Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Lax Hosts Lehigh in Crucial Patriot League Contest Saturday
4/13/2006 8:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
April 13, 2006
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The suddenly red-hot Bucknell women's lacrosse team hosts Lehigh on Saturday in a crucial late-season Patriot League game that carries significant postseason implications. The contests is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Graham Field and can be heard live on WVBU 90.5-FM and on the Web via BucknellBison.com and SportsJuice.com.
Bucknell (4-6 overall) and Lehigh (6-7) enter the game in a three-way tie for fourth place along with Lafayette in the Patriot League standings, with two league games left to play. Only the top four teams in the regular-season standings qualify for the Patriot League Tournament, so Saturday's Bucknell-Lehigh game should certainly have a playoff-like feel to it.
Bucknell's only other league contest is its regular-season finale on Apr. 22 against third-place American. Lehigh and Lafayette also play that day, while Lafayette hosts last-place Villanova this weekend. Lafayette has already beaten Bucknell and holds a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Bison.
The Orange & Blue have played their best lacrosse of the season at both ends of the field over the last week, when it kicked aside a nine-game losing streak by routing Villanova 13-4 and Wagner 13-5. Those were the most goals the team had scored since a 14-12 win over Davidson on March 4.
In the Villanova victory, Bonnie Buechel and Sarah Collins both registered hat tricks in the 13-goal onslaught. Then on Wednesday Collins and Emily Burman went for four goals each against Wagner.
The defense has been equally strong, as Bucknell managed to control the tempo in both wins this week. The Bison yielded only 12 shots and four goals to Villanova, and just five goals on 25 shots against a Wagner team that had been averaging nearly 12 goals per game coming in.
Goalie Lizzy McDaniel has 81 saves and only 53 goals against over the last six games. Senior Rachel Prowler has helped hold together a young defensive unit that also features improving freshmen starters in Catherine Barry and Alex Radebaugh.
Lehigh comes in averaging 9.2 goals per game, led by a league-high 38 goals from Sara McIntyre and 28 from Amy Chamberlain. Defensively, the Mountain Hawks give up 12.2 goals per game. Kyle Begina and Brittany Besler have shared time in goal.
Lehigh has won three of its last four, including a 13-12 victory at La Salle on Wednesday.
Lehigh leads the all-time series 20-8. The Mountain Hawks won last season in Bethlehem, 9-7, to snap an eight-game losing streak to the Bison. Bucknell's last series win game at Graham Field in 2004, 14-9.
