Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Soccer Back Home for Big Weekend Set vs. Lehigh, Lafayette
10/19/2011 8:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 19, 2011
"In the Herd" Feature 
Bucknell-Lehigh Live on Bison Vision
Bucknell-Lehigh Live Stats on GameTracker 
Bucknell-Lafayette Live Stats on GameTracker
LEWISBURG, Pa. --After playing exclusively on the road for almost a full month, the Bucknell women's soccer team now gets three straight home games to close out the regular season. Each of those games is a Patriot League contest, and the Bison will have two of them this weekend when Lehigh and Lafayette visit Emmitt Field. Friday night's game against defending-champion Lehigh will be broadcast live on Bison Vision at 7 p.m., while first-place Lafayette comes in for a 1 p.m. game on Sunday.
Bucknell enters this challenging weekend with a 1-3 mark in Patriot League play, 3-9-1 overall. Despite sitting in a tie for sixth in the league standings with three points, the Bison can still play their way into the four-team Patriot League Tournament. They are currently one point behind fifth-place Navy and four in back of fourth-place Lehigh.
Lafayette has been the surprise of the league so far. The Leopards came into the 2011 season 0-24-4 in their last 28 Patriot League matches, but they are a perfect 4-0 so far, and 9-3-1 overall. Lafayette has a four-point lead over Army and Colgate, who are both 2-0-2 for eight points.
Lafayette has been getting it done with defense, as it has allowed only seven goals all season in 13 games, and seven of its nine wins have come by shutout. All three of the Leopards' losses are by 1-0 scores, and only once have they allowed more than one goal in a game, that coming in a 2-2 tie at Princeton. Goalkeeper Lauren Smedley has a stellar .905 save percentage.
Offensively, Lafayette has managed 13 goals in 13 games. Janelle Pierson leads the team with three goals and an assist for seven points, while Alyssa Finelli (2-1-5), Alex Reisinger (1-3-5) and Jill Dozier (1-2-4) are close behind. Ten different Leopards have a goal this season.
Bucknell has beaten Lafayette seven straight times and is 7-0-1 in its last eight games against the Leopards. Last season in Easton, the Bison trailed 1-0 at the half but came back to win 2-1 on goals from Christa Matlack and Brooke Stokes. Tara Cort set up the winning goal with a 50-yard run through traffic before dishing to Stokes.
Bucknell is 14-6-1 all-time against the Leopards, but this Lafayette team is on quite a roll. The Leopards enter the weekend on a five-game winning streak and six-game unbeaten streak. They have knocked off Lehigh, Navy, American and Holy Cross in league play, the last three coming at home. Lafayette travels to Colgate on Friday, before coming to Lewisburg on Sunday, and then they will have to finish the regular season with another tough road match at Army.
Lehigh is also playing well of late and is coming off a home scoreless tie with Army last Saturday. The Mountain Hawks are 6-6-2 overall and 2-1-1 in Patriot League play, and their only loss in their last five games was a 1-0 setback against Princeton on Oct. 12.
Murphee Greeley leads the Mountain Hawks in goals (4) and points (9), while Leah Kulp, Genna Pepe and Isabelle Li all have two goals apiece.
Lehigh has both scored and conceded 14 goals in 14 games. Ashley Banks has started 13 of those games in goal and is 5-6-2 with five shutouts and .797 save percentage.
Bucknell has an 11-9-2 lead in the all-time series with Lehigh, but the Mountain Hawks defeated the Bison twice last season. After winning 2-1 at home during the regular season, third-seeded Lehigh upset the second-seeded Bison 1-0 in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals at West Point. Natalie Hojnacki scored 14 minutes into the second half, and the Mountain Hawks went on to beat Bucknell and then Army in the final to take the title.
After graduating seven key seniors, including the two-time Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year Christa Matlack, a young and injury-depleted Bucknell side has struggled to find goals in 2011. In 13 matches, the Bison have seven goals, but they have allowed only 17.
Taryn Boucher leads the team with two goals, both coming in a 2-0 win over Holy Cross earlier this month. Liz Dwornik, Chelsey Garkowski, Cassie Denger, Brigit Falcón and Kayla Yee have also scored this season.
Goalkeeper Sandita McDermott continues to play well. She has 60 saves and 14 goals against for a solid .811 save percentage.
On Friday night, the Bison will be partnering with The 5 Rights Football Club to promote recyclying and sustainability. Local businesses will be at information booths to talk about environmental issues.
Following the two weekend games against the Lehigh Valley teams, the Bison close out the regular season on Saturday, Oct. 29 against Navy at noon.
