Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Field Hockey Travels to Albany, Siena for 2009 Openers
8/28/2009 8:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Aug. 28, 2009
Live Stats on GameTracker - Sunday, Aug. 30 at Siena
LEWISBURG, Pa. - With summer break officially at a close, Bucknell field hockey will kick off its 2009 season with a pair of games in New York this weekend. The Bison, which were picked fourth in the Patriot League preseason poll yesterday, will take on Albany at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 29. The team will then travel to Loudonville, N.Y. for another 1 p.m. matchup with Siena on Sunday, Aug. 30.
While this will be the first meeting between Bucknell and Albany, the Orange and Blue defeated Siena 7-1 last year. Kelly Bruvik (Skillman, N.J./Stuart Country Day) and Morgan Kauffman (Millersville, Pa./Penn Manor) combined for five goals against the Saints in 2008. The win improved Bucknell's all-time record to 12-0 against Siena.
With the new season quickly approaching, Bucknell is eagerly looking to the future. After last year's Patriot League Tournament run, the Bison have put themselves in prime position to make a major move in 2009 and claim their first league title in program history.
"We're obviously looking to build on last year's second-place finish in the tournament even though last year's performance was among the best in program history," said head coach Jeremy Cook, who is heading into his second season with the Orange and Blue. "We're still looking to build off that."
The team advanced to the Patriot League Tournament championship game for the first time in eight years, capping off a season that was filled with program records and success. The 2008 Bison recorded 11 wins, which tied them for the second-most in program history. They also set a program record with 58 assists, to go along with their 51 goals, bettering the previous assists high by more than 20.
Even with the success from last year still fresh in the team's mind, 2009 will not be without its challenges. The most obvious difference from a year ago is the smaller team size that will limit the number of players the Bison will be able to bring off the bench.
"We're replacing nine people leaving with five incoming, so that drops our team total down to 19 total with three goalkeepers," said Cook. "Last year we were able to play 17 and 18 players consistently every single game, so we're going to need some pretty significant contributions from some of the freshmen."
Bucknell will also be without All-Patriot League players Amanda Faust and Trina Boyer who graduated last year. The former Bison combined for 55 points on 21 goals, including five game winners, and 13 assists last season. They were also named Patriot League All-Tournament and National Field Hockey Coaches Association All-Mideast Region during their senior campaigns.
Faust and Boyer leave big shoes to fill, but the freshman class will do its best to contribute early and often, bringing a list of credentials to impress. Amy Atkins (Millington, N.J./Watchung Hills Regional) and Ellie Barrett (Fauquier, Va./Fauquier) each come to Bucknell with their high school's goal scoring records in hand. They join classmates Katie Durkin (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan) and Caroline Merrell (Wolfboro, Mass./Kingswood Regional) with a handful of all-state selections, while Tayler Siegrist (Madison, N.J./Madison) brings a wealth of club and Junior Olympics experience to the team.
Those freshmen are not the only weapons the Bison have in combating the challenges. The quintet will join solid veterans such as Megan Krebs (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./G.A.R. Memorial), Jessie Atieh (North Caldwell, N.J./West Essex) and Bruvik, whom Cook expects to play key roles in the new year. Krebs, a senior midfielder, tallied 15 points off five goals and five assists last year while starting all 19 games. Her 11 career assists ranks her in a tie for 14th all-time at Bucknell.
"Megan Krebs at center half has worked really, really hard this summer. She was a huge contributor last year and she's going to make an even bigger impact on the team this year."
Atieh, who was named a co-captain along with fellow senior Sarah Ebright (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin), will likely continue to see a majority of the time in goal. Atieh started all 18 games in which she played, earning a team-best nine wins and recording five losses. Heading into the season, she ranks in a tie for ninth on the Bucknell career wins list with 15 and is 10th in career saves with 140.
Bruvik is expected to continue her strong play into 2009. The junior forward netted seven goals in her last campaign, making her the leading returning goal scorer. She also recorded three game winners, which was tied for second-most on the team.
"Kelly Bruvik is our center striker, so she's the creator up front, scoring goals and creating opportunities," said Cook. "She's very, very good, and she'll contribute more and more."
Also returning in 2009 are juniors Corinne Raczek (Ocean Township, N.J./Ocean Township) and Kauffman, a pair of Second Team All-Patriot League selections last year. The duo also claimed the top two spots on Bucknell's season assists list with Raczek taking the program record with 16 and Kauffman tallying 15 for second place. With a goal and an assist in the league championship game against American, Kauffman also earned a spot on the Patriot League All-Tournament Team.
Krebs, Raczek and Kauffman will also provide some important stability on the turf, as the trio of midfielders rivals few in terms of career consistency. The three have yet to miss a game in their careers.
"None of the three midfield positions have changed. Two of our outside midfielders have a chance at going three years playing every game, starting every game in the same positions, which is quite extraordinary," said Cook. "Our midfield has the experience of having a year under their belt with the system that we're coaching. Those guys are coming in with the background and should be able to help with forward."
Defensively, look for Ebright and junior Christine Weiss (Bethlehem, Pa./Southern Lehigh) to provide solid backing for the Orange and Blue. The duo, which started all 19 games, recorded virtually identical statistics last season, including one defensive save and an assist apiece.
"The other senior co-captain is joining Christine Weiss as a fullback and the two of them are going to be outstanding together," predicted Cook. "They have a very good rapport and are both great students of the game."
In addition to the newcomers, extra experience and some positional changes such as moving sophomore Marci Richard (Oley, Pa./Oley Valley) from midfield to right halfback, Bucknell has made some alterations to its schedule in hopes of boosting its chances at an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Non-conference matchups with the Ivy League's Columbia and Cornell carry special significance to the Bison as they try to earn the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament berth.
"We (the Patriot League) lost out to the Ivy League last year by a tenth of a point in the RPI rankings that would then generate an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The way that we're set up now, we play a Friday-Saturday tournament, have essentially Sunday off, Monday travel, and then Tuesday you play a game against the winner of another conference to get into the tournament. Then three days later you're playing in the tournament. It's not set up for success right now," explained Cook. "If we're going to go head-to-head with them (the Ivy League schools) in terms of getting an automatic bid, we're going to go head-to-head with them (during the regular season). The Columbia and Cornell games are very, very important to us from that aspect."
Following the non-conference schedule, the Bison will face off against the perennial Patriot League foes in hopes of making a repeat appearance in the league's championship showdown. Bucknell finished the 2008 regular season in a third-place tie with a 2-3 league record, and Cook anticipates an increased level of competition in the upcoming year.
"The league has continued to get stronger," said Cook. "Lehigh was one of the weaker teams in the conference last year but picked up one of the best high school defenders in New Jersey, so they're going to be a lot stronger. Lafayette has done consistently well with their recruiting, and American, obviously, is really, really strong."
Bucknell will get its first shot at the Patriot League when it takes on Lafayette on Oct. 3 at home. After facing Lehigh on the road a week later, the team will then seek to avenge its league championship game loss to American on Oct. 17 in Lewisburg. League games against Colgate (Oct. 24) and Holy Cross (Oct. 31) will help to determine Bucknell's postseason fate in the increasingly powerful Patriot League.
