Big Week Ahead for Bison Women's Soccer

10/21/2013 9:02:00 PM | Women's Soccer

By: TBD

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell women's soccer team has two critical Patriot League games this week as the chase for the postseason hits the home stretch. The Bison travel to Lafayette on Wednesday night and then host Holy Cross on Senior Day at Emmitt Field on Saturday at noon. The Lafayette contest will be webcast live on the Patriot League Network.

Evelyn Nicinski's second-half goal gave Bucknell a 1-1 tie with Colgate this past Saturday, and that point put the Bison in sole possession of fifth place in the Patriot League standings with three games to play (the top six teams qualify for the Patriot League Tournament). Both of this week's opponents are chasing Bucknell in the standings. The Bison have seven points with a 2-3-1 conference record, while Lafayette (1-5-0) has three points and Holy Cross (2-4-0) is on six points. The Crusaders host eighth-place Army (1-3-2, 5 points) on Wedensday before heading to Lewisburg.

Navy (6-0-0, 18 points) and Boston University (5-1-0, 15 points) have both clinched postseason berths. Colgate and American are both 4-1-1 for 13 points and can clinch tourney spots with victories on Wednesday. The top two seeds will receive first-round byes, while seeds 3 and 4 will host quarterfinal matches on Nov. 5.

Bucknell has a difficult final game at Boston University, which places even greater weight on this week's action.

Lafayette is 5-8-1 overall but has dropped four straight contests. On Saturday the Leopards fell 1-0 at American, but Lafayette has been solid at home this season with a 3-3-1 record at Oaks Stadium.

Kaelin King and Jaclyn Giordano have three goals apiece for the Leopards, while Alyssa Finelli and Joanna Scotti both have two. Danielle Sedillo has started all but one game in goal and has 52 saves with 19 goals against.

Bucknell has beaten Lafayette nine straight times and is 9-0-1 in its last 10 games against the Leopards. The Bison are 15-6-1 all-time against Lafayette. Last season in Easton, Taryn Boucher's goal with seven minutes left in regulation gave Bucknell a 1-0 win.

Holy Cross is 2-9-4 on the season, but the two victories are against Loyola and Lafayette in Patriot League play. All four of the Crusaders's draws have been 0-0 deadlocks, and they have a solid 0.94 team goals-against average on the season. Carly McCabe has seen the bulk of the action in goal and has 71 saves with 15 goals against.

Annie Galvin has scored two of the team's five goals on the season.

McCabe made seven saves against Bucknell last season at Emmitt Field, but Nicinski scored off a feed from Courtney Nelson in the first half to give the Bison a 1-0 win.

Bucknell and Holy Cross have met every season since 1991, and the Bison own a 16-5-2 series lead. The Bison have won the last eight meetings with Holy Cross, outscoring the Crusaders by a 23-5 margin. The teams have met once in the Patriot League Tournament, with Holy Cross winning 1-0 in the semifinals at Colgate in 2000.

Bucknell will pay tribute to its five seniors prior to Saturday's contest. Alex Degarmo, Liz Dwornik, Chelsey Garkowski, Bridget Gilmartin and Corey Tipton will play their final regular-season home game at Emmitt Field.

Garkowski and Nicinski are tied for the team lead with three goals and eight points. Sarah Bresette also has three goals, while Dwornik has a team-high four assists.

Head coach Ben Landis split his goalkeepers in Saturday's tie with Colgate, and sophomore Jessie Ashworth and freshman Jessica Ratner both played well. Ratner made four saves in the second half and overtime to earn the decision in her first extensive action of the season. Ashworth has started all 14 games and has a .753 save percentage.