Bucknell University Athletics
Women's Soccer Returns to Emmitt Field for Pair of Home Games this Week
9/1/2014 2:57:00 PM | Women's Soccer
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- After starting the year with three straight road games against quality competition, the Bucknell women's soccer team returns home to the friendly confines of Emmitt Field for a pair of matches this week. UMBC brings a 3-0 record to Lewisburg for the home opener on Tuesday at 7 p.m., and then Robert Morris comes in for another 7 p.m. tilt on Friday night.
All Bucknell home women's soccer games this season can be seen free of charge on Bison Vision on the Patriot League Network. At Tuesday's home opener, the first 100 fans to arrive at Emmitt Field will receive free tee shirts.
Each of Bucknell's first three opponents -- Hofstra (10-6-3), Monmouth (17-2-2) and Rider (9-8-1) -- were coming off winning seasons in 2013, and Hofstra and Monmouth are the preseason favorites in the Colonial Athletic Association and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, respectively. The Bison scored first at Hofstra before eventually falling 4-2. They received goals from freshman twin sisters Kendall Ham and Jackie Ham in a 2-0 win at Monmouth, and then on Sunday they dominated the shot chart but fell 1-0 in overtime at Rider.
Jackie Ham also scored at Hofstra and leads the team with two goals. Kendall Ham has a goal and an assist, and Brigit Falcón also has a goal. Jessie Ashworth has played all 279 minutes in goal so far and has 15 saves with five goals against.
Bucknell now faces another preseason favorite on Tuesday. Defending America East champion UMBC is off to another strong start at 3-0, with home wins over Patriot League foes Navy (1-0) and Loyola (3-2) and a road blanking of Howard (1-0). Lisa Nanov has produced two of the Retrievers' five goals, with the other three coming from Alexa Quaranta, Nikki Boretti and Lilly Rydon. Keeper Jen Nance has two shutouts and an .867 save percentage.
The Retrievers finished 13-6-2 and won the America East title with a 2-1 win over Stony Brook in the league title match. UMBC went to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history, falling to Virginia Tech 2-0. Nine starters from that squad are back in 2014.
Bucknell has a 6-3 lead in the all-time series with UMBC, including a 4-0 mark at home. The Bison had a five-game series winning streak snapped last season in Baltimore, when UMBC prevailed 1-0 on a Jessy Brown header in the 85th minute. In the last meeting in Lewisburg, Evelyn Nicinski and Courtney Nelson scored in Bucknell's 3-0 win.
Robert Morris topped Duquesne 3-2 in a Pittsburgh derby to start the year, but since then the Colonials have lost three straight to Akron (2-1), Pittsburgh (3-1) and Youngstown State (3-1). Kristie Hamilton and Antonia Grese have two goals apiece for the Colonials, who have scored in every game but have also allowed 10 goals. Robert Morris went 5-9-4 last season, 4-0-4 at home and 1-9-0 on the road.
Bucknell is 9-2-1 all-time against Robert Morris, although the Colonials won 3-1 last season on their home field. Sarah Bresette scored her first collegiate goal in that one for the Bison, but Madison Kozlowski tallied twice for Robert Morris. Cassie Denger and Danielle Piccirilli scored in a 3-1 Bison win in the last meeting at Emmitt Field in 2012.
The Bison will also be at home next Tuesday, Sept. 9 against Mount St. Mary's at 7 p.m.
