and 0-5 in the league while Bucknell improves to 7-2 on the season and x-x in league play.

The Bison scored their first four goals of the game, including three unassisted goals, before freshman Conor McKenna (Summit, N.J.) netted the first Crusader goal on an assist from junior Luke Marchand (Concord, Mass.), with 29 seconds remaining in the second period.

Bucknell's Tim Brandau scored the only goal of the third period, assisted by Chris Palmer. Mike Danylyshyn netted the fourth assisted goal for the Bison with 8:16 left in the fourth period as Bucknell led the Crusaders, 6-1. Just under two minutes later, senior Toby Banta (Melrose, Mass.) scored for Holy Cross off an assist from sophomore Edison Parzanese (Edgartown, Mass.). Ryan Klipstein netted the final Bison goal with 1:33 left in the game, assisted by Danylyshyn.

Holy Cross goalie junior Jimmy Harrison (East Williston, N.Y.) made 14 saves including six in the first period while Bucknell's Nick Sciubba totaled 15 saves.

The Crusaders return to action on Saturday, April 5, when they host to meet Patriot League opponent Lafayette at 3:00 p.m.

For all the latest updates on the Holy Cross men's lacrosse team or any other of the school's 26 varsity sports, log on to www.GoHolyCross.com.

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WORCESTER, Mass. -- Nick Sciubba (Sea Cliff, N.Y./Salisbury School) made a season-high 15 saves while allowing only two shots to get past him, leading No. 15 Bucknell to a 7-2 Patriot League victory at Holy Cross on Saturday afternoon.

Bucknell, now 19-0 all-time against the Crusaders, allowed only one even-strength goal all day, that coming with 29 seconds left in the first half. The Bison are now 7-2 on the season and 2-1 in the Patriot League heading into next Friday night's critical home game with Army.

Bucknell was balanced offensively, receiving goals from seven different players. Sophomore Chris Palmer (Atlanta, Ga./The Lovett School) registered his first two career points with a goal and an assist, while sophomore Austin Winter (Boonton Twp., N.J./Mountain Lakes) and freshman Mike Danylyshyn (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) also had one of each.

Joe Mele (Westbury, N.Y./Kellenburg Memorial), Tim Brandau (Owings Mills, Md./McDonogh), Doug Buckley (Wantagh, N.Y./Chaminade) and Ryan Klipstein (Califon, N.J./Rutgers Prep) also scored goals for the Bison.

Palmer, Winter and Mele all scored in the first quarter, and Buckley made it a 4-0 game three minutes into the second. The Crusaders finally broke up the shutout on Conor McKenna's tally in the final minute of the half.

The Bison went up 6-1 on goals from Brandau and Danylyshyn. Toby Banta scored a man-up goal for Holy Cross with 6:43 left in the game, and Klipstein finished the scoring with an EMO tally for Bucknell with 1:33 left.

Bucknell held a 30-28 shot advantage. Holy Cross (3-6, 0-5) had slight edges in faceoffs (7-6) and ground balls (25-21).

Bison defenseman Billy Haire (Darien, Conn./Darien) led all players with six ground balls and keyed a defense that kept Holy Cross' top two scorers, Chris Smirti and Luke Marchand, off the scoreboard.

Army is also 7-2 (3-0 Patriot League) after Saturday's 13-9 home win over Colgate. The Bucknell-Army game starts at 7:00 p.m. next Friday at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.

Score by Period       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Bucknell............  3  1  1  2 -  7
Holy Cross..........  0  1  0  1 -  2
 
Attendance: 317
 
Bucknell SCORING:
GOALS: Danylyshyn, Mike 1; Winter, Austin 1; Palmer, Chris 1;
       Brandau, Tim 1; Buckley, Doug 1; Mele, Joe 1; Klipstein, Ryan 1.
ASSISTS: Danylyshyn, Mike 1; Palmer, Chris 1; Winter, Austin 1.
 
Holy Cross SCORING:
GOALS: Banta, Toby 1; McKenna, Conor 1.
ASSISTS: Marchand, Luke 1; Parzanese, Edison 1.
 
Shots by period       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Bucknell............ 13  7  6  4 - 30
Holy Cross..........  5  6  8  9 - 28
 
Ground balls by prd   1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Bucknell............  7  4  6  4 - 21
Holy Cross..........  2  9  7  7 - 25
 
Face-offs by prd       1     2     3     4    Total
---------------------------------------------------
Bucknell............  1-4   2-3   2-2   1-4  -  6-13
Holy Cross..........  3-4   1-3   0-2   3-4  -  7-13
 
Clears by period       1     2     3     4    Total
---------------------------------------------------
Bucknell............  2-3   4-4   4-4   0-0  - 10-11
Holy Cross..........  2-3   4-4   5-5   1-1  - 12-13
 
Extra-man opps         1     2     3     4    Total
---------------------------------------------------
Bucknell............  0-1   0-0   0-2   1-1  -  1-4
Holy Cross..........  0-0   0-0   0-1   1-2  -  1-3
 
Saves by period       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Bucknell............  3  4  5  3 - 15
Holy Cross..........  6  4  2  2 - 14
 
PENALTIES - BUCKNELL 3/3:00; HC 4/3:30.

2008-03-29