Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Soccer Returns Home Saturday vs. Saint Francis (Pa.)
9/15/2011 8:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 15, 2011
LEWISBURG, Pa. --The road-weary Bucknell women's soccer team returns to the friendly surroundings of Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium on Saturday when in-state foe Saint Francis (Pa.) comes in for a noon start. The Bison have won two straight matches to improve to 2-3 on the season, and Saturday's game will be their first at home in almost a full month.
After opening the season at home against St. Bonaventure, the Bison were scheduled to play six in a row on the road. Only four of those were played, however, as games at Binghamton and Mount St. Mary's were cancelled due to severe weather. So Bucknell ended up 2-2 on what turned out to be a four-game road trip, including consecutive wins over UMBC (2-1) and Cornell (2-1).
Bucknell has yet to allow more than one goal in a game this season, and it has conceded only four in five games. Junior goalkeeper Sandita McDermott was terrific in the shutout win over Cornell, finishing with seven saves and a number of other aggressive plays to break up scoring possibilities.
The Bucknell defense has benefitted from the debut of junior back Meghan Fitzpatrick, who debuted at UMBC after missing more than two full seasons due to injuries. Senior captain Casey Crowley has also been a key leader on defense, but the Bison will now have to find a temporary replacement for talented freshman defensive midfielder Evelyn Nicinski, who is taking two weeks off to train and play with the Polish U-19 team at a Euro qualifier in Estonia.
Offensively, sophomore Chelsey Garkowski has upped her play of late, producing her first collegiate points in the two victories. Garkowski logged an assist in the UMBC win, then scored the lone goal in the 1-0 blanking of Cornell. Garkowski and classmate Liz Dwornik top the team's scoring chart with three points. Megan DeGennaro has a pair of assists.
Saint Francis comes in with a 3-4 record. The Red Flash have been streaky so far. They started the year 0-3, then won three straight before dropping their last two to Georgetown and George Mason. The victories all came against teams from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference: Canisius, Niagara and St. Peter's.
Tesa McKibben, who scored in overtime to beat Bucknell en route to a 15-goal season in 2010, has again been the most dangerous offensive player for Saint Francis. She has had a hand in seven of her team's 10 goals with four goals and three assists, including an overtime goal against Canisius. Traci Flick has added two goals and an assist. McKibben and Flick are both graduates of nearby Montoursville High School.
Brianna Butcher has played every minute in goal so far and has 31 saves with 10 goals against.
Saint Francis is coming off its best season in program history, finishing 15-5-2 while capturing its first Northeast Conference title. The Red Flash then took 17th-ranked Ohio State, the Big Ten champ, to double overtime before falling in the 106th minute in the NCAA Tournament.
In last year's meeting in Loretto, Christa Matlack gave the Bison a 1-0 lead just five minutes into the game, but Saint Francis equalized just 10 minutes later and went on to win it on McKibben's goal in the fourth minute of overtime.
In the last meeting at Emmitt Field in 2009, the Bison prevailed 2-1 on Julianne Harris' tiebreaking header in the 51st minute. Then-freshman Kayla Yee scored her first collegiate goal in that game to tie it up at 1-1, and Colleen Garrehy earned her first career win in goal with three saves in 45 minutes of action.
The Bison and Red Flash have meet every year since 1992, with the exception of 2004, when the teams' scheduled date was cancelled due to heavy rain. Bucknell leads the series 14-3-1. The Bison won the first 10 meetings, then Saint Francis won by identical 1-0 scores in both 2002 and 2003.
Following the Saint Francis game on Saturday, Bucknell will be back home on Tuesday night against Penn State at 7 p.m.
