Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Saint Francis (Pa.)
Women's Lax Builds Big Early Lead, Cruises Past Saint Francis (Pa.) 21-12
3/12/2016 7:43:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
LORETTO, Pa. – The Bucknell women's lacrosse team continued to pump in goals at a torrid pace, scoring 13 in the first half en route to a 21-12 road win over Saint Francis (Pa.) on Saturday afternoon. Emily Becker scored five goals, Eve Lukowski had two goals and four assists, and eight different players had multi-point games as the Bison improved to 4-2 on the season.
Maddy Molinari scored three times, giving her five hat tricks in six games and the team scoring lead with 19 goals on the season. Lukowski, who came in ranked third nationally in scoring, has now logged four or more points in all but one game in 2016 and has a team-high 33 points on 18 goals and 15 assists.
Christina Manis continued her strong start with two goals and three assists, giving her a team-high 17 assists on the season. Sam Rickels and Gretchen Richter both added two goals and two assists, and Richter tallied a game-high eight draw controls.
Ally Furbay also scored twice, and Mary Margaret Kenney tallied a goal and an assist for the Bison, who have now scored an even 100 goals in six games, an average of 16.7 per contest. Bucknell scored 139 goals all of last season in 17 games.
The Bison wasted little time getting started in this one, as Richter won the opening draw and fed Molinari for the icebreaker just nine seconds into the match. Manis found Rickels and Richter for goals, and then Richter scored again off a Rickels pass, and it was 4-0 Bucknell after only 4:03 of action.
By the time Manis scored at the 15:14 mark of the first half, Bucknell seemed to be in complete control with a 10-2 lead. But the Red Flash made things interesting by scoring four goals in a row, pulling within 10-6 on a tally by Holly Lawrence.
After a timeout, Lukowski scored off an Audrey Walsh feed just nine seconds after the re-start. Lukowski scored again 46 seconds later, and then Manis fed Becker just 40 seconds after that, and the Bison lead went back up to seven at 13-6 at the half.
Erika Stube scored her first goal of the season at the 16:48 mark of the second half, giving Bucknell its first of three different 10-goal leads as it cruised home from there.
Not to be lost among the offensive outburst was a good day for freshman goalie Jamie DeWitt, who made a career-high 11 saves while conceding nine goals in 53 minutes of action. Elizabeth Duswalt finished up and added another save.
Incredibly, Bucknell's 21 goals came on just 27 shots. Two Red Flash goalies combined for five saves, meaning 26 of Bucknell's 27 shots were on frame. Saint Francis (1-5) took 28 shots in the game.
The Bison are now shooting a stellar 53.8 percent as a team on the season. They came into the game leading the country in assists before adding another 14 on Saturday. Of the team's 100 goals this season, 69 have had an assist. The team compiled 63 assists all of last season.
Led by Richter's big day, Bucknell dominated the draw controls 25-10. The Bison improved to 9-1 all-time against Saint Francis.
Jessica Fischetti led the Red Flash with four goals, while Lawrence had three.
Bucknell returns to action on Monday at Wagner in a makeup from a game that was postponed earlier in the season due to severe cold weather. The Seahawks are 1-4 against a tough early season schedule. The Bison will then return home on Wednesday to face 8-1 Winthrop at 2 p.m.
