Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Soccer Heads to West Coast for Pair of Matches
9/13/2012 8:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 13, 2012
Bucknell travels to the West Coast having won five of their last six matches. Tuesday's 2-0 home victory over Mount St. Mary's upped the Bison to 5-3 on the season. Bucknell, which has already equaled last season's victory total and surpassed last year's goal total, has been getting it done with both offense and defense.
Four of the team's five victories have come via shutout, and eight of its 11 goals allowed this season have been absorbed in just two games, losses against Binghamton and Saint Francis (Pa.). In the five wins, Bucknell has outscored foes 12-1.
Senior Sandita McDermott has handled all of the goalkeeping duties so far. She now has four shutouts this season and 11 in her career. The career total ranks fourth in Bucknell history and is just four behind Kathryn Sutton's school record. Earlier this year McDermott broke the program record for consecutive scoreless minutes.
Opponents have put only 42 shots on frame in eight games, thanks to strong work from the defense in front of McDermott. The back four consists of one player from each class -- senior Corinne Collins, junior Bridget Gilmartin, sophomore Hannah Bonotto and freshman Lauren Dandie -- and all have been solid.
Bucknell's midfield shined in the win over Mount St. Mary's on Tuesday, with senior center mids Kayla Yee and Taryn Boucher accounting for the two goals. It was the first tally of the season for both, and Bucknell has now had nine different goal-scorers in 2012, along with three others that have recorded an assist. Sophomore Courtney Nelson leads the squad with four goals, while Liz Dwornik and Danielle Piccirilli have two each. Chelsey Garkowski and Cassie Denger both have five points on a goal and three assists.
Collins, one of seven seniors on the roster, will be returning very close to her hometown of Orinda, Calif., which is located only about four miles down the road from Moraga. Bonotto, another starting defender, is also a Northern Californian from Carmichael, a suburb of Sacramento.
Dandie (Fullerton), junior Alex Degarmo (Laguna Beach) and freshman Alex Rosen (Manhattan Beach) are also California natives, while Nelson hails from Phoenix, Ariz.
Friday's opponent, Cal State Bakersfield, comes in with a 2-5-1 record after a 1-0 loss to UC Santa Barbara on Monday. The Roadrunners' wins have come against San Francisco (2-1) and Idaho State (5-1), and they also have a scoreless tie against Fresno Pacific.
Erica Shelton leads CSUB with three goals and an assist for seven points, while Joanna Ortiz has a pair of goals. Daisy Vazquez leads the team with three assists. Tori Ornela has played all but seven minutes in goal this season and has 30 saves with 11 goals against.
Despite its distant location, Cal State Bakersfield's athletics staff has some Bucknell ties. Director of athletics Jeff Konya is a former NCAA Compliance Director at Bucknell, while associate men's basketball coach Bryan Goodman was a member of the Bucknell staff during the Bison's 2005 and 2006 championship seasons.
St. Mary's is 3-3-1 on the season and comes into the tournament on a two-game unbeaten streak after a good 1-1 tie with Oregon on Sunday. The Gaels play UC Davis on Friday after the Bucknell-Cal State Bakersfield game. St. Mary's also has wins over Portland State (2-1), Sam Houston State (1-0) and Cal Poly (1-0), while the losses have come against Seattle (5-1), USC (4-1) and Texas A&M (1-0).
Katy Roby is the Gaels' top scorer with six points on two goals and two assists. Christina Tognetti also has two goals, both game-winners. Khayla Jones and Kate Brenot have both seen significant action in goal. Jones has the better numbers, with a 2-1-1 record and an .852 save percentage (23SV, 4 GA) in five appearances.
The last time Bucknell traveled west of the Mississippi was 2006, when the Bison went to Colorado to face Air Force and Colorado College.
Following the California trip, Bucknell will return home on Friday, Sept. 21 to face Canisius.
