Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Soccer Begins Patriot League Play at Home Saturday vs. American
9/30/2010 8:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 30, 2010
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Fresh off a much-needed victory over Iona last weekend, the Bucknell women's soccer team opens up Patriot League play Saturday at home against American. The contest kicks off at noon at Emmitt Field, as the Bison begin their quest for a sixth straight postseason appearance against an Eagles squad that knocked them out of the Patriot League Tournament in last year's semifinals.
Beset by injuries all the way back to training camp, Bucknell struggled to a 1-10 start before snapping a nine-game losing streak with a solid all-around effort against Iona on Sunday. After going more than 300 minutes without a goal, the Bison struck for two in 80 seconds in the second half to take a 2-0 lead in what would eventually be a 2-1 win over the Gaels.
Buoyed by the return of senior co-captain Amanda Citron to the back line after an extended injury absence, Bucknell has been much better defensively of late. The Bison have not conceded a goal in the run of play in the last two games. The one goal they allowed in a 1-0 loss at Marist last Friday came on a direct kick, and the Iona's goal was on a penalty kick after a hand ball in the box.
Meanwhile, American is also playing much better recently after a dreadful start. The Eagles were outscored 22-2 in an 0-8 start, but since then they have rattled off three consecutive victories over Radford, UMBC and Vermont, allowing only one goal in those wins.
This game will pit the reigning Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year (Bucknell's Christa Matlack) against the 2009 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year (American's Friederike Engel). Both players were the preseason picks to repeat those honors.
Bucknell has only Patriot League games remaining on the schedule, and this will be a critical one for the Bison, as each of the next three come on the road against teams with winning overall records (6-5 Lafayette, 4-1-2 Lehigh and 6-5-1 Navy).
Coverage
• Click HERE for GameTracker coverage of the Bucknell-American game.
Series Notes
• Bucknell first played American when the Eagles joined the Patriot League in 2001, and since then the series is tied 5-5-1.
• American won three of the first four meetings -- Bucknell's win in that span came in the 2001 Patriot League Tournament semifinals -- then the Bison went 4-0-1 in the next five head-to-head matchups before the Eagles beat them twice last season.
• In 2009, American won the regular-season meeting 3-1 in D.C., behind goals from Kelsey Brasher (8'), Patricia Bailey (35') and Erin Stebbins (65'). Bucknell cut a 2-0 deficit to 2-1 on a Caitlin Holtz penalty kick in the 57th minute, but Stebbins answered with a PK of her own eight minutes later. The two teams met again in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals, and the Eagles prevailed 1-0 on a goal with just 51 seconds left in regulation.
• In the last meeting in Lewisburg in 2008, Bucknell celebrated Senior Day with a 2-1 win over American. Kelliann Doherty and Christa Matlack scored to put the Bison up 2-0, then Kelsey Brasher brought the Eagles within 2-1 in the 68th minute. The Bison outshot American 20-5, including 11-0 in the first half.
Bison Notebook
• Caitlin Holtz and Liz Dwornik scored Bucknell's goals Sunday against Iona. Holtz's first of the year came on a 35-yard rocket that struck the underside of the crossbar and caromed down just over the line. Dwornik, a freshman forward, scored her first career goal in the 64th minute on a shot from just outside the penalty area that grazed off the head of an Iona defender.
• Casey Crowley logged her team-high second assist of the year on the Dwornik goal.
• Sandita McDermott picked up her first career win against Iona.
• Christa Matlack is tied for fifth in the Patriot League with five goals and tied for sixth with nine points.
• With 29 career goals, Matlack is now alone in sixth place on Bucknell's career chart. Next on the list is Kerry McDonnell with 30 goals.
• With her most recent goal against Penn State, Matlack became the sixth player in program history to record 70 career points. McDonnell ranks fifth all-time with 76 points, six ahead of Matlack.
• Tara Cort led the Bison with four shots against Iona, while Kelliann Doherty had four. Matlack leads the team with 27 shots, four more than Doherty.
• Including the two goalkeepers, 18 different Bison have started at least one game this season. Crowley, Doherty, cort and Brooke Stokes are the last remaining four who have started all 12.
• Holtz ranks sixth on Bucknell's career assists chart with 14. She is one assist away from moving into the top five. Krista Lee Gentile had 15 helpers from 2004-07.
About American
• Brooke Sheppard leads the Eagles with two goals, both coming during their current three-game winning streak. She scored in double overtime to beat Radford and also had the goal in a 1-0 victory over UMBC.
• Shaena Alfonsi and Brenna Smith scored the goals in American's 2-1 win over Vermont last Friday. Friederike Engle and Kendra Jones also have goals in 2010.
• Jasmine Mohandisi leads the team with three assists.
• Arianna Efstathiou and Lindsey Farthing have shared the goalkeeping chores this season. Efstathiou has 34 saves and 14 goals against in eight games, while Farthing 24 saves and nine goals allowed in five appearances.
• Engel was the 2009 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year, and she was also picked as the 2010 Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
• In the Patriot League preseason poll, American was picked fourth but did receive one first-place vote.
Looking Ahead
• The Bison hit the road next weekend for a key Friday-Sunday series in the Lehigh Valley. Bucknell will visit Lafayette on Friday at 7 p.m. before taking on Lehigh on Sunday at 1 p.m.
