Women's Soccer Visits Lehigh Friday Night

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Three valuable points are on the table when the Bucknell women's soccer team travels to Lehigh for a Patriot League tilt on Friday night at the Ulrich Sports Complex. The 7 p.m. match will air live on the Patriot League Network.

Bucknell and Lehigh are both looking to get on the board in Patriot League play. The Bison dropped a 2-1 double-overtime hearbreaker to Army last weekend, while the Mountain Hawks fell 1-0 to American.

Bucknell trailed 1-0 at the half against the Black Knights but tied it up just after the resumption of play on a nice captain-to-captain scoring play. Courtney Nelson, who had a fantastic game at right back, picked out Chelsey Garkowski inside the 18, and Garkowski finished for her team-leading third goal of the season. Nelson now has a goal and two assists, and she ranks second on the team with four points. Seven different Bison have scored a goal this season, and 10 players have at least one point.

Goalkeeper Jessie Ashworth comes in with a .797 save percentage, and her 59 saves lead the Patriot League.

Lehigh is 2-4-1 overall this season and has been outscored 6-4 in seven contests. After dropping their league opener at American last Saturday, the Mountain Hawks fell 1-0 to La Salle at home on Monday. The previous weekend, however, Lehigh had a strong showing in California, playing Pacific to 1-1 tie before besting Saint Mary's 2-0. Lehigh also has a 1-0 win over Central Connecticut to its credit.

Darby Dustman has scored two goals and Murphee Greeley and Danielle Salans one apiece. Ani Nahapetian and Ashley Blanks have split the goalkeeping duties evenly so far. Blanks has 25 saves and only three goals against for a league-best .893 save percentage. Nahapetian has 14 saves with three goals against.

Bucknell leads the all-time series with Lehigh by a 12-10-2 margin. The Mountain Hawks won 2-1 in double overtime in Bethlehem last season. Isabelle Li scored the game-winner on a breakaway after a Bison defender slipped on the wet pitch. Garkowski scored the opening goal just 30 seconds into the match, but Dustman equalized in the 12th minute.

In 2011 at Emmitt Field, then-freshman Evelyn Nicinski scored her first collegiate goal to give Bucknell a 1-0 win over the Mountain Hawks.

Bucknell will have a mid-week conference test next Wednesday when Loyola visits Emmitt Field for the first time as a member of the Patriot League.