Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Soccer Places League-High Five on All-Patriot League Team, Matlack Named Offensive Player of Year
11/3/2009 7:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Nov. 3, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell junior All\-Patriot\ League\ Team. Matlack repeated as a first-team selection, while senior Kathryn Sutton (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville Area) and juniors Amanda Citron (Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield), Kelliann Doherty (Voorhees, N.J./Eastern Regional) and Caitlin Holtz (Freehold, N.J./The Peddie School) were all named to the second team.
Also voted the Patriot League Preseason Offensive Player of the Year back in August, Matlack leads the league in both goals (9) and points (20) per game (16). She has been especially hot over the last month, as she has eight goals and two assists in her last eight games. In conference play Matlack logged two-goal games in victories over Lafayette, Navy and Holy Cross.
Matlack, who has also generated more shot attempts than any other player in the league, earned a spot on the all-conference first team for the second year in a row. It is the third straight year that Bucknell has claimed the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, as Jennifer Dervarics won the award in both 2007 and 2008. Lisa Gibbons is the only other Bison to earn the honor, that coming in 1993.
Matlack this season has moved into the top 12 on Bucknell's career charts in goals, assists and points. Only a junior, she already ranks eighth in goals with 25, tied for 12th in assists with 11 and seventh in points with 61.
Sutton earned All-Patriot League honors for the second time in her career. A first-team honoree in 2007, she garnered second-team honors this year after battling back from an early season injury that limited her range and her minutes. She has still authored a fine senior season, posting an 8-5-1 record so far with three shutouts and a 1.36 goals-against average. In Patriot League play she is 5-2 with two shutouts and a 1.13 GAA.
Sutton enjoyed the night of her career back on Sept. 23 against Penn State. In that match she recorded 11 saves, several of them spectacular stops on breakaways, to help the Bison pull out a scoreless tie. It was Bucknell's first-ever point against the Nittany Lions, who are currently 11-5-2 overall and 7-1-1 and tied for first in the Big Ten.
The Penn State win gave Sutton the Bucknell career shutouts record, which now stands at 15. She also has 29 career wins, which is one shy of the program record, held by Katie Dry, Laurie Purse and Becky Snover.
Holtz made an all-conference team for the second year in a row. She was a first-team selection as a defender last season, and in 2009 she was named to the second team as a midfielder. A starter in all 18 games so far this season - and in all 58 games over the last three seasons - the Bison junior has two goals and a team-high five assists. She ranks third on the team with nine points and ranks sixth in the Patriot League in assists per game.
Her lofty assist total comes one year after she posted eight assists, the second-highest total in program history. Holtz now has 14 career helpers, tied for sixth-most in program history. An excellent two-way player, Holtz's goals this season have come against Cornell and American.
Doherty is also back on the All-Patriot League Team for the second time. She was a first-team choice as a freshman in 2007, and now she is a second-team honoree in 2009. Doherty has appeared in 17 matches this season with 16 starts, and her four goals rank second on the team behind Matlack. She also has a pair of assists, giving her 10 total points.
Three of Doherty's four goals have come in Patriot League play. She had a goal and an assist in a 3-1 win over Lehigh, she scored the game-winning goal in the second half of a 1-0 road win over Army, and she scored in the opening minutes against Colgate on Saturday night. In fact, nine of Doherty's 14 career goals have been in league matches.
A team co-captain and the anchor of the Bison defense from her center back position, Citron is a first-time All-Patriot Leaguer. Last year's team defensive MVP and a member of the Patriot League All-Tournament Team in 2008, Citron has repeated her success from a year ago.
On Oct. 26, she earned Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week honors after helping Bucknell to consecutive road wins over Army and Holy Cross. She is part of a defense that has posted five shutouts this season and held the opposition to just a single goal on six other occasions.
This is the fourth year in a row that Bucknell has placed at least four student-athletes on the women's soccer all-league team. The Bison had a record seven picks in 1995 and had six in both 2006 and 2007.
The Bison are currently 10-7-1 overall and finished the regular season with a 5-2 Patriot League record. Bucknell tied for second in the league standings and will go into this weekend's Patriot League Tournament as the No. 3 seed. In one semifinal match the Bison will face No. 2 American, which also went 5-2 in the league, on Friday at 7:30 p.m. That will be preceded by No. 1 Colgate against No. 4 Navy.
