April 17, 2009
Live video on Bison Vision 
Live stats on GameTracker 
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Picture-perfect spring weather is predicted for Saturday afternoon when the Bison women's lacrosse team hosts Navy in an important Patriot League contest. Prior to the game, Bucknell will pay tribute to seniors Catherine Barry and Bonnie Buechel, then the Bison will set out to clinch the No. 2 seed at next week's Patriot League Tournament.
The Bucknell-Navy contest will air live on Bison Vision, with Doug Birdsong handling the play-by-play duties.
Bucknell, now 9-6 overall and 4-1 in the Patriot League, had not suffered consecutive setbacks all season until this current three-game losing streak. One of those losses came last Saturday at Colgate, a result that clinched the Patriot League regular-season title for the Raiders and eliminated the Bison from contention for the No. 1 seed. Bucknell enters Saturday's game in sole possession of second place, one game ahead of both Navy (10-4, 3-2) and Lehigh (10-5, 3-2).
The Bison can claim the No. 2 seed with a victory over Navy, while a loss would relegate them to either No. 3 or 4, depending on Lehigh's result against Colgate on Saturday.
As another subplot, Navy has not yet clinched a berth in the four-team tournament. If fifth-place Holy Cross (2-3) wins at 1-4 American on Saturday, and Lehigh and Navy both lose, there would be a three-way tie for the 3-4-5 spots. In that scenario, Navy would be eliminated based on a goal-differential tiebreaker.
Scouting Navy:
Under the direction of Cindy Timchal, Division I women's lacrosse's all-time winningest coach, Navy is in its second year as a varsity program. The Mids went 13-4 in their inaugural season in 2008, and this year they are 10-4. Timchal coached Maryland to eight national championships, including seven straight from 1995-2001.
In Patriot League play, the Mids have beaten Lafayette (19-4), Holy Cross (10-9) and American (8-6), with losses coming against Colgate (10-4) and Lehigh (11-7).
Bucknell and Navy played two non-league common opponents this season. Both teams defeated Davidson and Robert Morris.
The Mids have a high-powered offense that averages 13.21 goals per game, second-most to Colgate (14.13) in the Patriot League. Seven different Navy players have 20 or more points this season, led by league scoring leader and PL Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Erin Rawlick (43-32-75). Caitlin Mandrin Hill (20-19-39), Katrina Nietsch (26-10-36), Mary Ruttum (22-8-30), Kiersten King (16-10-26), Dani Vivonetto (23-0-23) and Madison Bell (19-3-22) are also potent scorers.
Defensively, Navy also ranks second in the conference allowing 8.36 goals per game. Elaina Ponchione has started every game in goal and has a .496 save percentage and 8.24 goals-against average.
King leads the Mids with 34 ground balls, while Ruttum and Ponchione have 32 each. Rawlick has a team-high 38 draw controls, while Mandrin Hill paces the team with 29 caused turnovers.
Navy has outscored opponents 185-117 on the season, inlcuding 98-56 in the first half.
Series Notes:
As this is only Navy's second varsity season, the two teams have officially met just once. Last season on a rainy day in Annapolis, Bucknell could not stop the Navy offense and fell 18-11. Katrina Nietsch scored six goals, Meg Decker had four and Erin Rawlick three for the Mids. Julia Braun and Chelsea Peters scored three times each for the Bison, while Carol Donohue had two goals and two assists. Navy's 18 goals came on only 26 shots, while the Bison scored 11 times on 24 shots in what proved to be a tough day for the goalies in a steady downpour. Bucknell jumped out to a 3-0 lead, fell behind 4-3, then scored three straight to go back up 6-4. Navy scored three goals in 36 seconds near the end of the first half to go up 7-6, then scored 11 times in the second half to turn it into a rout.
In 2007, Bucknell and Navy played an exhibition game at Graham Field, and the Bison prevailed 14-10 behind two goals and two assists from Bonnie Buechel
Last Outing:
On a cold, wet day at Graham Field on Tuesday, Bucknell got off to a slow start against Marist and was unable to recover, ultimately falling 14-9 to the defending MAAC champions. Bonnie Buechel and Carol Donohue scored three times apiece for the Bison, but four consecutive goals by Cristin Begley staked Marist to an 5-2 early lead. The Bison trailed 9-5 at the half and never got closer than three the rest of the way.
Bison Bits:
Bucknell is a win away from its third 10-win season in school history. The Bison won 13 games in 1997 and 10 in 1998.
Junior Carol Donohue tallied two goals and an assist last Saturday against Colgate, giving her 150 career points. She is the sixth player in school history to reach that milestone, joining Suzanne Raffaele (173), Heidi Hammes (170), Michelle Manion (163), Bonnie Buechel (155) and Sue Gray (153). Buechel reached 150 points in the previous game against Le Moyne. After her three-goal game against Marist, Donohue now has 153 points, tying Gray for fifth on Bucknell's career chart.
Donohue has a team-high 14 assists on the season and 65 in her career. That total trails only Melissa Montefusco (72) on Bucknell's career list.
Buechel has reached the 30-goal plateau for the second time in her career. She has 35 goals in 2009, one shy of her career high, set in 2007. Buechel now has 120 career goals, fifth-most in program history. She needs seven more to catch Gray for fourth on the list.
Buechel has moved into second place on Bucknell's career list for caused turnovers with 74. Only 2008 grad Lauren Deitrich (116) has more. Buechel also ranks first in Bucknell history in draw controls (155) and fourth in ground balls (130).
Buechel ranks tied for fourth in the Patriot League in goals per game (2.33), while Donohue ranks tied for sixth in goals per game (2.00), tied for eighth in assists per game (0.93) and tied for seventh in points per game (2.93). Also among the league leaders, Julia Braun is tied for fourth in draw controls per game (2.47); Buechel is third in draw controls (2.53) and caused turnovers (1.73); and goalie Alyssa DeLorenz is first in saves per game (10.27) and second in save percentage (.492).
Bucknell has been much better than its opposition on free-position attempts this season. The Bison are 41-for-84 (.488), while their opponents are 26-for-91 (.285). Buechel and Chelsea Peters are tied for third in the Patriot League with 11 FPS goals.
Donohue has scored three or more points in five straight games. She has 21 points (15G, 6A) over that span.
Donohue and Buechel both have points in every game this season, while Braun has a point in all but one (Penn State).
Next Up:
Bucknell travels back to Hamilton, N.Y., for the Patriot League Tournament next week. The Bison will play a semifinal game on Friday at a time to be announced. The Patriot League championship game is Sunday, Apr. 26.
