Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell's Matlack Repeats as Patriot League Women's Soccer Offensive Player of Year, Three Others Earn All-League Honors
11/2/2010 8:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Nov. 2, 2010
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Four Bucknell women's soccer seniors earned All\-Patriot\ League honors on Tuesday, including forward Christa Matlack (South Williamsport, Pa./South Williamsport), who earned her second straight Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year award. Matlack and midfielder Caitlin Holtz (Freehold, N.J./Peddie School) earned First Team All-Patriot League honors, while midfielder Kelliann Doherty (Voorhees, N.J./Eastern Regional) and defender Kelsey Johnson (Monroe, Conn./Masuk) were named to the second team.
Doherty, Holtz and Matlack all earned All-Patriot League honors for the third time. It was Matlack's third straight year on the first team; Holtz earned first team honors in 2008 and 2010 and a second team certificate in 2009; and Doherty was a first team pick in 2007 and a second team selection in 2009 and 2010. Bucknell has now had 11 three-time all-league players (and two four-timers), with Matlack, Nicole Marotta (2006-08) and Hall of Famer Lisa Gibbons (1992-94) the only Bison to earn three first team selections.
This was Johnson's first All-Patriot League honor, meaning that five of Bucknell's seven current seniors earned all-conference accolades at least once in the last four years.
Matlack's selection means than Bucknell has now had the league's Offensive Player of the Year for the last four seasons. Jennifer Dervarics received the honor in 2007 and 2008, and now Matlack has won it in 2009 and 2010. The only other Bison to capture the award was Gibbons in 1993.
In addition to Matlack and Dervarics, the only other two-time winners of the Offensive Player of the Year honor are Lehigh's Gina Lewandowski (2004-05), Navy's Stacy Finley (2001-02) and Army's Holly Pedley (1994, 1997).
Matlack is in the midst of another outstanding season for the Bison. She leads the team in goals (7) and points (17) and is tied for second in assists (3). Among the Patriot League leaders, Matlack ranks second in goals and third in points.
Matlack scored the lone goal in Bucknell's 1-0 win over Colgate last week that helped the Bison gain a share of the Patriot League regular-season title, and she also has goals in league play against Army and Lafayette. Army, which tied the Bison atop the league standings, allowed only one goal all season in conference play, and that was scored by Matlack. Her other goals this season have come against Penn State, Duquesne, St. Bonaventure and Saint Francis (Pa.).
An NSCAA All-Region and Scholar All-America selection in 2009, Matlack is one of the top scorers in Bucknell women's soccer history. She currently ranks fifth in goals (32), fifth in points (78) and seventh in assists (14).
Holtz has been one of the Patriot League's best two-way players over the last four seasons. She began her career as a fullback, and for the last two seasons had excelled in the midfield. Holtz has started all but one game over the last four years, and in 2010 has set career highs for goals (4) and points (11). She also has three assists this season, giving her 17 in her career. That total ranks fourth in program history.
Holtz registered a point in four of Bucknell's seven Patriot League games, including goals against American, Lehigh and Navy and a career-high three assists against Holy Cross. The Navy and American tallies were both game-winners.
Doherty is Bucknell's third double-figure point-producer this season. She has 10 points on three goals and a team-high four assists. As has been the case throughout her career, most of Doherty's scoring damage has come against Patriot League foes. This season nine of her 10 points are in league play, including a clutch two-goal performance in a 3-2 win over Holy Cross that clinched a postseason berth for the Bison. Doherty had a goal and an assist in a 3-0 win over American and also had assists on Matlack's goals against Army and Colgate.
In her career, Doherty has 17 goals and 10 assists for 44 points. The 44 points are tied for 10th-most in Bucknell history. Among those totals, she has tallied 12 goals and six assists for 30 points against Patriot League opponents.
Johnson has been a four-year starter on defense, appearing in 76 of a possible 78 games during that time. She was part of a defense that shattered the school record for shutouts in a season (8) in 2008, and last year she was named the team's defensive MVP.
On Oct. 2, Johnson scored a goal in Bucknell's 3-0 league win over American. It was her third career tally, with the other two coming in the same game against Princeton in 2007.
Just as impressive as their on-field contributions, each of Bucknell's four All-Patriot League players are Patriot League Academic Honor Roll members and have a combined four-year grade-point average of 3.43.
Elsewhere, Army claimed the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year (Molly McGuigan), Rookie of the Year (Kim An) and Coach of the Year (Stefanie Golan), while Lafayette's Lauren Smedley was named Goalkeeper of the Year.
Bucknell was hit hard by injuries early this season and got off to a slow start, but the Bison turned things around in Patriot League play. They went 5-2 in the league and tied Army atop the standings with 15 points. The Black Knights defeated Bucknell in overtime on Oct. 22, however, giving Army the tiebreaker and the right to host this week's Patriot League Tournament.
Bucknell is the No. 2 seed in the tournament and will face No. 3 Lehigh in the semifinals on Friday at 7:30 p.m. No. 1 Army and No. 4 Colgate will meet in the other semifinal at 4 p.m. The championship game is Sunday at 1 p.m.
