Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Lacrosse Visits Navy for First Time on Saturday
4/11/2008 8:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
April 11, 2008
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell women's lacrosse team faces a must-win situation in Annapolis on Saturday, as the Bison take on Navy's first-year varsity program for the first time. Game time is 1 p.m. at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium.
The Bison are currently 5-5 overall and 1-3 in the Patriot League. Bucknell has two Patriot League games remaining, against Navy on the road and Lehigh at home, and it will likely have to win both and get some help in order to qualify for the four-team Patriot League Tournament later this month.
Even though the Bison come in to the Navy game on a two-game losing streak, the team has played good lacrosse over the last two weeks. They won three straight road games, including a signature victory at Ohio State, then they played two very good teams in Drexel and Colgate right to the wire at home.
Series Notes:
• This will be the first official meeting between Bucknell and Navy in women's lacrosse.
• The two teams did play an exhibition game at Graham Field last season. Bucknell won the game 14-10 behind four goals from Alison Heffernan and two goals and two assists from both Sarah Collins and Bonnie Buechel.
Scouting Navy:
• The Mids have done quite well under coach Cindy Timchal, who won eight national championships as head coach at Maryland before taking over the Navy program last season. The Mids are 9-3 on the season (2-2 Patriot League) after Wednesday's 19-5 rout of Howard.
• Navy is the third-highest-scoring team in the country, averaging 16.1 goals per game.
• Top scorer Erin Rawlick (46-19-65) ranks third in the nation in points per game and 10th in goals per game. Meg Decker (40-11-51) has also reached the 40-goal mark, while Amanda Towey (16-26-42), Mary Ruttum (26-10-36) and Katrina Nietsch (24-5-29) have also put up big offensive numbers.
• Defensively, Navy allows 9.7 goals per game. Starting goalie Natalie Blandon has a .437 save percentage and a 9.98 goals-against average.
• In Patriot League play, the Mids have beaten American (13-12) and Holy Cross (12-11), while losing to Lehigh (15-12) and Colgate (19-10).
Last Outing:
The Bison dropped a tough 14-12 decision to first-place Colgate at home last Saturday. Bucknell led for most of the day and had a 12-9 advantage with 16 minutes left, but the Raiders tallied the final five goals of the game to improve to 4-0 in the Patriot League. Julia Braun, Bonnie Buechel and Sarah Collins all had hat tricks for the Bison, while Carol Donohue finished with a goal and three assists.
Bison Bits:
• Carol Donohue (26-23-49) now ranks eight nationally in both points and assists per game. She is third in the Patriot League in points and second in assists.
• Donohue has registered four or more points in eight of 10 games this season. Her 23 assists are tied for third most in a season in Bucknell history, just four shy of the record of 27, set by Meredith Wright in 2003. Donohue needs one more point to achieve the seventh 50-point season in school history, and she is 13 points shy of Sue Gray's 24-year-old Bucknell scoring record of 62 points.
• Lauren Deitrich continues to lead the league in caused turnovers with 24 in 10 games. That figure ranks third among all Division I players, trailing only Christy Finch of No. 1 Northwestern (3.09 per game) and Brittany Poist of Louisville (2.73).
• The top four players in the Patriot League draw control rankings will be playing in Saturday's game. Bucknell's Julia Braun (3.11 per game) and Bonnie Buechel (3.10) rank second and third, while Navy's Erin Rawlick (3.58) and Meg Decker (3.08) rank first and fourth.
• Goalie Alyssa DeLorenz now has 104 saves on the season, the most in the Patriot League on a per-game basis. Opposing netminders have only 74 saves. Bucknell is scoring on 51.5 percent of its shots, compared to 42.4 percent for the opposition.
• Bucknell is on pace to obliterate the school record for scoring average in a season. The 2004 team scored a record 11.4 goals per game, but this year's Bison squad is averaging 13.4.
In the Polls:
• Bucknell was picked tied for fifth (with Navy) in the Patriot League preseason poll. American adged defending champion Holy Cross by just two points in the poll, followed by Colgate, Lehigh, Bucknell/Navy and Lafayette.
Looking Ahead:
• After the Navy game the Bison will have three more regular-season games remaining, beginning on Tuesday with a 4 p.m. road game at Wagner. The Seahawks, who lost 19-12 at Graham Field are 1-10 on the season. Bucknell will also play at home on Apr. 19 against Lehigh, and at Columbia on Apr. 23.
