Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Soccer Kicks Off Patriot League Play Saturday at American
10/2/2009 8:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 2, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell women's soccer team begins its 19th season of Patriot League play on Saturday afternoon at American. The Bison and Eagles square off at 1 p.m. in Washington, D.C., and the contest can be seen live on aueagles.com (subscription rates apply).
The Bison, who play nothing but Patriot League competition the rest of the way, bring a two-game winning streak to the Nation's Capital. Last Wednesday they played Big Ten power Penn State to a scoreless tie at Emmitt Field, then on Sunday they tripped up Cornell 4-2 on the road. Now 5-5-1 on the season, Bucknell has had six days off prior to the league opener.
American is 5-6 on the season after topping Delaware State 3-0 on Wednesday.
BISON WOMEN'S SOCCER NOTEBOOK
Coverage
- Click HERE to watch live video of the Bucknell-American game (subscription required).
Bucknell vs. American Series Notes
- Bucknell first played American when the Eagles joined the Patriot League in 2001, and since then the Bison have a 5-3-1 lead in the series.
- American won three of the first four meetings -- Bucknell's win in that span came in the 2001 Patriot League Tournament semifinals -- but the Bison are 4-0-1 in the last five head-to-head matchups.
- Last season in Lewisburg, Bucknell celebrated Senior Day with a 2-1 win over American. Kelliann Doherty and Christa Matlack scored to put the Bison up 2-0, then Kelsey Brasher brought the Eagles within 2-1 in the 68th minute. The Bison outshot American 20-5, including 11-0 in the first half.
About American
- The Eagles snapped a four-game losing streak with Wednesday's 3-0 blanking of Delaware State. Kelsey Brasher scored two goals and Friederike Engel had the other in the victory. AU finished with a 41-3 shot advantage against the 1-8 Hornets.
- American's other four victories have come against Radford (1-0), Richmond (1-0), Bryant (2-1 OT) and Georgia Southern (2-0).
- Brasher has a team-high four goals on the season, while Mikaila Weaver has two.
- AU has been outscored 11-10 through 11 games this season, but the Eagles have outshot their opponents 162-114.
- Arianna Efstathiou has started all 11 games and has made 44 saves with 11 goals against.
About the Bison
- Bucknell is 20-7-1 in Patriot League play under coach Ben Landis.
- The Bison scored a season-high four goals last time out against Cornell. Christa Matlack scored two of those goals, while Caitlin Holtz and Megan DeGennaro had the other two. Matlack also had an assist, giving her a career-high-tying five points. Holtz also had an assist in the game.
- Matlack was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week on Monday. It was Matlack's third career two-goal game, and the five points pushed her up into ninth place on Bucknell's career scoring list with 48.
- Factoring in her 11-save shutout of Penn State last Wednesday as well as the win over Cornell, goalkeeper Kathryn Sutton earned a pair of honors this week. She was named the Damon's Bison Athlete of the Week, and she was also named to the CollegeSoccer360.com Team of the Week.
- Holtz's assist against Cornell was her team-leading third of the season and the 12th of her career, putting her in a tie for eighth place on Bucknell's all-time list alongside 1998 graduates Leigh Raymont and Amy Riviere.
- Bucknell finally has a couple of multi-goal scorers this season. When Holtz scored her first goal of the year to open the scoring against Cornell, that made 10 different scorers on each of the team's 10 goals on the season. Later in the first half, Matlack ended the streak, becoming the first Bison to notch her second goal of the year. Matlack later added her third, and Megan DeGennaro picked up her second as well.
Looking Ahead
- Following the trip to American, the Bison have three straight home games, all against Patriot League competition. Bucknell hosts Lafayette and Lehigh next Friday and Sunday, followed by a showdown with arch-rival Navy on Oct. 17.
