Gretchen Richter Named PL Midfielder of Week, Bison Host Monmouth Wednesday

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Bucknell sophomore Gretchen Richter on Monday was named Corvias Patriot League Midfielder of the Week after helping the Bison women's lacrosse team to a 19-11 victory at Manhattan on Saturday. Richter, who was a Second Team All-Patriot League selection as a freshman a year ago, captured the award for the first time in her career.

Bucknell is off to its best start since 2009 at 3-1, and the Bison will be home on Wednesday to face Monmouth at 4 p.m. at Graham Field. The game will be streamed live on the Patriot League Network at PatriotLeague.TV.

In Saturday's win over the Jaspers, Richter logged three goals, an assist, a game-high six draw controls, a ground ball and a caused turnover. She scored twice in the first 51 seconds of the match to get the Bison out to a quick 2-0 lead, and they would never trail all day.

Richter's prowess in the draw circle helped Bucknell to a commanding 20-11 edge in draw controls. She now has 98 draw controls in her career, which already ranks eighth in team history even though Richter is just four games into her sophomore season.

The performance against Manhattan continued a torrid offensive start for the Bison. They hit the back of the net 19 times on 31 shots on Saturday, and their 63 goals through four games are the most in school history. Bucknell is currently the nation's second-highest scoring team at 15.8 goals per game, and the Bison still lead the country in assists per game at 11.0.

Christina Manis, who was named to the Patriot League Honor Roll this week, and Eve Lukowski both had eight points against Manhattan, while Maddy Molinari scored a career-high five goals. Lukowski (12-10-22), Molinari (13-4-17), Manis (8-9-17), Richter (10-4-14) and Emily Becker (6-5-11) have already topped the 10-point mark for the season.

Lukowski has two eight-point games this season and leads the nation with 5.5 points per game. She also ranks sixth nationally in assists per game at 2.5.

Bucknell will take on another Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opponent on Wednesday when Monmouth comes to town. The Hawks are 3-3 on the season with wins over Rutgers (12-10), Lafayette (13-9) and George Washington (14-7) and losses to Towson (9-1), Saint Joseph's (13-10) and Drexel (11-5).

Olivia Higson leads the team in scoring with 14 points on 12 goals and two assists. Kate Ryan has 11 goals, and Michelle Gonzales has a team-high eight assists. First Team All-MAAC selection Kristina Vangeli leads the defense with 18 ground balls, 15 caused turnovers and 14 draw controls. Goalie Caroline Huelster has a solid .486 save percentage and a 9.55 goals-against average.

Bucknell and Monmouth have met seven times previously, but not since 2002. The Hawks have a 4-3 series lead. The Bison won the first two meetings in 1996 and 1997, then Monmouth won four years in a row before Bucknell prevailed 9-6 in Lewisburg in 2002.

Following the Monmouth game, the Bison travel to Saint Francis (Pa.) for a 3 p.m. start on Saturday. The Red Flash are 1-4 on the season. After hammering Radford 23-8 at home in its season opener, Saint Francis has dropped four straight four games to Winthrop (16-7), Furman (18-6), Campbell (20-10) and Gardner-Webb (12-11).

Sarah Mahon and Holly Lawrence lead the Red Flash with 10 goals apiece, while Katie Schaaf has eight assists.

Bucknell is 8-1 all-time against Saint Francis, including a 13-10 win last season at Graham Field that was fueled by 10 draw controls by Richter. The Red Flash's only series win came in 2011, and the Bison have won four straight since then.