Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Soccer Closes Regular Season with Homecoming Day Game vs. Colgate
10/27/2010 8:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 27, 2010
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell women's soccer team, tied for first place in the Patriot League standings entering the final weekend of the regular-season, hosts Colgate Saturday at 4 p.m. at Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium. The Homecoming Day contest is also Senior Day, and the game could have major Patriot League Tournament implications for both the Bison and the Raiders.
The Bison can rest easy knowing that at 4-2 in Patriot League play, they have already clinched one of the four playoff spots. By game time on Saturday, they will know if they have a chance to play their way into the No. 1 seed. Entering the weekend, Bucknell and Army (3-0-3) are tied for the lead with 12 points, but the Black Knights hold the tiebreaker based on their strange 2-1 overtime win over the Bison last week. However, if Army loses or ties at Holy Cross on Friday night, Bucknell can swipe the outright regular-season title and the right to host the tournament with a victory over Colgate.
The defending league champion Raiders have 10 points with a 3-2-1 record, and while they currently sit alone in fourth place, Navy is only two points behind and could pass Colgate on the final day of the regular season. The Mids host American Friday night, so Colgate will arrive at Emmitt Field on Saturday knowing it has either already clinched a playoff spot or must earn a win over Bucknell to get in. While the Raiders' postseason plans are still in doubt, they and third-place Lehigh (3-1-2, 11 points) both still have outside chances to host the tournament with a win and a lot of help. Lehigh plays at Lafayette Saturday at 7 p.m.
Bucknell's sixth straight Patriot League Tournament berth -- the longest active streak in the league -- was clinched on Sunday with a 3-2 home win over Holy Cross. Kelliann Doherty, this week's Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week, scored two goals in the win, while Tara Cort scored her first goal in a Bucknell uniform after transferring from Clemson. Bucknell is 5-2 over its last seven games, with a pair of 2-1 losses to Lehigh and Army the only blemishes over the last month of the season.
Colgate has also played well of late, going 3-0-1 in its last four outings on the heels of a four-game losing streak. The Raiders, 6-10-1 overall, played Army to a scoreless draw in Hamilton, N.Y., on Sunday.
Prior to the game, Bucknell will honor its seven seniors: Amanda Citron, Kelliann Doherty, Julianne Harris, Caitlin Holtz, Kelsey Johnson, Christa Matlack and Brooke Stokes. Five of those seven seniors are four-year starters and another is a three-year starter and four-year contributor. The class has 38 wins so far, fourth-most in program history.
Coverage
• Click HERE to follow Bucknell-Colgate live stats via GameTracker. 
Bucknell vs. Colgate Series Notes
• Colgate has won 17 of the prior 22 meetings between the two teams, although Bucknell has captured three of the last five.
• Bucknell's series wins have come in 1995, 2001, 2006, 2007 and 2008.
• The Bison and Raiders have met three times in postseason play, with Colgate winning all three.
• Last season, Bucknell would have won the regular-season title with a season-ending win in Hamilton, but the Raiders pulled out a 2-1 win on Anna Baldwin's overtime goal. Bucknell took a lead just 2:12 into the contest when Kelliann Doherty headed in a cross from Brooke Stokes. In the 28th minute Jillian Arnault shot one in off the crossbar to tie it, and then Colgate swiped the No. 1 seed on Baldwin's goal in the 95th minute.
• In the last meeting in Lewisburg in 2008, Bucknell cruised to a 3-1 win behind goals from Christa Matlack, Chelsea McGorry and Jennifer Dervarics.
Bison Notebook
• Caitlin Holtz assisted on all three Bucknell goals in Sunday's win over Holy Cross. It was her first career three-assist game and it gave her 17 career helpers, fourth-most in school history. The Bucknell record for assists in a game is four, set by Hall of Famer Lisa Gibbons in 1994.
• Kelliann Doherty was on the receiving end of two of those Holtz assists. It was Doherty's second career two-goal game, with the other one coming against Saint Francis (Pa.) during her freshman year. Doherty's 17 career goals are second-most among active Bison, trailing only Christa Matlack's 31.
• Matlack scored her 31st career goal last Friday against Army. That moved her into sole possession of fifth place on Bucknell's all-time list, trailing only Gibbons (66), Liz Woodrow (39), Jennifer Dervarics (36) and Krista Lee Gentile (34). Matlack assisted on Tara Cort's goal against Holy Cross, giving her 76 career points, tying Kerry McDonnell for fifth on the career chart.
• Matlack leads the team in goals (6) and points (15) this season, while Matlack, Holtz and Doherty are tied for the team lead with three assists apiece.
• Matlack is tied for second in the league in goals and tird for third in assists.
• There are 11 players in the Patriot League that have both three or more goals and assists, and Bucknell has three of those players in Matlack, Holtz and Doherty.
• Holtz has a point in five of her last seven games.
• Since ending their nine-game losing streak on Sept. 26, the Bison have scored in all seven games and have at least two goals in four of those. Bucknell has outscored foes 13-8 over the current 5-2 stretch.
• Goalkeeper Sandita McDermott ranks second in the Patriot League with 91 saves. She was named the Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week after her 1-0 shutout of Navy two weeks ago.
About Colgate
• Colgate is averaging a goal per game, with 17 scores in 17 games. They are allowing almost twice that, with 30 goals against.
• The Raiders are coming off a perfect defensive weekend, as goalkeeper Alexis Longwell posted back-to-back home shutouts against Holy Cross and Army. Jillian Kinter and Calista Victor scored in a 2-0 win over the Crusaders, and then Colgate and Army battled to a scoreless tie on Sunday.
• Kinter (6-1-13) and Alyssa Manoogian (4-5-13) lead the team in points with 13 apiece. Anna Baldwin (2-2-6) and Maddie Malone (1-4-6) are next with six points. Half of Kinter's six goals have come in Patriot League play.
• Longwell has taken over the goalkeeping duties for an injured Ashley Walsh, and she has 24 saves with only eight goals against in six starts. Colgate's keepers have 40 more saves (96-56) than their opponents.
Looking Ahead
• The Patriot League Tournament gets underway at a site to be determined next Friday. The No. 1 seed hosts the entire tournament, featuring two semifinal games on Friday followed by the championship game on Sunday afternoon. Bucknell hosted the tournament at Emmitt Field in both 2006 and 2007.
