Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Women's Lax Visits Holy Cross Saturday
4/2/2010 8:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
April 2, 2010
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell women's lacrosse team returns to Patriot League play on Saturday, visiting Holy Cross for a noon game at the Crusaders' new artificial turf field. The contest precedes the Bucknell-Holy Cross men's game, which begins at 4 p.m. on the same field. The Bison and Crusaders are both still looking for their first Patriot League victory of the season, and if one of the teams is going to make a late push for a postseason berth, it will have to start on Saturday.
The Bison have been rocked by injuries this season and now stand 1-11 overall and 0-3 in the Patriot League. Wednesday's 12-3 loss to Le Moyne was the team's 10th in a row. Holy Cross is 2-8 overall and 0-2 in the Patriot League following a 10-4 loss at Navy last Saturday. The Crusaders have lost four straight since a 12-10 win over Vermont on March 13. Their other victory this season came against Mount St. Mary's in Denver, Colo., on March 3, also by a 12-10 score.
In the Patriot League race, Navy and Colgate are both 2-0, while American and Lehigh are tied for third at 2-1. Lafayette is 1-2, followed by Holy Cross and Bucknell. After Saturday's game against Holy Cross, the Bison still have Colgate and Navy remaining on the schedule.
Bucknell-Holy Cross Series Notes:
• Bucknell holds a 13-8 lead in the all-time series with Holy Cross. The Bison ended a four-game series losing streak with a thrilling 12-11 victory at Graham Field last season.
• The Bison are 8-3 against Holy Cross in Lewisburg.
• The last time these two teams met in Worcester, Mass., in 2008, the Bison took an early 2-1 lead, but the Crusaders dominated the rest of the way and won 16-6. Holy Cross outshot Bucknell 37-17. Bonnie Buechel led the Orange & Blue with three goals.
• In last year's game in Lewisburg, Chelsea Peters scored three goals and Carol Donohue had two goals and four assists in Bucknell's 12-11 win. Bonnie Buechel made the key plays down the stretch. In an 11-11 game with 2:30 left, Buechel stole the ball in the defensive end of the field, then with 1:09 remaining she scored the game-winning goal. Bucknell trailed 10-7 in the second half, then rallied with four straight goals to take the lead. Kat Sutton tied it with 12:04 left for Holy Cross, then Buechel won it with just over a minute left. Julia Braun and Michelle Milot added two goals each for Bucknell, while Meg O'Leary led the Crusders with three goals and one assist.
Bison Briefs:
• Julia Braun has a team-high 25 goals this season, and she is closing in on a second straight 30-goal campaign. For only the second time this season, Braun was held scoreless in Wednesday's game against Le Moyne.
• Braun is 8-for-12 this season on free-position shots, and she also leads the team in ground balls (26), draw controls (39) and caused turnovers (19).
• Braun ranks eighth in the Patriot League in goals per game, second in draw controls per game (3.25) and third in caused turnovers per game (1.58). She ranks 15th nationally in draw controls.
• Goalie Alyssa DeLorenz ranks second in the nation in total saves (130) and eighth in saves per game (10.8).
• In addition to Braun, Becca Devine (13), Michelle Milot (10) and Paige Cobbs (10) have all reached double digits in goals.
• Ryan Gribbon had a goal and an assist against Le Moyne, and she now has seven goals and five assists on the season.
• Laura Van Schaack is the team assists leader with six.
• Senior Alison Heffernan and sophomore Jenna Lotkowictz both rejoined the program last week. Both players saw action for the first time in the Lafayette game, with Heffernan scoring a pair of goals in her first appearance since the 2008 season. Heffernan scored again in the Le Moyne game on Wednesday.
• Carol Donohue saw her first action of the season against Le Moyne, playing a handful of possessions in the second half. Donohue, who suffered an Achilles tendon injury in the offseason, scored a goal on her very first touch. It was her 96th career goal.
• Allie Mongan ranks second on the team in both ground balls (20) and caused turnovers (12).
Scouting Holy Cross:
• Two of the Crusaders' last three losses are by one goal: 14-13 to Colgate and 11-10 to Connecticut.
• Kat Sutton (21-5-26), Katie Gardner (12-9-21) and Taylor Zebrowski (13-5-18) are the team's top scorers. Meg O'Leary and Megan Fenton also have 10 goals.
• O'Leary leads the team in ground balls (19) and caused turnovers (11), while Sutton tops the squad with 20 draw controls.
• Amy Martin has played every minute in goal for the Crusaders. She has 105 saves and 113 goals allowed this season.
• Holy Cross has been outscored 113-79 on the year, including 57-37 in the first half.
Next Up:
Bucknell will break from Patriot League play for two weeks, but in the interim the Bison have a non-conference road game at Binghamton on Wednesday and a home game against Howard on Sunday, Apr. 11.
