Setting the Stage
• After a month-long pause in game action, 18th-ranked Navy (2-0, 0-0 Patriot League) returns to action on Sunday when it opens league play at home against Bucknell (1-2, 0-2 Patriot League). Faceoff is set for 3:00 pm at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
• The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Pete Medhurst and Joe Miller on the call.
• The game will also be carried live on 1430 AM / 99.9 FM WNAV with coverage beginning at 2:45 pm with the Navy Lacrosse Pregame Show.
• Following the guidelines set by state and local government officials, spectators are allowed at home Navy lacrosse games. Fans will be required to wear a mask throughout the contest and asked to maintain social distancing.

Game Day Storylines
• Welcome Back: When Navy takes the field on Sunday, it will have been 28 days since its last competition. Just hours after defeating Jacksonville on Feb. 28, the Naval Academy endured a 21-day Restriction of Movement (ROM), more commonly known as quarantine to the civilian world, due to an uptick in COVID-19 cases within the Brigade of Midshipmen. During those 21 days, midshipmen were allowed two hours of outdoor physical activity with one roommate, while classes were held virtually and meals were consumed within their respective dorm rooms. ROM was lifted on Monday, March 22, when athletes were allowed to return to practice and resume competition. The 28-day gap between games is the longest in school history with the closest being a 23-day wait between the Mids' 1986 regular-season finale against top-ranked Johns Hopkins on April 26 and its NCAA Quarterfinals contest against Virginia on May 19.
• Countdown to 100: Senior attackman Christian Daniel is just 5 points shy of becoming the 36th player in program history to reach 100 points. Daniel's former teammates Greyson Torain and Ryan Wade became the 34th and 35th players, respectively, to add their names to the list and just the fifth set of classmates to achieve the feat when both players reached the milestone in 2019. Daniel, who has been held without a point in just two of the 33 games he has played in over his career, has amassed 95 points on 62 goals and 32 assists.
• Jarosz Brothers Garner Patriot League Honors: Junior Jacob Jarosz and freshman Jon Jarosz were named the Patriot League Faceoff Specialist and Rookie of the Week, respectively, after leading the Mids to a 13-6 victory over Jacksonville on Feb. 28. Making his first appearance of the year, Jacob won 17 of 23 draws (73.9) and grabbed a career-high 10 ground balls. After winning just 3 of the 6 faceoffs in the opening quarter, he went on to win 14 of the final 17, including 10 of 11 in the second half. The 17 wins by Jarosz are the most by a Navy player since March 16, 2019, when Nick Barry won 17 of 23 draws against Loyola and went on to earn the league's weekly award. Meanwhile, his 10 ground balls are the most by a Navy player since Joe Varello scooped up a career-high 14 against Loyola on March 17, 2018.  Jon paced the team with 3 goals on 5 shots in what was his first-collegiate appearance. He sparked Navy with bookend goals in the second quarter (14:19 and 0:27.7) to help the Mids overcome a three-goal deficit and knot the game at 5-5 going into halftime.
• Mids Picked Fourth: Navy has been picked to finish fourth in the 2021 Patriot League Preseason Poll. Loyola, who received 13 of the 18 first-place votes, is the preseason favorite, followed by Army, Lehigh, Navy, Boston U., Bucknell, Holy Cross, Colgate and Lafayette. Navy is the only Patriot League team who has not played a conference game yet. Boston U. and Loyola have played three, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross and Lehigh have played two and Army and Lafayette have played one.

Scouting Bucknell
• Sixteenth-year Bucknell head coach Frank Fedorjaka has led the Bison to a 1-2 record to date. Don't let that record deceive you, however, as Bucknell has played two of the top teams in not only the Patriot League, but the country in the likes of Lehigh and Loyola. After opening the year with a 15-9 victory over Cleveland State on March 7, the Bison have lost back-to-back games to then #11 Lehigh (18-6) and then #12 Loyola (24-10).
• Sunday's contest will mark just the second road trip for the Bison and the second in as many weeks to the Annapolis-Baltimore region having played at Loyola a week ago.
• Bucknell is averaging 10.33 goals per game which stands seventh in the Patriot League, while giving up 17.00 goals per game which is last in the league.
• Anchoring the offense is senior attackman Tommy Sopko who has amassed 16 points on a team-best 13 goals and 3 assists. Sopko is ranked 18th nationally with his 5.33 points per game average, while hs is fourth in the country averaging 4.33 goals per game.
• Sophomore middie Harry Wellford (5-3=8) and junior attackman Alston Terry (4-4=8) have scored 8 points apiece.
• After starting six games between the pipes a year ago, Ben Clark returns to his starting post in goal. He has allowed 38 of the team's 51 goals and owns a 17.09 goals-against average. Meanwhile, he has made 23 stops in cage for a 37.7 save percentage.
• Sophomore Daniel Parson has seen time (39:52) in goal in all three contests where he has given up 12 goals for an 18.06 GAA, while making 8 stops for a 40.0 save percentage.
• Starting defenseman senior Bryant Boswell leads the team with 5 caused turnovers, while short-stick defensive midfielder Matt Fedorjaka has 4 takeaways. The Bison are ranked fifth nationally in caused turnovers per game (10.33).
• Four different players have taken faceoffs for the Bison with junior Nick Crovatto seeing the brunt of the action. Crovatto has won 25 of his 57 draws (43.9) while, Conor McCusker (9-6, 56.3), Danny Striano (4-12, 33.3) and Bryant Boswell (0-6, 00.0) have also seen action at the faceoff "x" for the Bison. As a team, Bucknell stands 50th nationally.

Navy vs. Bucknell - The Series
• Sunday's contest between Navy and Bucknell marks the 20th game in a series that began in 1996.
• Navy owns an 11-8 advantage in the series, winning each of the last four contests.
• Eight of the 19 games in the series have been decided by one goal, although the Mids have won the last four games by an average of six goals.
• Three of the eight one-goal contests have entered into extra minutes. In 2010, midfielder Patrick Moran stuck his shot 1:20 into overtime to lead the Mids to an 8-7 OT win.Meanwhile, in 2011 Navy scored four goals in the fourth, including a pair by Nikk Davis in the final 18 seconds of the game to send it into overtime. Then-rookie Todd Heritage went on to score the game-winner for the Bison.
• The Mids own a 6-3 lead over the Bison in games played in Annapolis, including each of the last two (13-7 in 2017, 14-8 in 2019).

Patriot League Openers
• In its 18th year as a member of the Patriot League, Navy owns a 7-10 record in Patriot League openers.
• Sunday's game marks the ninth time the Mids have opened league play against Bucknell.
• Navy has played just four of the eight teams in a league opener - 1-2 vs. Boston U., 2-6 vs. Bucknell, 3-0 vs. Lafayette and 1-2 vs. Loyola. Navy has never opened conference play against Army, Colgate, Holy Cross or Loyola.
• This will be just the fifth time Navy has opened conference play at home, posting a 1-3 mark on their home field.
• The last time Navy opened league play at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium was on March 2, 2019, when it defeated Bucknell, 14-8. That was also the last time the Mids' opened conference action against Bucknell.
• Navy is the only Patriot League team who has not played a conference game to date. It was supposed to open conference action on March 6 at home against Bucknell, but the game was postponed due to COVID-19. Navy's March 20 game at Lafayette was also postponed.

Patriot League Success
• Since joining the Patriot League in 2004, Navy has put together an 84-42 record (66.7) against conference members, which includes an 11-7 (61.1) mark in the Patriot League Tournament. The Mids are 73-35 (67.6) in regular-season action.
• Navy dropped the program's first Patriot League Tournament contest in the 2008 semifinals against eventual champion Colgate.  
• 27 of the 42 losses (64.3) have been in games played either at the opponent's field or at a neutral site.
• Navy owns a 42-16 (72.4) Patriot League record at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, including a 36-12 (75.0) mark during the regular season.
• The Mids have produced undefeated records in conference action twice, 7-0 in 2004 and 6-0 in '07.
• Navy has won at least a share of the Patriot League regular-season title eight times (2004-05-06-07-08-15-16-18) since joining the league in 2004.
• Additionally, the Mids have claimed the league's tournament crown five times (2004-05-06-07-09).