Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Lacrosse Squad Set for Return Trip to Patriot League Tournament
4/27/2006 8:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
April 27, 2006
Bucknell Press Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Bucknell makes its third appearance in the Patriot League Women's Lacrosse Tournament Saturday afternoon at Holy Cross. The fourth-seeded Bison and top-seeded Crusaders meet at noon at the Hart Turf Field. Winner of five straight games, Bucknell finished in a three-way tie for third place in the final Patriot League standings and was awarded the No. 4 seed in a rarely needed random draw used to break that tie. Holy Cross just defeated defending champion Colgate in a battle of PL unbeatens, earning the Crusaders the No. 1 seed.
With a Win over Holy Cross, Bucknell Would ...
• ... win its sixth consecutive game.
• ... advance to the Patriot League championship game for the second time (2003).
• ... improve to 12-5 all-time against Holy Cross.
On a Roll
Some notes about Bucknell's current five-game winning streak:
• It is Bucknell's longest streak since 2001-02, when it won the last four games of 2001 and the first two of 2002.
• It is the longest streak within a season since a five-game streak in 1998.
• During the streak the Bison have outscored their opponents 72-22. In each game they have scored at least 13 goals and allowed five or less.
• It is tied for the fourth-longest active winning streak in the nation (through Tuesday's games), trailing only Monmouth (9), Hofstra (7) and Boston University (6). Duke has also won five straight.
How They Got Here
Faced with a must-win situation against a nemesis that it had not beaten since 1998, Bucknell put forth its most complete effort of the season last Saturday against American in the rain at Graham Field. The Bison sprinted to an early 3-0 lead, saw the Eagles rally to tie it at 4-4, then blew it open with a 9-0 run. The victory, coupled with Lafayette's 14-13 win over Lehigh later in the evening, created a three-way tie for third place in the Patriot League standings between Bucknell, American and Lafayette. All tiebreaker elements were a wash, so a random draw had to be used to determine the final two seeds in the Patriot League Tournament. American drew the No. 3 spot, Bucknell No. 4 and Lafayette the unlucky No. 5 spot.
Heroes Aplenty
In Bucknell's most recent outing, a 14-5 victory over American, a number of players had starring roles:
• Freshman attack Sarah Collins had a career-high 10 points on four goals and six assists. This week's Patriot League Rookie of the Week either scored or assisted on each of Bucknell's first seven goals.
• Sophomore defender Lauren Deitrich scored four goals, all assisted by Collins, and added an assist for a career-high five points. Deitrich also had five ground balls, three draw controls and two caused turnovers.
• Senior goalie Lizzy McDaniel backstopped a terrific performance by the Bison defense, which allowed only one goal in the game's final 36:44. McDaniel had 15 saves, 10 coming in the first half.
• Defenders Rachel Prowler and Lauren Kremer were all over the field. Kremer scored a big second-half goal in addition to four ground balls, four caused turnovers and three draw controls. Prowler helped limit American's leading scorer Moriah Linnell to just a single goal and also had three ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers.
Who's Hot?
• Sarah Collins has 28 points (19G, 9A) in her last six games.
• Emily Burman has 16 points (15G, 1A) in her last five games.
• Bonnie Buechel has a point in 14 of 16 games, including nine points (7G, 2A) in her last three games.
• Jackie Bodnar has a goal in 11 straight games.
• Lizzy McDaniel has 50 saves and 22 goals against in her last five games (.694 SV%, 4.40 GAA).
The First Bucknell-Holy Cross Meeting
Back on March 19 in Worcester, Holy Cross got six goals from Nikki Bolduc and turned aside the Bison 16-8. Bucknell, which had just flown directly to Worcester from California at the tail end of its Spring Break trip, received three goals each from Sarah Collins and Jackie Bodnar. Holy Cross put the game away early, sprinting to a 5-1 lead en route to a 10-4 halftime advantage.
Bucknell in the Patriot League Tournament
This is Bucknell's third appearance in the Patriot League Tournament. In 2003, the third-seeded Bison upset No. 2 Colgate 13-9 in the first round before falling to top-seeded American 15-6 in the championship game. In 2004, No. 2 American blew out the Bison 17-3 in Hamilton, N.Y. Only six players on Bucknell's roster have Patriot League Tournament experience -- Emily Burman, Tory Field, Lauren Kremer, Lizzy McDaniel, Jenny Osborn and Rachel Prowler.
