Bucknell University Athletics
First Up: Women's Soccer Visits UMBC Friday
8/20/2008 8:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Aug. 20, 2008
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The 2008-09 athletic calendar officially gets underway on Friday afternoon, when the Bucknell women's soccer team travels to Catonsville, Md., to take on Maryland-Baltimore County. Game time is set for 4 p.m. at the UMBC Soccer Stadium.
Five All-Patriot Leaguers and two all-region performers are among the 10 returning starters for coach Ben Landis' Bison squad, which is coming off back-to-back regular-season conference titles. Bucknell finished 11-9-1 overall last season, including a 5-1 home victory over UMBC.
The Retrievers were 3-13-2 overall and 2-6 in the America East conference in 2007. Sophomore Ashley Singer returns after leading UMBC in scoring with four goals last season.
The Bison will have little time to recover following Friday's season opener, as they are right back on the road on Sunday afternoon to face Saint Francis (Pa.) at 2 p.m.
Below is a complete 2008 season outlook for the Bison women's soccer team.
After capturing a second consecutive Patriot League regular season title in 2007 and with a solid core of the team returning, Landis believes his squad has the ingredients needed to continue its success this fall in his fourth season at the helm for the Bison.
“We are extremely excited about the 2008 season as we return a deep and talented pool of upperclassmen who grew up a lot last year individually and who grew together quite a bit as a whole. Coming off of the 2007 Patriot League championship match, we lose only one starter to graduation but the competition for this year's starting positions will be strong. In addition to our experienced and hungry upperclassmen, we welcome seven incoming freshmen. I honestly expect that if healthy, we can have our entire roster compete for a starting position or playing time each and every week. Our goal is to field a talented, cohesive, deep, and unified team, game in and game out. For two consecutive seasons, we have done extremely well to play at a consistently high level during the regular season. Now, with our three senior captains leading the way, we also want to add a Patriot League Tournament Title and do what they did as first year players in the fall of 2005. It should be a great challenge and we look forward to meeting that challenge each step along the way.”
The Bison bring back five of their top six leading scorers from 2007 and five All-Patriot League honorees, two of whom also collected all-region accolades. At the top of that list, pacing the Orange and Blue with 30 points last fall, is the reigning Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, Jennifer Dervarics.
Dervarics, one of three senior co-captains on this year's squad, scored 12 goals and dished six assists during her junior campaign, landing her fifth on Bucknell's all-time lists for single season goals and points totals. A two-time all-league and 2007 SoccerBuzz All-Mid-Atlantic Region third team selection, Dervarics begins her senior season sixth in program history for career points (61), seventh in goals (24) and seventh in assists (24), as well.
Joining Dervarics as co-captains and rounding out the team's senior class are Kelly Boswell and Nicole Marotta. The 2006 Patriot League Co-Defensive Player of the Year, Marotta is a two-time all-league performer and a 2006 all-region selection who heads up Bucknell's back line.
“Kelly, Jen, and Nicole represent the very best of our team and soccer family and together, we have been through it all since coming to Bucknell together in 2005, commented Landis. “During their first fall in 2005, they were big reasons in helping win the Patriot League tournament championship and then followed that by winning the Regular Season title in the Patriot League in 2006 and 2007. They each have their own personality on and off the field and provide terrific leadership, fortitude, work ethic, spirit, and perseverance that each team member respects and appreciates and I think are the perfect choices for our team captains as we move toward reaching new levels of success this fall. They will also benefit by having great leaders throughout our team who will be there to help support our captains as we will work toward winning the Patriot League Tournament in November and competing in the NCAA Tournament.”
The Bison return three additional All-Patriot League players in juniors Lauren Stoller and Kathryn Sutton and sophomore Kelliann Doherty. Stoller has been a key member of Bucknell's defensive unit since her freshman season when she was recognized as a member of the SoccerBuzz All-Mid-Atlantic Region All-Freshman squad. Sutton met great success in first year as starting netminder for the Orange and Blue last fall, posting a 1.38 goals-against average along with four shutouts and became the first goalkeeper in program history to earn a First Team All-Patriot League nod. In her first collegiate season, Doherty made an immediate impact for the Bison, totaling 15 points on six goals and three assists on her way to all-league and all-region status.
Facing one of the most challenging schedules in program history, the Bison will play road games against some of the best teams from the ACC, Big East, Big 10, CAA, MAAC and the Ivy League, taking on Maryland, Rutgers, Penn State, Virginia Commonwealth and Princeton.
The Patriot League portion of the schedule begins with a tough test against reigning tournament champion Navy on the road on Oct. 4. The Bison will then settle in to play their next three league matches at home, facing Holy Cross, Army and Colgate and will close out the regular season in Lewisburg against American after a weekend road trip to the Lehigh Valley to play Lehigh and Lafayette.
“This may very well be the most demanding schedule in our program's history and yet, this current squad is ready for it, said Landis. “Very strategically, we've been building toward this moment with the past recruiting classes right up to the inclusion of our first-year players and the development of our team and the program as a whole. We are excited to take on great teams all while showcasing the best natural grass and soccer only stadium in the East if not the entire country. The Patriot League will likely be as competitively strong and balanced as it has been in my time here and that is a great thing for both our program and our league. With four of our seven regular season league games at home this year, we love our match-ups, do not have to travel too much within league play, all while taking each and every challenge one game at a time. To have any chance to lift the tournament trophy, we must first qualify for the tournament and we look forward to earning as many points as possible each time we take the field.”
