Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Field Hockey Set for a Pair of Games This Weekend
10/17/2008 8:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Oct. 17, 2008
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell field hockey team will travel to Washington, D.C., on Saturday, Oct. 18, for a league contest with No. 20 (STX/National Field Hockey Coaches Association poll) American, before playing Georgetown on Sunday, in College Park, Md. The Bison (8-5, 1-1 PL) are coming off a 4-2 loss to No. 10 Penn State, on Tuesday, at Graham Field at Holmes Stadium.
On American
The Eagles (6-6, 2-0 PL) can clinch a spot in the Patriot League Tournament with a win over the Bison tomorrow. The American field hockey team has won every league title since entering the conference in 2003. In addition, the Eagles' regular-season record in Patriot League play is 28-0. Bucknell has a 3-13 all-time record against American, with all of those wins coming before the Eagles joined the Patriot League.
American's record is deceiving, as five of its six losses have come to team's currently ranked in the top-20. The Eagles lost road matches to No. 1 Syracuse (3-1), No. 2 Maryland (2-1) and No. 8 Iowa (4-1) and games at neutral sites to No. 5 Duke (3-1) and No. 6 James Madison (1-0). American has a 4-2 record at home, including a 2-0 win against Albany, who received votes in the latest STX/NFHCA poll.
Irene Schickhardt leads the Eagles with eight goals, including three game winners, and 20 points, while Christine Fingerhuth has added six goals and 14 points. Anne-Meike DeWiljes leads the team with six assists. Alyssa Poorman, American's goalkeeper, has played all but 35 minutes this year for her team, and recorded five shutouts. She has 1.39 goals against average and a .754 save percentage.
On Georgetown
The Hoyas have had a difficult season compiling a 0-12 record heading into their league contest at Villanova on Friday, Oct. 17. Georgetown plays its home matches at College Park, Md., and is 0-6 there so far this year. The team last played on Wednesday, losing 6-1 at home to Towson. The Bison lost 2-1 to Towson earlier this year, in Owings Mills, Md.
Bucknell will be the second Patriot League team that the Hoyas have faced, losing 4-1 to Lehigh last month. Other common opponents for the two teams include No. 10 Penn State and Cornell, who Georgetown lost to 6-0 and 4-0, respectively. The Orange and Blue lost 4-2 to Penn State, but defeated both Cornell (3-2) and Lehigh (2-1).
Micaela O'Toole leads Georgetown with five points. She has scored two goals this season, as have Maggie Farrand and Kristen Volpe, while Meggie Taylor and Ashton Hospodar each have two assists. Deirdre Crovo has played every minute in goal this season for the Hoyas, and averages nearly nine saves per contest. The Bison have compiled a 13-6 all-time mark against Georgetown, including a 3-2 overtime win at Graham Field last season. Trina Boyer (Macungie, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) and Emily Hutchison (Leola, Pa./Conestoga Valley) each scored a goal for the Bison, while goalkeeper Jessie Atieh (North Caldwell, N.J./West Essex) made five saves in the win.
On Bucknell
The Bison enter the weekend needing two more wins to achieve their fifth season of 10 or more wins in the 36 years of the program. Prior to Bucknell's loss to No. 10 Penn State, the squad had won four its previous five games, and six of its last eight. The Orange and Blue have a 3-3 record playing outside of Lewisburg.
Bucknell ranks first in the Patriot League in scoring margin (+ 1.05), scoring average (2.71), goals scored (36), goals scored per game (2.77), assists (43), assists per game (3.31) and penalty corners (108 or 8.31 per game). The Bison's 43 assists this season have set a new single-season program record, besting the 36 that the Orange and Blue had in 2006.
Individually, a number of Bison players rank among the league's leaders in various categories.
Category - Player (League rank, category total)
Points - Amanda Faust (2nd, 24), Morgan Kauffman (3rd, 21), Corinne Raczek and Kelly Bruvik (t-8th, 14)
Goals - Faust (t-2nd, 8), Bruvik (5th, 7), Kauffman and Katie Ruiz (t-10th, 5)
Assists - Raczek (1st, 12), Kauffman (2nd, 11), Faust (t-4th, 8)
Game-Winning Goals: Bruvik (t-2nd, 3), Ruiz and Trina Boyer (t-5th, 2)
Defensive Saves: Sarah Ebright, Steph Graf, Emily Hutchison, Megan Krebs and Christine Weiss (t-3rd, 1)
Saves: Jessie Atieh (6th, 48), Sarah Zargarpour (8th, 17)
Shutouts: Zargarpour (t-4th, 1)
Goals Against Average: Atieh (3rd, 1.89)
Save Percentage: Atieh (3rd, .738)
Senior co-captain Amanda Faust (Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) set the Bucknell all-time assist record earlier this season. Her total of 32 also ranks fifth all-time in Patriot League history. Bison sophomore Corinne Raczek (Ocean Township, N.J./Ocean Township) has 12 assists this season, while classmate Morgan Kauffman (Millersville, Pa./Penn Manor) has 11, both totals surpassing the previous single-season school record of 10. In fact, Raczek and Kauffman have accumulated enough assists this year to already place them among the career assist leaders in Bucknell history. Raczek has 13 career assists, placing her in a tie for seventh on the career list, while Kauffman's 11, place her just one shy of joining the top-10 chart.
Faust has also scored 26 career goals, tying her for sixth in program history, while her 84 points rank third. Karin Wegener, who played for the Bison from 1975-1978, holds both records, with 122 points and 55 goals.
Bucknell has at least two more games this year, and could play more if it qualifies for the Patriot League Tournament. The Bison's final home game is at 12 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25, against Colgate. Bucknell's senior class will be honored prior to the start of the game. The Orange and Blue will close out the regular season with a Saturday, Nov. 1, game in Worcester, Mass. Against Holy Cross.
