Friday, September 13
Lewisburg, Pa.
5 p.m.
Bucknell University
vs
Pennsylvania
Photo by: Marc Hagemeier
Women's Soccer Home vs. Penn, Away vs. George Washington this Weekend
9/12/2019 10:08:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Setting the Scene, Part I
Who: Penn (2-1-1) at Bucknell (2-4-0)
When: Friday, Sept. 13, 5 p.m.
Where: Emmitt Field, Lewisburg, Pa.
Live Webstream: Patriot League Network
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com
Setting the Scene, Part II
Who: Bucknell (2-4-0) at George Washington (2-1-1)
When: Sunday, Sept. 15, 1 p.m.
Where: GW Soccer Field, Washington, D.C.
Live Webstream: ESPN+
Live Stats: GWSports.com
About the Bison
- Bucknell's tough schedule continues this week with a home game against a Penn team that went 13-2-1 and shared the Ivy League title last season, followed by a road test against a George Washington side that is off to a 2-1-1 start and is coming off a 1-1 draw with Maryland.
- These are Bucknell's final contests before the start of Patriot League play on Sept. 21 at Lafayette. The Bison do have one more non-league game wedged within the conference slate, that coming on Oct. 8 at home vs. Columbia.
- The Bison snapped a four-game losing streak with a 2-1 win at Towson last Sunday. Freshman Abby Gearhart, in her return from a four-game injury absence, scored the game-winning goal in the 84th minute. Bri Kropinack also scored for the Bison, who beat the Tigers for the fourth straight time.
- Bucknell's five goals this season have come from five different players: Gearhart, Kropinack, Chloe Christakos, Gabby Bair and Petie Nassetta. Christakos also has an assist, giving her a team-high three points, and Lilly Courts, Rylee Donaldson and Alana Carlucci also have assists.
- Freshman Kaylee Donnelly has started every game in goal thus far. She has 30 saves with eight goals against. Donnelly was named Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week after a sensational 12-save performance against Pitt earlier in the season.
- Bucknell's first six opponents have combined for a 16-12-4 record.
- Bair and Jenna Marek lead the team with nine shot attempts, followed by Courts with eight.
- Bucknell has attempted 52 corner kicks through six games, compared to just 37 for its opponents.
- Head coach Kelly Cook is in her fifth season in Lewisburg. Cook has a 48-32-6 overall record and a 26-8-2 mark against Patriot League competition. Cook's .593 winning percentage is the highest in team history, and she needs four more wins to catch Toby Lovecchio for third-most in program history.
- Senior Ali Russo is in her second year as a team captain. Bucknell's most experienced player has 66 career games under her belt, including 64 starts. Bair and junior Bri Kropinak are also co-captains.
- Bucknell has finished .500 or better in Patriot League play in each of the last six seasons. The Bison have also qualified for the Patriot League Tournament in each of those six seasons and 21 times overall. The 21 PL postseason appearances is tied with Navy for second-most in league history, trailing only Colgate with 26. Bucknell has advanced to the championship game six times and is 4-2 in those appearances, with the league titles coming in 2001, 2005, 2016 and 2017.
- Bucknell was picked tied for fifth (with Army West Point) in the Patriot League Preseason Poll. Boston University was selected as the preseason favorite, followed by Colgate, Navy and Lehigh.
About Penn/Series History
- The Quakers are coming off a tremendous 2018 season, where they went 13-2-2, with the only losses coming to No. 13 N.C. State and No. 24 Princeton, both by 1-0 margins. Penn conceded only five goals the entire season, and it shared the Ivy League championship with Princeton.
- This year's Penn squad was picked second to Princeton in the Ivy League preseason poll. The Quakers returned their starting goalkeeper and three of their four starting backs from last year's squad that led the nation in goals-against average, save percentage and shutout percentage.
- Penn opened the season with a 5-1 loss at No. 3 Stanford, but since then the Quakers have sandwiched a pair of shutout victories over Towson and Mount St. Mary's around a 1-1 draw with Fairfield.
- Breukelen Woodard leads the team with two goals, while Emily Sands, Jackie Bruder and Sizzy Lawton have one each. Emma Loving has assisted on three of the team's five goals. Woodard had the lone tally in the 7th minute in Penn's most recent game, a 1-0 win over Mount St. Mary's on Sunday.
- Bucknell is 3-5-3 all-time against Penn, including a 1-0 win in Philadelphia in the most recent meeting in 2017. Then-freshman Bri Kropinack scored the game-winning goal in the 79th minute, and Dani Kaufman made four saves to backstop a strong team-wide defensive performance.
- Bucknell's other series wins came in 1991 (6-0) and 1994 (4-1).
- After debuting with a 2-0 loss at William & Mary, the Colonials are unbeaten since then with wins over American (2-1) and Liberty (3-2), along with a 1-1 draw with Maryland this past Sunday. George Washington hosts Towson on Thursday evening before Bucknell comes to town on Sunday.
- GW trailed Maryland 1-0 into the late stages, but Rachel Sorkenn equalized in the 76th minute. The Colonials finished with a 23-16 shot advantage, but Maryland's goalkeeper made 11 saves, including five in overtime.
- Six different players have accounted for George Washington's six goals this season. Sorkenn has a team-high two assists to go with her goal against the Terrapins.
- The Colonials have outshot their opponents 64-44 on the season.
- Goalkeeper Tamaki Machi, has 21 saves with six goals against in four starts.
- George Washington was picked to finish ninth out of 14 teams in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll. Last year the Colonials finished 10-8-1 overall and 6-4-0 in the A-10.
- This will be the first-ever meeting between Bucknell and George Washington, although the two teams did play a spring scrimmage last April.
Up Next
- Bucknell starts Patriot League play against Lafayette in Easton on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 4 p.m. The Bison had a 16-game unbeaten streak (14-0-2) snapped with a 2-0 home loss to the Leopards last season.
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