Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Field Hockey Hosts Albany Saturday in 2010 Home Opener
9/3/2010 8:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Sept. 3, 2010
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell field hockey will play its first home contest of the 2010 season, welcoming Albany to Graham Field on Saturday. The Bison will then continue their weekend schedule with a tough road matchup at No. 4 Princeton on Sunday. Both games are slated for 1 p.m.
Live stats on GameTracker for Bucknell vs. Albany will be available at BucknellBison.com. Live stats and video for the Bison's game at Princeton can be found at goprincetontigers.com.
ABOUT THE BISON
- Bucknell fell to 0-2 last weekend after a pair of tough losses to Temple and Saint Joseph's at the Temple Tournament. The Bison dropped a 4-2 decision to the Owls to kick off the season despite goals by Tayler Siegrist (Madison, N.J./Madison) and Christine Weiss (Bethlehem, Pa./Southern Lehigh). They then lost 7-3 to Saint Joseph's last Sunday. Weiss had her second score of the season, while Kelly Bruvik (Skillman, N.J./Stuart Country Day) and Jennifer LaBarre (Walnutport, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic) added to the tally.
- Both of Weiss' goals came off penalty corners. She was assisted by Morgan Kauffman (Millersville, Pa./Penn Manor) and Corinne Raczek (Ocean Township, N.J./Ocean Township) each time. That corner unit had plenty of opportunities throughout the weekend, as Bucknell recorded 22 corners, compared to seven for opponents.
- Raczek finished play with three assists, bringing her career total to 30. That makes the senior co-captain the second Bison in program history to reach the 30-assist mark. Raczek needs just five more assists to take over the Bucknell record, currently held by former teammate Amanda Faust (2005-08). - Kauffman also recorded a multi-assist tournament at Temple, recording one in each game. She now has 28 career helpers, ranking her third all-time at Bucknell. Kauffman is also looking to break into the top 10 in career points. The senior enters this weekend with 56, just three shy of tying Melissa Maher (1998-2001) for 10th on the list.
- As of Aug. 30, Raczek and Kauffman ranked sixth and seventh, respectively, among active assists leaders nationally. Syracuse is the only other school with two players in the top 10. Maryland's Katie O'Donnell leads the country with 77 assists. - With her two goals in 2010, Weiss now has nine on her career. All seven of her goals prior to this season came last year as a junior. Siegrist's goal was the fourth of her career, while LaBarre's was the first. Bruvik leads the scoring group with 17 career goals.
- Bucknell is 17-19 all-time in home openers. Last year's first game at Graham Field ended favorably, as the Bison defeated Vermont 3-1. Against the Catamounts, Siegrist and Marci Richard (Oley, Pa./Oley Valley) each netted their first career goals.
- Bucknell has faced Albany and Princeton just once each in program history and is 0-1 against both. The Bison took on Albany last year in their season opener, falling 2-0. Both scores came in the second half, and the Great Danes closed out the contest with the advantage in shots, 21-4.
- Bucknell and Princeton met for the first time in 1989. The Tigers came away with a 1-0 win after scoring with less than eight minutes remaining in the contest. Bison keeper Maria Keesling (1987-89) saw plenty of action as Princeton outshot Bucknell 42-7. Keesling, who set the single-season record in saves that year with 395, made 31 saves against the Tigers.
- Bucknell was selected third in the Patriot League Preseason Poll last week. The Bison claimed 34 points and one first-place vote, trailing American, which had 50 points and 10 first-place votes, and Lafayette with 40 points and one first-place vote.
ABOUT THE GREAT DANES
- Albany heads to Graham Field at Holmes Stadium with a 2-0 record in 2010, having defeated Virginia Commonwealth and Hofstra last week. The Great Danes needed overtime to pull out both victories on their home turf.
- Christina Patrick scored both of Albany's overtime goals and has two of her team's four goals on the year. The Great Danes have been short on assists, as Suzy Clephane is the only player to register a helper in either of the squad's first two games.
- Kristi Troch and Christine Hoffman have continued to share duties in goal, much like they did last year when Bucknell and Albany met. The duo has combined for a 0.88 goals against average, while Troch's save percentage sits at .900.
- Albany was 13-5 overall and 4-1 in the America East Conference last year. As a team, the Great Danes led the country in save percentage (.824) and penalty corners (10.56/game). Hoffman also had the nation's top marks in goals against average (0.44) and save percentage (.889). The Great Danes also earned plenty of conference honors, as Phil Sykes was named the America East Coach of the Year. Clephane, Nicole Savage, Taylor Luke and Hoffman were also all-conference selections.
ABOUT THE TIGERS
- Princeton will open its season with Bucknell on Sunday at the Class of '52 Stadium. At No. 4 in the country, the Tigers are the highest ranked team the Bison have played since facing No. 7 Penn State in 2007. They are also just the fifth squad ranked in the top-10 to be included on Bucknell's schedule.
- Princeton advanced all the way to the NCAA Tournament semifinals last season, ending 2009 with a 16-3 record overall and an undefeated 7-0 tally in the Ivy League. Princeton fell 7-5 to No.1 Maryland in its final game.
- The Tigers return all four of their top goal scorers in Kathleen Sharkey (21 goals in 2009), Katie Reinprecht (17), Michelle Cesan (14) and Julia Reinprecht (10). As a team, Princeton outshot its opponents 432-156 and outscored them 93-30 last season.
LOOKING AHEAD
Bucknell will return to Graham Field next weekend for its longest homestand of the season. The Bison will open its stretch of five straight home game with Cornell on Saturday, Sept. 11 and Towson the following day. Lock Haven follows at 7 p.m. on Sept. 16 and will be shown live on Bison Vision.
