Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Field Hockey Kicks Off Full Week of Games with Penn State Tuesday
10/12/2009 8:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Oct. 12, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell field hockey will face some heavy hitters in its busy schedule this week. The Bison (8-4, 2-0) will take on Penn State (Tuesday, Oct. 13) on the road before returning to Lewisburg to tackle Patriot League-favorite American (Saturday, Oct. 17) and Georgetown (Sunday, Oct. 18). Live stats on GameTracker for both games at Graham Field will be available at BucknellBison.com, while the contest with American will be broadcast live on Bison Vision.
ABOUT THE BISON
- The Bison will try to pull off an upset in University Park, Pa., on Tuesday when it faces Penn State. Bucknell has never defeated their in-state foes, although this may be the year. Both teams received votes in the last week's Kookaburra/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll. Bucknell earned four votes, while Penn State gathered one.
- Bucknell will put two records on the line when it faces American on Saturday. The Bison are 5-0 at home for the first time in program history and 2-0 in the Patriot League. This is the first time since 1984 that the Bison have started the season 2-0 or better in conference play. A member of the East Coast Conference in 1984, Bucknell defeated Hofstra (1-0), Rider (1-0) and Drexel (3-1) to start its year. The Bison finished 5-2 in the ECC that year. No Orange and Blue team has ever gone 4-0 in conference action.
- Head coach Jeremy Cook continues his climb up the Bucknell wins list. With the win over Lehigh last Saturday, the coach is 19-12 in two years, tying with Sally Star for fifth place all-time. One more victory will tie Cook with Jennifer Averill, who headed the Bison from 1989-91 and amassed a 20-32-3 record.
- That win against the Mountain Hawks was thanks in large part to a trio of goal scorers in Tayler Siegrist (Madison, N.J./Madison), Kelly Bruvik (Skillman, N.J./Stuart Country Day) and Christine Weiss (Bethlehem, Pa./Southern Lehigh). Siegrist scored first in the 4-3 victory, Bruvik chipped in two scores and Weiss recorded the game winner. Siegrist and Sarah Ebright (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) each chipped in an assist, while Corinne Raczek (Ocean Township, N.J./Ocean Township) added two.
- The pair of helpers from Raczek moved the junior up the list of Bucknell's all-time assist leaders. Raczek now has 22 in her career, giving her sole possession of fourth place.
- Jessie Atieh (North Caldwell, N.J./West Essex) has entered Bucknell's top 10 in a number of goalkeeping categories this season. By earning the win against Lehigh, the senior now has eight single-season wins, good for a ninth-place tie, and 23 career victories, tying her for fifth all-time at the University. She also reached 200 career saves against the Mountain Hawks.
ABOUT THE NITTANY LIONS
- Bucknell will play Penn State at 6 p.m. on Tuesday. Fans can get in-game updates on the Nittany Lions' Twitter page, http://twitter.com/PennStateFH.
- The Bison have never been able to upend the Nittany Lions, trailing 25-0 in the all-time series. When the two teams last met in 2008, Penn State won 4-2 at Graham Field. Morgan Kauffman (Millersville, Pa./Penn Manor) and former Bison Amanda Faust had the scores.
- Penn State is 4-9 overall and 1-2 in the Big Ten. That record can be misleading, however, as the team has faced some stiff competition this year. The Nittany Lions have taken on eight teams ranked in the Kookaburra/NFHCA National Coaches Poll, including top-ranked Maryland. They did pull out wins in two of those contests, defeating then-No. 18 Ohio State in overtime and No. 14 Stanford back-to-back. Most recently, Penn State lost to the current No. 18 in the country, Northwestern, 3-2 last Friday.
- Leading the way offensively for the squad is Christine Dudek with 11 points on three goals and five assists. Tops in goals scored are Hannah Allison and Jessica Longstreth with four apiece. Ali Meves has received much of the time in the net this season, accumulating a 3-8 record, 2.11 goals against average and .768 save percentage.
ABOUT THE EAGLES
- Bucknell will take on American at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17. The game will be broadcast live on Bison Vision at BucknellBison.com. Live stats on GameTracker will also be available.
- American leads Bucknell in the all-time series, 3-15. The two teams last met in the 2008 Patriot League Championship with the Eagles winning 5-2 in Washington, D.C. The last time Bucknell took a victory off the Eagles was in the final game of the 2001 season with a 3-2 final.
- The Eagles are 6-6 overall and 2-0 in the Patriot League this season. American has outscored its league opponents in the two games 10-1 with a 5-0 shutout over Holy Cross and a 5-1 win over Colgate last Saturday. Most recently, American fell to Princeton, tied for fourth nationally, 3-2 on Sunday. The loss takes the Eagles to 0-5 against nationally ranked opponents in 2009.
- The Eagles feature four players with 14 points in Christine Fingerhuth and Savannah Graybill, each with six goals and two assists, and Melissa Casalle with five goals and four assists. Alyssa Poorman has earned a 5-6 record in goal this season, posting a 1.64 goals against average, .660 save percentage and two shutouts along the way.
ABOUT THE HOYAS
- Bucknell faces off against Georgetown at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 18. Live stats on GameTracker will be available at BucknellBison.com.
- Bucknell leads Georgetown in the all-time series 14-6. When the two teams met in 2008, Bucknell came out on top 3-1 with the help of a hat trick from former Bison Trina Boyer.
- The Hoyas have struggled in 2009, posting a 1-12 overall record. Their lone win this fall came 3-2 over Rutgers at the end of September. Most recently, the squad fell 5-4 to Dartmouth last Saturday. The Hoyas will take on Towson and Villanova before traveling to Graham Field on Sunday.
- Kristen Volpe has a clear lead over her teammates statistically, recording 22 points on eight goals and six assists in 13 games. Second on the team in points is Katy Wingo with six. Clodagh Coghlan has spent much of the time in goal this season, taking a 1-9 record. Heading into the week, the goalkeeper has a 3.54 goals against average and a .644 save percentage.
UP NEXT
After a busy weekend, the Bison will have a week off before heading to New York state to take on Colgate on Saturday, Oct. 24 and Cornell on Sunday, Oct. 25. Both games are slated for 1 p.m.
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