Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Soccer Ends Tough Road Swing at No. 10 Penn State on Sunday
9/5/2008 8:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 5, 2008
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell women's soccer team wraps up a challenging five-game, season-opening road swing at 10th-ranked Penn State on Sunday evening. The 6 p.m. contest at Jeffrey Field comes just after the Bison men's team battles the Nittany Lions on the same pitch at 3:30 p.m.
Bucknell is 2-1-1 on the season after a 3-2 win at Maryland and a 4-1 loss at Rutgers last weekend. Penn State is 2-1, including a 4-1 win over Hofstra in its last outing. The Nittany Lions play at Rutgers on Friday night before hosting the Bison on Sunday.
BISON WOMEN'S SOCCER NOTEBOOK
Coverage
- Click HERE for live stats via GameTracker.
Series Notes
- Penn State has won all 12 previous meetings in the series.
- Two of those 12 meeting have come in the NCAA Tournament. In the 2001 postseason the Nittany Lions won 3-1, and in 2005 Penn State eliminated the Bison in the first round with a 6-0 decision.
- The two teams met at a jam-packed Varsity Soccer Field in Lewisburg last season. A crowd of nearly 1,400 watched the two teams duke it out in a scoreless first half, but 17th-ranked Penn State came alive after halftime and prevailed 5-1. The Nittany Lions scored twice in the first eight minutes of the second half, but Chelsea McGorry made it a 2-1 game in the 60th minute. It stayed 2-1 until the final seven minutes, when Penn State tacked on three late goals, one coming on a breakaway counter attack with the Bison pushed up, and the last coming with just one second left in the game.
About Penn State
- The 10th-ranked Nittany Lions opened the season with a 3-1 road victory over William & Mary, on Aug. 23. Last weekend at the Penn State Invitational, the Nittany Lions fell 4-1 to No. 5 Florida State and defeated Hofstra 4-1.
- Danielle Toney leads the team in scoring with seven points on two goals and three assists. Katie Schoepfer and Nikki Watts also have two goals, while Melissa Hayes has a pair of assists.
- Alyssa Naeher has made all three starts in goal and has a .625 save percentage and a 2.03 goals-against average.
- Naeher, Schoepfer and Zoe Bouchelle are among the 47 women's players on the Hermann Trophy Watch List.
- Penn State has won 10 straight Big Ten championships, and the Lions are the preseason favorites to make it 11 in a row. They are 89-6-4 in Big Ten play over that span.
- Penn State first-year head coach Erica Walsh was an assistant coach for the gold-medal-winning Team USA at the Beijing Olympics this summer, and Walsh has a long history with Bison coach Ben Landis. Walsh was Bucknell's very first graduate assistant coach in 1997, the year Landis left Bucknell to coach at Lehigh. The two coaches had become acquainted while working camps together and competing against one another in the Patriot League, and in 2000 when Walsh became the head coach at Dartmouth, she hired Landis as her assistant. The two worked together for three seasons, helping the Big Green to three NCAA berths, two trips to the final 16, two Ivy League titles and a national ranking as high as No. 13. When Walsh resigned after the 2002 season to work on her MBA at Lehigh, Landis was named her successor as head coach at Dartmouth.
About Last Weekend
- Last Friday the Bison earned one of their most impressive non-conference victories in program history, winning 3-2 at Maryland. The Terrapins were ranked just outside the national top-25 (second among "others receiving votes") coming into the contest.
- Bucknell fell behind Maryland 1-0 just 2:55 into the contest, but the Bison would not yield another goal until just 1:11 remained. In the meantime, Bucknell scored three straight goals, the first two coming from Jennifer Dervarics. The reigning Patriot League Player of the Year tied it in the 55th minute and put the Bison ahead to stay in the 68th minute. Chelsea McGorry added a key insurance goal with 14:44 remaining, making it a 3-1 game. Bucknell's big victory came in the first-ever meeting with Maryland, or any ACC team for that matter.
- Two days later against a very strong Rutgers side, Bucknell kept the momentum going briefly, scoring first on a Nicole Marotta goal in the 17th minute. But the Scarlet Knights scored three before halftime and one more in the second half for a 4-1 win.
About the Bison
- Dervarics was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week for her two-goal performance at Maryland. That gave her four goals in the first three games of the season.
- Dervarics leads the Patriot League in both goals (4) and points (8).
- Marotta now has two goals on the season and is tied for second on the team with Chelsea Brinkman with four points.
- Goalkeeper Kathryn Sutton has a league-high 19 saves thus far.
- Freshman Casey Crowley earned her first collegiate point with an assist on Marotta's goal against Rutgers.
- Last year's rookie sensation Christa Matlack made her first appearance of 2008 as a reserve in the Rutgers game. Matlack had been bothered by an injury in the preseason and missed the first three contests. She had eight goals and five assists last season.
Bison Milestones
- Dervarics now has 28 career goals, tied for fifth-most (with Jennifer Margolis) in Bucknell history.
- Dervarics' 69 career points also ranks fifth in Bucknell history. She is seven points shy of Kerry McDonnell for fourth place.
- Sutton's opening-day shutout of UMBC was the fifth of her career, moving her into fifth place on Bucknell's career chart.
- Sutton has also moved into sole possession of fifth place on Bucknell's career wins list with 12.
Weekly Awards and Honors
- Patriot League BRINE Offensive Player of the Week: Jennifer Dervarics (Sept. 2).
- Patriot League BRINE Goalkeeper of the Week: Kathryn Sutton (Aug. 25).
- Patriot League BRINE Defensive Player of the Week: Caitlin Holtz (Aug. 25).
- Patriot League Honorable Mention: Jennifer Dervarics (Aug. 25).
Looking Ahead
- Bucknell finally comes home to the friendly confines of Varisty Soccer Field on Thursday, Sept. 11, taking on Mount St. Mary's at 7 p.m. Starting with that contest, the Bison will play four of their next five, and seven of their next 10, matches on home turf. Bucknell is 7-0 all-time against Mount St. Mary's, although the two teams have not met since 2001.
