Cook Named PL Field Hockey Coach of the Year; Four Players Voted All-Conference

Big Week for Field Hockey Includes Game at No. 4 Penn State on Tuesday

Cook Named PL Field Hockey Coach of the Year; Four Players Voted All-Conference

11/4/2014 1:34:00 PM | Field Hockey

By: TBD

LEWISBURG, Pa. – Following a perfect 6-0 record in Patriot League play and the program's first outright regular season championship, Bucknell head coach Jeremy Cook has been voted the conference's Coach of the Year, as announced by the league on Tuesday. Additionally, the Bison placed three players on the All-Patriot League First Team and one on the Second Team.

Seniors Kelsey Mucelli, Liz Wills and Amie Pritchard all landed spots on the First Team for the Bison, who have had at least one First Team selection every year since 2005 Senior Maggie Murphy received Second Team honors.

Cook guided Bucknell to the program's best regular season record (12-5) wince the 1977 team went 8-2-2. With the league title, the Bison will host the Patriot League Tournament for the first time in program history this Friday and Saturday. The Bison have tied the school record for shutouts in a season (7) and set the record for most conference wins with six.

Cook is the third Bucknell field hockey coach to earn the Coach of the Year award and the first since Heather Lewis in 1995. The Bison had numerous big wins this year, including 1-0 shutouts over nationally-ranked Princeton and defending Patriot League champion American, and a 5-2 blowout of Boston University, which is ranked 20^th in the most recent national poll.

Mucelli earned the third First Team honor of her career, becoming just the fourth Bucknell player to accomplish that feat. She has one goal and seven assists this season, leading the Bison to a perfect 7-0 record in games she records an assist. Her 21 assists rank sixth on the program's all-time list.

Liz Wills had an outstanding season both offensively and defensively this season. Taking advantage of the team's success on penalty corners, she is tied for the team lead with seven goals and leads all players with 17 points. Wills earned three Patriot League weekly honors this season, receiving the conference's top defensive award twice and the top offensive award once.

Pritchard was often the one setting up the penalty corner shots for her teammates as she racked up six assists during the regular season. She also added four goals to finish with 14 points, good enough for third on the team. Pritchard's resume this season includes the lone goal in the Bison's 1-0 win over nationally-ranked Princeton and the Offensive Player of the Week award she received following that performance.

From her spot as midfielder, Murphy has been one of the catalysts of a great defensive season for Bucknell. Included in the Bison's seven shutouts are three games in which they didn't allow a single shot on goal. They finished the regular season with the Patriot League's top defense, allowing just 1.47 goals per game.

Top-seeded Bucknell will host fourth-seeded Colgate at 11 a.m. on Friday at Graham Field. The tournament's other semifinal matchup will feature second-seeded Boston University against third-seeded American at 2 p.m. The championship game will be played on Saturday at 1 p.m.

2014 Patriot League Field Hockey Major Awards

Offensive Player of the Year: Sofi Laurito, Boston University (Jr., M)

Defensive Player of the Year: Grace Wilson, American (Sr., D)
Goalkeeper of the Year: Valentina Cerda Eimbcke, Boston University (Sr., GK)

Rookie of the Year: Angela Virtu, American (Fr., M/D)

Coach of the Year: Jeremy Cook, Bucknell*

* - unanimous selection

First-Team All-Patriot League

Grace Wilson, American (Sr., D)*

Rebecca Treharne, American (Sr., M)*

Sofi Laurito, Boston University (Jr., M)*

Valentina Cerda Eimbcke, Boston University (Sr., GK)

Hester van der Laan, Boston University (So., M)