Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Women's Lax Starts Patriot League Play Saturday at Navy
3/9/2012 7:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
March 9, 2012
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LEWISBURG, Pa. --The Bucknell women's lacrosse team opens up Patriot League play Saturday with a tough test, as the Bison take on two-time defending champion Navy at noon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Bucknell is coming off its first victory of the season, a 21-8 rout of Presbyterian on Monday, while the Mids have won six straight and are off to another fast start at 6-1.
Now 1-5 on the season, the Bison racked up 12 first-half goals en route to the runaway win over Presbyterian on Monday at Graham Field. Sophomore Katelyn Miller had a huge day with four goals, four assists and a career-high eight draw controls. Freshman Emily Kookogey (5G, 2A) and junior Madison Hurwitz (4G, 3A) had seven-point days, while sophomore Lindsey Ferro scored a goal and dished out a career-high four assists.
Defensively, Bucknell harassed the Blue Hose into 30 turnovers while holding them to just 11 shots, although eight of those shots hit the net. Sophomore goalie Katherine Fraile made three saves en route to her first collegiate win.
For the season, Kookogey leads the team with 10 goals to go along with three assists. Hurwitz leads in points with 14 on nine goals and five assists. Miller has nine goals and four assists, and she leads the Patriot League with 11 caused turnovers and ranks second on the team with 19 draw controls, one shy of Adrienne Wendling's 20. Two games ago, Miller tied the program record with six caused turnovers against George Washington. Defender Andrea Feldman has a team-high 11 ground balls.
The Bison have faced an extremely tough schedule so far but have been fairly efficient in their set offense. The team is scoring on 40 percent of its shots, but turnovers in the clearing game have resulted in 61 fewer shot attempts than the opponents. Bucknell foes are scoring on 52.7 percent of their attempts.
Controlling the ball will be a key factor on Saturday as the Bison take on a prolific scoring team in Navy. The Mids are averaging better than 13 goals per game so far, and they are coming off an 18-8 rout of Robert Morris at home on Wednesday. Aimee Gennaro, who had seven goals against Bucknell last year, tallied five in the win over the Colonials and already has 17 on the season. But that is not even good enough for the team lead, as Kathy Young owns a league-high 20 goals.
Jasmine DePompeo leads Navy with 27 total points, coming in 13 goals and 14 assists, while Loren Generi has 15 goals.
Navy has been dominant on draw controls so far in 2012, winning 106 to its opponents' 57. Generi has 36 of those DCs, while Young has 32 to go along with a team-high 16 ground balls.
Elaina Ponchione has started all seven games for Navy and has a 4-1 record with an 8.62 goals-against average and a .486 save percentage.
Navy's only loss was an 11-10 setback at High Point in its season opener on Feb. 11. The Mids bounced back with a one-goal win over William & Mary and have not lost since.
In Wednesday's win over Robert Morris, Navy head coach Cindy Timchal became the first college lacrosse coach to reach 400 career victories. Many of those came with Bison coach Randall Goldsborough in her lineup. Goldsborough played for Timchal at Maryland from 1993-96.
Navy has won all four series meetings, including a 17-7 win in Lewisburg last season. Hurwitz scored four goals for the Bison in that game, while Gennaro and DePompeo combined for 13 of Navy's 17 goals.
After the Navy game, Bucknell goes to Saint Francis (Pa.) on Tuesday before returning home to host Lehigh next Saturday.
