Bucknell University
Lafayette
Bison Women's Soccer Blanks Lafayette 2-0 on Pair of Matlack Strikes
10/9/2009 8:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 9, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Christa Matlack (South Williamsport, Pa./South Williamsport) continued her recent scoring surge with her second two-goal performance in her last three games, and the Bucknell women's soccer team dropped Patriot League rival Lafayette 2-0 Friday night at Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium. With the victory, the Bison evened their overall record at 6-6-1 and their Patriot League ledger at 1-1.
Matlack came into the game needing one more goal to become both the 10th player in program history with 20 goals and the eighth Bison to reach the 50-point plateau, and she reached that milestone just five minutes into the game.
Bucknell came out flying, and nearly put one in the net in the second minute of play. Kelliann Doherty (Voorhees, N.J./Eastern Regional) got her head on a Matlack cross at the top of the 6-yard box, but Lafayette keeper Lauren Smedley used quick reactions to deflect the ball up off the crossbar and out.
Doherty picked up a point not long after, however, as she won a header near midfield and sent Matlack into wide open space along the left flank. Matlack cut to the inside to tee it up on her right foot, and she blasted a shot into the upper right corner of the net to give the Bison a quick 1-0 lead.
Even though Bucknell had a 10-3 shot advantage in the first half, the game evened out a bit in the final 25 minutes of the period. The Bison did have one nervous moment in the 37th minute, when Dana Moyer sent in a long ball in from the left sideline that floated a bit on keeper Kathryn Sutton (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville Area). Sutton had to leap to tip the ball away, and it may have grazed the back post on the way by.
The weather took a turn for the worse in the second half. A light mist began at halftime and grew steadier as the game progressed, making Matlack's insurance goal in the 62nd minute all the more important for the Bison. Chelsea McGorry (Charlton, Mass./Shepherd Hill Regional) instigated the play with a nice move to run past a defender along the left sideline. McGorry sent a left-footed cross into the box, right onto the head of Matlack, who stuck it in the net for her fifth goal of the season and 21st of her career.
Just before the second goal, Sutton had to make a tricky save on the wet surface on Jill Dozier's shot from the top of the box. Sutton finished with three saves, while Smedley had seven for the Leopards (3-8-2, 0-2-0). Bucknell finished with a 22-8 shot advantage. Matlack led all players with seven shots, while Moyer paced Lafayette with four.
The Bison attempted five of the game's six corner kicks and were dangerous on each of them. On one second-half corner they began to celebrate after a goal-mouth scramble, but the linesman ruled the ball did not cross the goal line.
With 21 career goals, Matlack is now tied for eighth on Bucknell's career list along with Savannah Rennels and Leigh Raymont. It was her fourth career two-goal game. She also had two against Cornell just two games prior.
The Bison are right back in action on Sunday afternoon, hosting Lehigh in a Patriot League game at 1 p.m. The Mountain Hawks decked Colgate 4-1 in Hamilton, N.Y., on Friday night to get to 1-0-1 in the league.
