Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Field Hockey Gears Up for 2012 Opener at No. 6 UConn
8/23/2012 8:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Aug. 23, 2012
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LEWISBURG, Pa. - Classes began on Wednesday and now it's Bucknell field hockey's turn to get things underway as the Bison travel to Connecticut and Fairfield for their season openers this weekend. The Orange and Blue won't wait long for their first big test of the year. Bucknell takes on No. 6 UConn, a team it has not faced since 1997, in Storrs, Conn., at 12 p.m. on Saturday. Action continues at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Fairfield. Live stats will be available for both games.
Saturday marks the first game of the 2012 campaign for both Bucknell and UConn. The only time the two teams have seen each other was 1997 when the Huskies took a 4-0 win on Penn State's field. A lot has happened for UConn since then, including a trip to the NCAA Championship Semifinals last season. The Huskies fell 4-3 in double overtime to North Carolina, finishing their season at 19-3 overall.
Bucknell's 2012 schedule is packed with tough opponents. At No. 6, UConn is the highest ranked Bison foe on the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I Preseason Poll. Also making the list is No. 9 Penn State (Oct. 23), No. 10 Michigan (Sept. 22), No. 15 Ohio State (Sept. 16) and No. 25 American (Oct. 27). The bout between the Bison and the Buckeyes will be seen live on Bison Vision at BucknellBison.com as will Bucknell's Patriot League opener vs. Colgate on Sept. 29.
Bucknell, which was picked third in the recent Patriot League Preseason Poll, is more familiar with Fairfield having faced the Stags a dozen times in program history and drawing a 7-5 record against them. The last time they met came in 2003. The Stags won 1-0 in overtime on their own field. The Bison have won just once in five tries in Fairfield, Conn., since the series began in 1994.
Below is a more in depth look at the 2012 Bucknell field hockey season.
Just as it has been through much of head coach Jeremy Cook's tenure, the 2012 Bucknell field hockey schedule will feature plenty of tests. Experience - the Bison return the core of their playmakers from a year ago - and a go-get-`em attitude will be the keys to the Bison's success against foes such as Connecticut, Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State. Lucky for them, they have plenty of both.
"For the third year in a row, we have chosen to have a really tough schedule," said Cook, who is heading into his fifth season with the Orange and Blue. "I think that that feeds into Bucknell's student-athlete model really well in that we rise to challenges. The team really goes after it when they know it's an uphill battle."
Experience, this time in a been-there-done-that sense, proves Cook's point. The Bison took on five opponents ranked in the top 20 nationally last season. Although they were unable to capture a victory in those matchups,they stayed within just a pair of goals against No. 7 Princeton and eventually No. 8 Penn State and No. 5 Syracuse. Four times during the campaign, Bucknell pushed the game to overtime and all four contests ended in a win for the Orange and Blue. Bucknell also took two games off perennial Patriot League favorite American, a team Bucknell had not defeated in more than a decade. The second came in the Patriot League Tournament on the Eagles' home field. When the going gets tough, the Bison get going.
Guiding Bucknell through the challenging schedule in 2012 will be its tried and true substitution rotation that called for players to go all-out for short bursts of calculated time. That allowed the Bison to use their deep bench last year, resulting in game-tested players now.
"That gives us 13 players coming back that honestly have seen the field a lot and have the chance to gain experience from playing," said Cook. "That separates us a little bit from the other teams. We have a lot of returning experience, even if some of those guys are pretty young and not as developed as they're going to be."
Among the offensive leaders for 2012 are juniors Rachel Misko (Morristown, Pa./Madison) and Leigh Hillman (Dallas, Pa./Lake Lehman). Seniors Tayler Siegrist (Madison, N.J./Madison) and Kelly Stefanowicz (Landsdale, Pa./Mount St. Joseph's Academy) will also be key contributors on a corner unit that remains intact for a second consecutive year.
Misko, who was named to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team, is Bucknell's leading returner in both points (13) and assists (5) and last fall received both First Team and All-Tournament Team honors from the league. Back from a summer internship with CBS, the junior is poised to continue her dominance on the field.
"We've been working on ways to get her more involved on and off the ball, changing positions and changing formations to highlight her on the attacking end," said Cook of his former Patriot League Rookie of the Year. "Rachel's going to be someone we showcase on the offensive side. We're looking to really feed her the ball as much as we can."
Cook had nothing but praise for Hillman, who has complimented Misko at the forward position with her speed and willingness to mix things up in front of the net.
"She's really fast. If she's not going to get the ball, she's going to die trying," Cook commented. "She's just a great young woman in terms of how hard she works and how dedicated she is."
Stefanowicz and Siegrist both struck corners last year, and both had solid success in their duties. The 2012 captain Siegrist tallied four goals, tying her with Misko for the most by a returning player.
Vickie Resh (Hamburg, Pa./Hamburg Area) has had one of Bucknell's most noteworthy eight months. Since earning Second Team All-League and All-Tournament honors in November, the junior has won a title for New Jersey at the U.S. Senior National Championships, earned a spot training with the U21 Junior National Squad and was named Preseason All-Patriot League. Resh tallied a goal and an assist last season while starting all 20 games in the backfield.
"She's had a great year in terms of her own personal development and we're expecting great things from her," lauded Cook, who added that Resh, an animal behavior major, also spent part of her summer doing veterinary work on a farm.
Among those to make a splash during her rookie campaign last fall was Maggie Murphy (Emmaus, Pa./Emmaus). Murphy led all Bison freshmen with five points (2G, 1 A), but her stats don't tell the whole story of her contributions.
"Maggie's probably one of our most explosive players. She brings a huge amount of spark and energy whenever she's on the field," said Cook. "She's one of the players that fit in well with our rotation system, so playing six or seven minutes at a time she can change a game and exhaust herself and then come off and rest. Then the next time she comes on, she changes the game again."
Anchoring the defense will be junior Erica Perrine (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan), who had a breakout season with 101 saves and a Second Team All-Patriot League nod a year ago. The goalkeeper played in all 20 games and started each of the final 17 in goal, finishing with an 8-9 record. Cook praised Perrine's athleticism at the start of the 2011 season, and that has not changed.
"Erica is one of the most talented goalies I have had the opportunity to work with. She makes ridiculous saves look easy pretty frequently."
Filling critical support roles will be Bison such as Kelsey Mucelli (Kutztown, Pa./Kutztown Area), Liz Wills (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./William Penn Charter School), Amie Pritchard (Rumson, N.J./Kent School (Conn.)) and Cassie Goggin (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard West). The "support" title shouldn't fool you, however. Mucelli and Wills were both regular starters last season, while Pritchard and Goggin also saw action in all 20 games. Multi-taskers Mucelli and Goggin spent their summers on campus doing research and working in Europe, respectively, but the two are still expected to come back as strong as ever in 2012. Sophomores Pritchard and Wills are also expected to continue with their usual contributions but at slightly different positions than at the start of their careers.
"We moved Amie from playing midfield to playing right half last spring and she was great there," said Cook. "She's really fast and has great hands. It was tough moving her from the midfield into the back, but I think she really got going at right half last spring, so that's probably going to be where she competes for a position this year.
"Liz started almost every game for us at right half last year," Cook continued. "Now she's been playing more at left half, so she's a little more versatile than she was before. She brings a lot to the table. She's a really smart player."
With two goals last fall, Gabby Palumbo (Williamstown, N.J./The Peddie School) tied Murphy for the freshman lead in scores. One of those came against powerhouse Syracuse, something that does not really surprise Cook, who calls her a natural scorer and is hoping to get her more involved in the offense during her sophomore season.
Fellow sophomores Hope Obernesser (Akron, Ohio/Hathaway Brown) and Cassie Lawrence (Arnold, Md./Broadneck) will look to get in the mix more this season. Both saw limited field time in 2011, but both also continue to develop the necessary skills to change that.
"Cassie had a good developmental year last year. She's incredibly athletic and is always giving it her all," said Cook before also praising Obernesser's progress. "We saw big gains in Hope's confidence and her willingness to really go for it up front."
Joining Bucknell for their first season in the Orange and Blue is the quintet of Emily Hitchings (Fort Washington, Pa./Upper Dublin), Shannon Keen (Hatfield, Pa./North Penn), Kayla Sullivan (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan), Kiersten Sydnor (Shippensburg, Pa./Mercersburg Academy) and Abby Watson (Medford, N.J./Shawnee). Sydnor, Watson and Hitchings will add some speed to the Bucknell front line. Of Sydnor, Cook says the Shippensburg, Pa., native "has another gear to her. She's one of those players who can just turn it on and go really fast." A third-generation Bucknellian whose mother also played field hockey for the Bison, Hitchings is known as a steady, athletic player who should be able to contribute at forward or midfield. Watson's strength is her creativity and ability to make good decisions beyond her years on the field.
Adding to the mix will be Sullivan, considered to have "a great defensive attitude," and Keen, who will come up the ranks in goal behind Perrine.
"She's really athletic and a smart goalkeeper," Cook said of Keen. "It's just a matter of putting the time in and making the transition from high school to the college game."
