Women's Soccer Away Twice this Week

Wednesday, October 17

Bethlehem, Pa.

7 p.m.

Bucknell University

Lehigh

Photo by: Marc Hagemeier

10/16/2018 11:08:00 AM | Women's Soccer

Bison visit Lehigh Wednesday looking to secure a postseason berth

Setting the Scene, Part I
Who: Bucknell (6-8-1, 4-2-0 PL) at Lehigh (5-9-0, 2-4-0 PL)
When: Wednesday, Oct. 17, 7 p.m.
Where: Ulrich Sports Complex, Bethlehem, Pa.
Live Webstream: Patriot League Network
Live Stats: LehighSports.com

Setting the Scene, Part II
Who: Bucknell (6-8-1, 4-2-0 PL) at Boston University (7-7-2, 5-0-1 PL)
When: Saturday, Oct. 20, 2 p.m.
Where: Nickerson Field, Boston, Mass.
Live Webstream: Patriot League Network
Live Stats: GoTerriers.com

About the Bison

Three games remain in the 2018 regular season, and Bucknell is on the cusp of clinching one of the six Patriot League Tournament berths. The Bison currently sit in fourth place on 12 points (4-2-0), and they are five points clear of fifth-place Army (2-3-1, 7 points). Bucknell can secure a postseason bid with a win at Lehigh on Wednesday night. That is the first of two tough road games this week for the Bison. They visit league co-leader Boston University on Saturday afternoon.
Bucknell saw its four-game Patriot League winning streak come to an end on Saturday, as red-hot Colgate scored once in each half in a 2-0 verdict at Emmitt Field. Colgate and Boston University are tied atop the table with 16 points and 5-0-1 records (those two teams will meet on the final day of the regular season). Navy (5-1-0, 15 points) is just a single point back in third place, followed by Bucknell in fourth. The top two seeds receive byes into the Patriot League Tournament semifinal round, while the third and fourth seeds get to host quarterfinal games.
Saturday's game against Colgate was the first time in six outings that the Bison conceded more than one goal in a game. Bucknell ranks third in the Patriot League with a team goals-against average of 1.27, but that figure is skewed by a three-game stretch in early September when it allowed 10 goals. In 15 games this season, Bucknell has four shutouts and allowed one goal on seven other occasions.
Bucknell's 15 goals have come from 10 different players. Jenna Marek leads the squad with three goals, while Kate Henesey, Holly Burns and Claire Mensi have two apiece. Burns, Henesey and Maddie Dano have two assists apiece.
The Bison are in the thick of the Patriot League title chase despite trying to replace the winningest class in program history, one that played major roles in back-to-back league championships in 2016 and 2017. In Saturday's game against Colgate, Bucknell started four freshmen along with five others who are in their first year as starters. Co-captains Maddie Dano and Ali Russo are the only returning starters in the current top XI.
Junior goalkeeper Theresa Adu-Attobrah continues to impress in her first full year as a starter. She has collected 82 saves with only 14 goals against in 14 starts. She ranks third in the Patriot League with an .854 save percentage and fifth with a 0.98 goals-against average.

About Lehigh/Series History

After starting Patriot League play 0-4, Lehigh has bounced back with two straight conference wins over American and Lafayette. The Mountain Hawks are tied with Holy Cross for sixth place in the league standings.
After a six-game stretch in which it managed just one goal, Lehigh exploded for four in a 4-1 rout of arch-rival Lafayette on Saturday night. That is the most goals the Mountain Hawks have ever scored against the Leopards. They netted three of those goals in the opening 20 minutes of the game, with Sabrina Mertz scoring twice and assisting on the other. Lehigh outshot Lafayette 23-3, and the score line might have been worse if not for 11 saves from Leopards keeper Maggie Pohl.
Lehigh has been outscored 16-10 over 14 games. Mertz leads the team with three goals, all coming in the last three games, followed by Kayla Arestivo and Courtney Supp with two each.
Miranda Royds has started 11 games in goal, but Sam Miller has gotten the call in each of the last three contests. The junior duo has also shared three games in goal this season. Miller has an .821 save percentage and a 0.94 GAA.
Bucknell is 15-11-3 all-time against Lehigh and 3-1-1 in the last five meetings.
Last season at Emmitt Field, the Bison won 2-1 on Maddie Mulford's 85th-minute goal. Lehigh had just equalized through Maggie Wadsworth in the 81st minute, but the Bison quickly responded when Mulford finished a cross from Bri Kropinack.
This will be the first meeting in Bethlehem since 2015. The Bison won that year 3-0. Then-freshman Riley Coopersmith scored her first career goal in that one for Bucknell.
Besides Coopersmith, the only other active Bison with a goal against Lehigh is Bailey Hurst, who scored in Bucknell's 3-2 loss to the Mountain Hawks in 2016.

About Boston University/Series History

The Terriers began the season 0-5 against a very difficult non-league schedule, but they have climbed back to .500 at 7-7-2 with six straight wins and a 6-0-1 mark in their last seven. Boston University has not lost since a 4-0 setback at West Virginia -- the team that knocked Bucknell out of the NCAA Tournament last year -- all the way back on Sept. 13.
Boston University began Patriot League play with a 1-1 draw at American, but since then the Terriers have won five straight league games over Lehigh (1-0), Holy Cross (3-0), Lafayette (2-0), Navy (1-0) and Loyola (1-0) by a combined 8-0 margin.
The Terriers host Army on Wednesday night before Bucknell comes to town, and then Boston University closes out the regular season with a big one at Patriot League co-leader Colgate.
Reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Year and 2018 Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Anna Heilferty is once against leading the Terriers attack. After recording five goals and three assists last season, she has five goals and four assists in 2018. Taylor Kofton has three goals for Boston University, which has scored 18 and conceded 18 on the season.
Freshman Morgan Messner and sophomore Amanda Fay have both started eight games in goal this season. Messner has the better numbers, with a 5-4 record, four shutouts, and a 0.94 goals-against average.
Bucknell and Boston University had never met until the Terriers joined the Patriot League in 2013. Boston University won the first four meetings, but since then the Bison have won four straight, including a 1-0 victory in last season's Patriot League Tournament semifinals.
The Bison and Terriers have actually met in each of the last three postseasons. Boston University won 1-0 in the 2015 Patriot League championship match in Boston, and then Bucknell returned the favor in Lewisburg the following season, winning 2-1 on Cora Climo's overtime goal.
Last season, Bucknell won 2-1 at Emmitt Field in the regular season, and then 1-0 on a neutral field in Annapolis, Md., in the Patriot League Tournament. Kendall Ham scored in the 8th and 32nd minutes to give Bucknell a 2-0 lead in the regular-season contest. Dorie Varley-Barrett scored just before the half for the Terriers, but Bucknell saw out a scoreless final 45 minutes to pick up a win in a matchup of one-loss PL teams.
The Bison defense came up big in the Patriot League Tournament semifinal match. Starting goalkeeper Dani Kaufman was injured in the first half and replaced at the start of the second half by Theresa Adu-Attobrah, who was making just her second career appearance. Adu-Attobrah and the defense kept a clean sheet and the Bison won it with a goal with 3:05 remaining in regulation.