Bucknell women’s lacrosse finds its first game a week earlier than usual as it makes its official 2026 season debut on Friday, February 6. Head coach Jackie Dando is confident in the newly developed team mindset and the work that the team has put in to prepare for this year's competition season.
“We've had a really productive fall season, said Dando. “I’ve been really proud of the work the team has put in and they came back really determined for a great spring season.”
This specific group of student-athletes is a unique squad for Coach Dando, who is in her seventh season at the helm of the program, because it is the first team that sports all four classes being fully recruited by her.
“Starting in 2020, our seniors are the first group I recruited to Bucknell,” said Dando. “They’ve all had conversations with me through each of their recruiting processes in high school about the expectations of a college experience and the competitiveness in the team culture that we wanted to commit to and build here.”
Each of these student-athletes committed to the Bison based off of the same expectations and team culture, all set by Coach Dando, who is emphasising a competitive mindset to her team.
“Something that's different this year is that you have players in every position pushing the upper classmen to the point where every practice matters, which is great,” said Dando. “We are intentionally placing really strong players behind really strong players, so that they both continue to push each other and get better.”
This group of players is one that exudes toughness, competitiveness, drive and an extremely strong work ethic that has allowed the team to progress in many ways.
“There is a very similar mindset amongst the team, which I think is really incredible,” said Dando. “It’s that competitive and hardworking mindset that sets this group apart, along with the increased depth that we have built.”
One of the biggest focuses for the 2026 team has been on fitness and conditioning. Using the fall to increase the overall fitness of the team by adding a second fitness test and an additional day in the weight room, is something that will allow the Bison to kick it into the next gear when it comes to their overall pace of play on the field, which has only become faster and faster around the sport in the last couple of years.
“We want to play faster this year, of course we want to have more goals and possessions off the draw, but overall our main focus is to play faster and push the pace more, which the extra fitness focus will help us a lot with,” said Dando.
Last season, the strength of the team came from its defense, which saw national rankings in ground balls and caused turnovers throughout the year. This season, the team will need to develop the rest of the game to match that level of intensity.
“We have more middies, which is great,” said Dando. “I think we did a great job defensively last year, but we also want to step up and do a great job in the midfield and offensive side as well. Being able to cause more turnovers in transition by being stronger, faster and pushing the pace more will be super important to us this season and having more depth will certainly help with that.”
Another aspect of the game that has received a lot of depth this season is on the draw, where the Bison struggled last season.
“The draw wasn’t much of our strength last year, but we actually brought in four players who are draw specialists as freshmen,” said Dando. “I think with the addition of four new draw specialists alongside who we had last year, it just gives us more options on the draw. We've been working with six different draw specialists which is really exciting, including a lefty draw taker. I think being able to see a diverse set of draws is really game changing. Jules Pagano has done a really good job of, as a senior, leading that group technically and working through things, but it's been great just to have a lot more options this year.”
Additionally, Bucknell has incorporated each of the new 2026 assistant coaches into the mix on the draw training, which is extremely beneficial. Coach Mitarotonda and Coach Telatovich joined the Bison in September and have brought collegiate playing experience and club coaching experience to Bucknell. Coach Mitarotonda is working with the draw specialists, since she was one herself in college and had almost 400 draws in her career as a player. Coach Telatovich works with the student-athletes that will be on the draw circle.
Looking at the player personnel, the two largest classes that the Bison have this season are the senior class that sports 10 student-athletes and the freshman class, which is the largest of the bunch with 12.
“I really think that the senior and freshman class being our biggest ones bookend our team really well,” said Dando. “The seniors have been fighting for playoffs for the last three years, and they refuse to not have the opportunity to experience that postseason play once in their career. I think they are really gunning for playoffs and as coaches, we're talking about what that looks like and how we can be different as a team and do what it takes to get there.”
The senior class, Dando’s first group of Bucknell’s recruits, knew the mark that they wanted to make on the program, starting their freshman year. A lot of those players contributed on the field early on and all of them have contributed to this team's culture.
Katie Browne, Megan Krestinski, Caroline Sheridan and Cat Dineen are the four seniors that have been named Bucknell women’s lacrosse captains for the 2026 season. These captains are student-athletes that have established themselves as strong leaders in the group with three of the four being attackers.
“I think these captains balance each other really well and are true leaders both on and off the field and it is great to see them step into this role this season,” said Dando.
ATTACK
With three of the four captains being attackers, the position has strong leadership and continuity, despite losing its top point-grabbers to graduation.
“Losing Taylor McClain and Allie Boyce on attack with their numbers and their production is super significant and I think we should acknowledge that, but we have a lot of teammates who played with them through the years and I think they are just excited to step up now that they're seniors,” said Dando.
The Bison’s attacking group is a veteran squad that Coach Dando has been developing over the past three years.
“Some of the seniors have played on the field since freshman year and some gained their time as they got older, but a lot of them have had an impact for the past couple years, so there's a lot of confidence in that.”
With the veteran leadership and newfound fitness levels, Coach Dando is looking to refine the attacking core, which saw a lot of experimentation last season.
Starting with one of the Bison’s three captains on attack, Megan Krestinski returns as the leading goal scorer. In 2025, the New York native started in all 16 games on attack and led the team in points recording 41 on 31 goals and 10 assists. Krestinski was a major offensive force for Bucknell and recorded three five-goal games in the season. She also led the team in draw controls as a circle player with 36 draws. Krestinski was honored with All-Patriot League Second Team and was named to the Academic All-Patriot League Team in 2025.
“She is just a phenomenal and strong player,” said Dando. “She has been the do it all player for us since her freshman year. She can play everywhere, very versatile, tough and fast. She'll lead our attacking unit this year.”
Katie Browne and Caroline Sheridan are the other two attack captains for Bucknell that return for their senior seasons in 2026. Browne appeared in 15 games with five starts last season and recorded six goals and one assist as well as 12 draw controls. Sheridan appeared in all 16 games last season with two starts and recorded 17 goals and four assists.
“Katie is a super strong cutter and great on the draw circle which will help lead our attacking efforts,” said Dando. “Sheridan is a great player from the X and has been a huge playmaker for us that will be helping lead our attack unit. I have good confidence in our three captains being down there, knowing how things run and setting up their teammates and plays on the offensive side of the ball.”
Kat Reynolds is a sophomore attacker that is returning for her second season with the Bison after a strong freshman campaign where she appeared in every game and had six starts on attack. Reynolds recorded 14 goals and two assists in 2025 and earned a Patriot League Rookie of the Week honor in February.
“She blends really well with those of our senior attackers,” said Dando. “She is also our only lefty attacker, which gives her an advantage. She can hit the outside shots, be a dodger and we've been working on our feeding abilities too, so I am really excited for her sophomore year.”
Ava Harris is another returning attacker for the Bison. The junior appeared in 13 games last season and recorded three goals and six assists as well as five ground balls.
“She has strong potential and earned more minutes last year, so I am looking to see her build upon those opportunities,” said Dando. “She’s a great presence on the field.”
The Bison have added four freshman attackers to the group this season. The new additions are Caleigh Cummiskey, Katie Powers, Sloane Ricciuti and Alexa Thornton.
“She's a really strong player who had a phenomenal senior year of high school lacrosse,” said Dando. “She has really stepped up this fall and I think she'll make an impact on the team immediately. Powers and Ricciuti are two freshmen attackers, both from New Jersey. They both played for steps and had great high school careers. Powers is a draw specialist as well who does a lot of self-draws and she can also feed and dodge which is important. Sloane is a really shifty cutter and works really hard. Alexa is another strong, powerful attacker and great dodger. I’m excited to see where they all land.”
MIDFIELD
On the midfield aspect of the team, the added depth at the position will be the biggest gamechanger.
“Last year we struggled with midfield because of the injuries and we relied on our middies to do a lot. We have some strong middies returning, which is awesome, but everyone's kind of battling for the top six spots and working hard, and I think we have some really nice depth.”
Coach Dando returned Juliana Pagano to the midfield unit and also converted two other seniors, Alex Nesbitt and Regan Sansiviero, to middies last year to fill the gaps and all three of those veterans return to the Bison for their final season in 2026.
“We converted Nesbitt and Sansiviero to midfield last year, and they're still doing a great job in that role, plus they're seniors,” said Dando. “We also have Julianna Pagano who's a midfielder and a draw specialist. So that's three senior middies, which makes us feel good about that position.”
Alex Macutek is another strong returning presence for the Bucknell midfield unit. The sophomore appeared in all 16 games last season with two starts at midfield. She recorded 10 goals and three assists with 14 ground balls, nine caused turnovers and 12 draw controls.
“Alex is a leader in this group and she is just a sophomore,” said Dando. “She came back after putting a lot of work in over the summer and is really strong. As a sophomore, she has a different mindset and has more confidence. I think she's done a phenomenal job from the weight room to the fitness to the on the field skill and she is a tremendous leader.”
Abby Henderson is a junior that is working her way back from an ACL injury after being benched for the 2025 season. During her freshman year with the program, she appeared in 13 games with two starts and tallied seven goals and three assists.
“She is coming back from her ACL, so I'm excited to see how she does,” said Dando. “She'll be back in full contact for the first time in the spring, so we are really pumped to get her back after a strong freshman campaign.”
Bucknell’s midfield is also home to three more sophomores; Olivia Selleck, Kamryn Schmitt and Estella Geller.
“Selleck is someone we moved from attack to midfield and she just has great speed and is one of the fittest players on the team. She works really hard. Schmitt was a solid option for us last year and Geller is a really scrappy player for us who had a really nice fall.”
The Bison middie room additionally brought in three freshmen in 2026; Gigi Abernathy, Lucy Connors and Madeline Kiely.
“Gigi is a strong player who takes the draw and is super aggressive. She is also a very disciplined type of a player with great fitness overall. Lucy is a tireless worker and is very respectful and coachable. I see her earning opportunities. Kiely is our lefty midfielder so she is a draw specialist that does a nice job on the left side of things.”
DEFENSE
Moving to the defensive side of the ball, the Bison are looking to improve upon their already strong zone defense by adding a solid man defense into the mix.
“We've really worked on not just staying in the zone where we were comfortable,” said Dando. “We have been working on being able to transition between a man and zone defense and what that looks like, so we're really still challenging the defense, even though we were successful last year.”
At the helm of the defensive efforts is senior captain Cat Dineen. The defensive powerhouse played in and started 15 games last season and recorded 27 ground balls and 21 caused turnovers.
Another returning defensive stud is Jess Leon. The Connecticut native started all 16 games for Bucknell last season and led the Patriot League in caused turnovers with 36 that also tied for third place in Bucknell history for a single season. She ended the 2025 season ranked 13th in the NCAA for caused turnovers per game with 2.27 and 20th for ground balls per game with 2.87. Leon led the Patriot League in ground balls with 45 and earned All-Patriot League Second Team. The defender comes into the 2026 season as a Preseason All-Patriot League Team player, earning the honor on Thursday, Jan. 21. The senior joined the Bison her sophomore year after playing two seasons of field hockey.
“Cat Dineen and Jess Leon do a tremendous job in tandem playing the crease,” said Dando. “Bringing those two back is huge and they haven’t just cruised through the fall either, they’ve been challenged with a new defensive coach and new defensive strategies.”
Junior Katie Wolin has been moved to the defensive side of the ball after serving as a midfielder for the Bison prior. Wolin started in all 16 games at midfield for Bucknell in 2025 and recorded 23 ground balls, 14 caused turnovers and one draw control.
“We moved her from the midfield to be a true defender and she honestly just impresses me every day,” said Dando. “She is one of the most consistent players I've ever coached and just does a tremendous job so I’m excited to see her junior year. She's a really important piece to the machine of our defense.”
Corbin Callaway is another junior defender for the Bison, but her path to being on the field has been more challenging. Due to injury, Callaway has not seen game action with the Bison in her first two seasons.
“She is coming back from an injury this season and I am really happy with how she is doing and I really hope we can get her back,” said Dando. “Even if she can't play, she still makes a big impact on the team in other ways.”
Kate Hearns, one of last season’s defensive starters, returns to the Bison for her sophomore season in 2026. Hearns started in all 16 games on defense in her freshman campaign and recorded 3 ground balls, 25 caused turnovers and one draw control.
“She was a starter for us last year and she's ready to go again. We've also talked about her taking a bigger leadership role as she is a sophomore this year.”
Sophomore Kristina Einberg, who appeared in 11 games with one start on defense last season will also return to the defensive group.
“She is playing a little more composed this year and is always working really hard to get better,” said Dando.
On the freshman side of things, the Bison are adding four to defense; Annie Cornell, Elizabeth Hilbert, Amy Villanueva and Caroline Mellon.
“Annie Cornell is a really strong and skilled freshman defender. She's really competing for those low spots. Elizabeth Hilbert is another top defender with good size, good physicality, good work ethic and an aggressive play style. Amy Villanueva is a really strong defender that we'll develop into a really strong college defender, so I'm excited for her as she gets older too. And then Caroline Mellon is simply an athlete. She dominates in the weight room and I think she'll have a really good presence on the defensive side, so I'm excited.”
GOALIE
A big change for the Bison in 2026 will be found in the back of the net. Two-year starting goalie Colleen Kazanjian graduated last year, which means the backbone role of the team is left open for the four goalies, one in each class, to compete for.
“Something that has been cool about our goalies this year is that we've had Naomi Radio, who's a former assistant coach at Penn State that worked with goalies, come down and work with our group about once a week.”
With the special coaching attention given to the goalies, each one has stepped up in different ways making the competition for the starting job just that much more difficult.
“Our senior, Julia Dembowitz, has had some injuries throughout her career which has been really tough for her, but she's a great teammate and a really consistent player within our program,” said Dando. “We want her to be as healthy as possible in the spring and have the best season that she can.”
“Bella Crowley is our junior goalie and is really strong in the net,” said Dando. “She is super hard-working and also a great student. I think she has really advanced in her confidence after her first two years with us. The defenders have a lot of confidence in her as a goalie too, which is exciting. She had a great fall and is overall a very calm presence in the net, so I am excited to see her continue to grow. She had a really strong fall too which is great to see."
“Toni Plunkett is our sophomore goalie and is a good teammate who works really hard. She is someone that is willing to do anything for the team,” said Dando.
“Hannah Gilland, our freshman goalie, is from a good lacrosse area and also plays on the Italian national team. I think she gets some good experience there, so I'm excited to see her continue to grow just as a freshman.”
SCHEDULE
With added depth and talent at every position ready to go, Bucknell women’s lacrosse opens its season on Friday, February 6 at 6 p.m. against Youngstown State.
“We start a week earlier this year, which is crazy but I think it's also exciting,” said Dando. “This year we start our season at Youngstown State and our former assistant coach, Liza Oakley, is their head coach now, so I think that that will be exciting for us. They also play indoors, so knowing we would have a guaranteed game on February 6th was really great. Having the opportunity to see a former assistant coach become a division one head coach is also awesome.”
After they travel and play an indoor game at Youngstown State, the Bison have a home and away weekend against UMBC and Penn State respectively.
“That weekend of games is a really exciting one for us because we get to play a Friday and Sunday weekend. We played UMBC in a scrimmage last year and it's really nice to be able to turn that into a game. As for Penn State, we’ve played them the last few years and it has always been really good competition so it’s exciting for us to have the opportunity to play them since they are only an hour away.”
One of the non-conference games that the team and the coaches have circled on their calendars as the most exciting, is when they travel to Arizona to play ASU over spring break. The Bison saw their first spring break trip in the past five years last season when they went to Florida and are looking forward to having that experience again this spring.
“We definitely have some variety of conference and non-conference games as we look forward to the trip against ASU during our spring break week,” said Dando. “Playing an outer region team during spring break is something I am really excited for because last year’s trip to Florida was just a great experience for the players.”
After six non-conference games to open up the schedule, Bucknell will enter the tough schedule of Patriot League play in mid-March.
“When I first came to Bucknell, my short-term goal was to close the gaps in the conference because when I first got here, we lost to Lehigh by 15 goals and couldn't do anything about it. I think being able to see us make the progress of defeating a team like Lehigh last year or closing the gaps and having three one or two goal games last year really changed the trajectory of our season. We are now so determined to avenge those losses this year and I think it is really exciting.”
The Bison open conference play with back-to-back games against Navy and Army, two consistent top teams in the Patriot League.
“Navy and Army had great years last year and are just incredibly disciplined teams, so it’s a strong pair of conference opponents right off the bat and I am excited for the six weeks of conference play that start with that.”
After the Bison open the season on the road at Navy on Saturday, March 14 and host Army on the following Saturday, they will play host to Colgate on Wednesday, March 25. Bucknell will then travel to back-to-back road games against Lehigh and Holy Cross before hosting Lafayette in a Friday night game on April 10. The Bison will then travel to American and host Boston U. the following week before closing out the regular season at Loyola on Thursday, April 23.
“There's just a lot of competitiveness in the Patriot League and I think with what we built over the last couple of years, we want to prove to ourselves that we're good enough to be able to turn some of last year's tight losses into wins and handle games at home and on the road,” said Dando. “Overall I'm excited for the schedule.”
For the second season, Bucknell women’s lacrosse will call Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium its home and host each of its six home games there.
“It’s really exciting for us to have a second year on CMMS,” said Dando. “It’s huge just being able to play on that surface. Last year, we didn't even get a full year on it, so being able to play both fall and spring on CMMS for the first time, is really amazing because it just adds that competitiveness to be the same as other teams in the conference and be fully prepared for games.”
With a strong fall season completed and the competition season right around the corner, Bucknell women’s lacrosse is ready to compete and it all starts on Friday, Feb. 6 at Youngstown State.
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