Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Field Hockey Can Clinch Tournament Berth with Win against Holy Cross
10/30/2008 8:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Oct. 30, 2008
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell field hockey team will travel to Worcester, Mass., on Saturday, Nov. 1, to take on the Holy Cross Crusaders in its final game of the regular season. With a win, the Bison (10-6, 2-2 PL) will clinch a spot in the Patriot League Tournament for the first time since 2006. Bucknell would face Lafayette in the semifinals of the tournament, as either the No. 2 or No. 3 seed. Seeding scenarios make it impossible for the Bison to be No. 4.
The Orange and Blue can clinch the No. 2 seed for the tournament with a win and if Colgate (9-7, 2-2 PL) defeats Lafayette (11-6, 3-1 PL). American (9-6, 4-0 PL), Lafayette and Colgate have already clinched three of the four tournament berths, and the only way Bucknell will not join them is with a loss to Holy Cross (5-11, 1-3 PL) and a Colgate win over Lafayette. The Crusaders would then receive the No. 4 seed in the tournament. Lehigh (3-13, 0-4 PL) has been eliminated from tournament contention.
The Bison last played on Saturday, Oct. 25, against Colgate, at Graham Field at Holmes Stadium, and defeated the Raiders, 4-3, thanks to a tie-breaking goal by Trina Boyer (Macungie, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) with 77 seconds left to play in regulation. Boyer had two goals in the contest and was named Damon's Bison Athlete of the Week and Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week for her efforts. Classmate Amanda Faust (Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) assisted on Boyer's game-winning goal, and added a goal and an assist to that, finishing the afternoon with four points. She received the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week award, the second conference weekly award for Faust this season. It was the ninth time this season that Faust has at least two points in a contest, and the Bison have an 8-1 record in those games. The Orange and Blue finished the year with an impressive 6-2 record at home, while playing to a 4-4 mark away from Lewisburg.
Bucknell is tops in the Patriot League in scoring average (2.64), goals (43), goals per game (2.69), assists (51), assists per game (3.19) and penalty corners (130). The ream ranks second in scoring margin (+ 0.80) and defensive saves (six), and third in goals against average (1.84), shots per game (11.62), goals against (30) and goals against per game (1.88). The Bison's 51 assists are a new single-season program record.
Faust's 28 points are a personal career-high for the senior, and place her third in the league. That total has moved her into third place in the Bison scoring record books, and places as the seventh highest single-season point total in Bucknell history. Sophomore Morgan Kauffman (Millersville, Pa./Penn Manor) is fifth in the league in scoring (22 points), and her 12 assists are second in the league behind only classmate Corinne Raczek (Ocean Township, N.J./Ocean Township), who has 14. Raczek now holds Bucknell's single-season assist record, with Kauffman right behind her. Four players have recorded 10 assists in a season before, including Faust, who has done so both this year and in 2006. Faust has 34 career assists, the all-time program record and fourth best in league history.
Boyer is tied for eighth in the league in scoring with 19 points, and her eight goals place her sixth. With 20 career goals, she is just outside of the top-10 on Bucknell's all-time goal scoring chart. Faust has nine goals this season, and 27 for her career, ranking sixth on that list. Sophomore Kelly Bruvik (Skillman, N.J./Stuart Country Day) has seven goals this season, tied for seventh in the conference. Boyer and Bruvik have combined to score seven of the team's ten game-winning goals this year.
Defensively for Bucknell, senior co-captain Steph Graf (Jamison, Pa./Central Bucks East) is tied for third in the league with two defensive saves. She has led the league in that category each of the last two years, and has 15 defensive saves for her career. Junior Jessie Atieh (North Caldwell, N.J./West Essex) and freshman Sarah Zargarpour (North Vancouver, Canada/Handsworth Secondary) have split time in goal for the Orange and Blue this year. Atieh has an 8-4 record, and her 2.00 goals against average and .728 save percentage both rank third in the Patriot League, among goalies who have played enough minutes to qualify. Zargarpour has appeared in eight games, including one start that resulted in a 6-0 shutout against Saint Francis (Pa.). She has a 2-2 record, an 1.67 goals against average and a .758 save percentage.
A win over Holy Cross would give the Orange and Blue at least 11 wins in a season for just the fourth time in the 36 years of the program. The team's best season was 1999, when it compiled a 14-7 record. The Bison also won 11 games in 1979 (11-7-1) and 1984 (11-10).
The Patriot League Tournament semifinals will be played on Friday, Nov. 7, and the conference championship game will be on Saturday, Nov. 8, all in Washington, D.C. Times for the games have not yet been announced.
