Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Field Hockey Through the Decades, Presented by Geisinger
8/10/2020 2:52:00 PM | Field Hockey
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Field hockey is one of the original women's varsity sports at Bucknell, with roots dating back to the fall of 1973. Prior to the adoption of Title IX and the recognition of women's programs with varsity status, Bucknell had a very successful club field hockey team that competed in top regional and national competitions. As such, it did not take the program long to succeed at the varsity level. The Bison went 6-2 in its first varsity season in 1973 and posted winning or .500 records in nine of its first 10 campaigns. Flash ahead to the present day, and you will find a high-quality Bucknell program, led by 13th-year head coach Jeremy Cook. The Bison play in a beautiful home stadium and are annual challengers in the talented Patriot League while frequently defeating top-20 teams. We hope you enjoy a trip down memory lane with many of the top players in the 47-year history of Bison Field Hockey. Special thanks to Geisinger for sponsoring the series. Â
1970s
We wrap up this fun series of chats by going all the way back to the 1970s for an interesting look at what Bison Field Hockey was like in its formative years as a varsity program. Today head coach Jeremy Cook and senior Kaelyn Long are joined by four former team captains, two of whom are enshrined in the Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame: Karen Tropp '76, Irene Stein '77, Karin Wegener '79 P'14 and Kathy Kline '80. All four guests were multi-sport athletes, which was commonplace during this era. Tropp captained the 1975 field hockey team and also played basketball. Stein was a team captain in 1976 and was a also a two-year captain of the basketball team. Wegener captained the field hockey, basketball and lacrosse teams at Bucknell, and alongside Bobbi Castens was one of the first two women inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1985. Wegener is still the field hockey team's all-time leader in goals (55) and points (122) in a career and goals (21) and points (49) in a season. Kline, a 1994 Hall of Fame inductee was also a prolific scorer for the field hockey team, and she was also a team captain in lacrosse and played one year each of basketball and tennis. She still sits No. 2 behind Wegener on the field hockey team's all-time scoring lists with 48 goals and 103 points. While Wegener set a single-season record with 21 goals in 1977, Kline added 19 that season for a team that finished 8-2-2 and scored 50 goals in 12 games. Kline was an all-region selection in 1978 and was nominated for the Honda Broderick Award, presented to the nation's most outstanding female collegiate athlete.Â
1980s
The decade of the 1980s saw the Bison varsity field hockey program join a conference for the first time, with East Coast Conference competition starting in 1982. Bucknell had some outstanding seasons in the '80s and produced three future Bucknell Athletics Hall-of-Famers. One of the best seasons of the decade came in 1984, when the Bison won 11 games to tie a school record and went 5-2 in the ECC, including a wild 5-4 overtime win over rival Delaware on the final day of the regular season to clinch second place and a first-round bye for the ECC Tournament. The Bison scored with just over a minute left in regulation to force extra time, and after the teams swapped goals in quick succession, Michelle Manoff '88 scored the game-winner late in OT. Standout goalie Cindy Barbosa '87 made 35 saves in that game, which remarkably was two shy of her career high of 37, a school record that will likely never be broken. Barbosa and Manoff join us on this episode of Bison Field Hockey Through the Decades, along with Susan Lenker '84 P'16 and Hall-of-Famer Dianne Czarnecki '87. Lenker captained the 1983 team, while Barbosa and Manoff were two-year captains in their junior and senior seasons. Barbosa was an All-ECC and all-region selection as a senior, and her 1,039 career saves not only remain the school record, but they are 206 more than the next-highest total. Czarnecki, who was also a standout on the softball diamond, was a three-time All-ECC pick in field hockey. She was an all-region selection as a senior and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999. Manoff still ranks third on Bucknell's all-time goals list with 35, and her 80 career points rank fourth. She was a two-time All-ECC selection and was an all-region pick as a senior. Head coach Jeremy Cook moderates the discussion, along with rising junior defender Erin Zielinski.Â
1990s
In this installment we hit the rewind button to the 1990s, a decade that closed with the winningest season in program history. The 1999 Bison squad, under the direction of head coach Heather Lewis, finished 14-7 -- the 14 wins are still a school record -- and advanced to the Patriot League Tournament final. In 1992, Lewis succeeded Jennifer Averill, who is now entering her 29th season as head coach at national power Wake Forest. Today we hear from five outstanding alumnae from this era: Jeannette Aurand '92, Katrina Mueller '93, Tracy Bass '96, Dani Johnston '97 and Sarah Catlin '98. Aurand captained the 1990 team, was a two-time First Team All-Patriot League selection and the 1991 Patriot League Player of the Year. She was a Christy Mathewson Award winner as the top athlete in her senior class. Mueller was a three-time First Team All-PL choice and was an All-Region selection as a junior. Bass lettered all four years at Bucknell and won the Bradley N. Tufts Award as a senior. Johnston was a team captain in 1996 and earned All-Patriot League and all-region honors as both a junior and senior. And Catlin was a team captain in 1997, when she earned her second straight All-PL citation. Joining head coach Jeremy Cook to lead the conversation is rising junior forward Emily Doyle. Â
2000s
Next up on our Through the Decades tour is the 2000s, a decade that began with a trip to the Patriot League championship game and finished with back-to-back double-digit win seasons. Along the way, the Bison program took a huge leap forward with the installation of the Graham Field turf in 2003, meaning no more home games on grass, followed by the construction of the Holmes Stadium facility in 2007. The 2000s also saw the many of the top players in team history, including its first Division I All-American in Lauren Campbell '02, who earned Third Team honors as a senior captain in 2001. Campbell is one of four outstanding alumnae to join head coach coach Jeremy Cook and rising sophomore Alina Arko on the call, along with Liz Jordan '06, Amanda Faust '09 and Megan Krebs '10. In addition to her All-America distinction, Campbell was a two-time all-region selection and was named the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2001. Jordan was one of the premier goalkeepers in Bison history. She was a three-time All-Patriot League selection and the league's Goalkeeper of the Year in 2005. A two-time all-region selection, Jordan ranks sixth in Bucknell history in career wins (24) and seventh in saves (473). Faust co-captained the 2008 squad, which was Cook's first year at the helm. The Patriot League Rookie of the Year in 2005, she was a rare four-time All-Patriot League and three-time all-region selection. Faust holds a share of the school record for career assists with 34, and her 92 career points rank third all-time, behind only Hall-of-Famers Karin Wegener and Kathy Kline, who both played in the 1970s. Krebs was one of the senior leaders on the 2009 squad that finished 12-7 overall and 4-1 in the league. She was a two-time All-PL pick and was an all-region selection in 2007.Â
2010s
We start our Through the Decades series with a look back at the most recent decade of the 2010s. The Bison posted a 36-21 Patriot League record in those 10 seasons, highlighted by a perfect 6-0 season and a regular-season championship in 2014. That season Bucknell hosted the Patriot League Tournament for the first time at Graham Field and advanced to the championship game before dropping a hard-fought 2-1 decision to Boston University. The Bison played in three league title games in the decade, and they have never been closer to breaking through and making the NCAA Tournament, with each of their last seven Patriot League Tournament losses coming by one goal. Joining head coach Jeremy Cook and first-year student-athlete Gugulethu Sibanda (all the way from Harare, Zimbabwe!) on this installment are Rachael Misko '14, Vickie Resh '14, Kelsey Mucelli '15 and Liz Wills '15. These four alumnae represent two of the most successful classes in team history. Misko was a four-time All-Patriot League selection and the 2010 PL Rookie of the Year. She was also a two-time Academic All-Patriot Leaguer and the 2013 PL Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Her 25 goals and 63 points rank 10th on Bucknell's all-time list. Resh was a three-time all-conference pick and an NFCHA All-Mideast Region selection as a senior. Resh was also a member of the U.S. Junior National Team. Mucelli and Wills co-captained that PL regular-season title-winning team in 2014. Mucelli was a three-time First Team All-Patriot League selection and was a member of the All-Region squad as a senior. Her 20 career assists are seventh-most in team history. She was selected to play in the NFHCA Senior All-Star Game and was voted to the Academic All-Patriot League Team in 2014. Wills was a two-time all-league choice and a 2014 all-region selection, and she joined Mucelli on the 2014 Academic All-Patriot League Team. Â
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1970s
We wrap up this fun series of chats by going all the way back to the 1970s for an interesting look at what Bison Field Hockey was like in its formative years as a varsity program. Today head coach Jeremy Cook and senior Kaelyn Long are joined by four former team captains, two of whom are enshrined in the Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame: Karen Tropp '76, Irene Stein '77, Karin Wegener '79 P'14 and Kathy Kline '80. All four guests were multi-sport athletes, which was commonplace during this era. Tropp captained the 1975 field hockey team and also played basketball. Stein was a team captain in 1976 and was a also a two-year captain of the basketball team. Wegener captained the field hockey, basketball and lacrosse teams at Bucknell, and alongside Bobbi Castens was one of the first two women inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1985. Wegener is still the field hockey team's all-time leader in goals (55) and points (122) in a career and goals (21) and points (49) in a season. Kline, a 1994 Hall of Fame inductee was also a prolific scorer for the field hockey team, and she was also a team captain in lacrosse and played one year each of basketball and tennis. She still sits No. 2 behind Wegener on the field hockey team's all-time scoring lists with 48 goals and 103 points. While Wegener set a single-season record with 21 goals in 1977, Kline added 19 that season for a team that finished 8-2-2 and scored 50 goals in 12 games. Kline was an all-region selection in 1978 and was nominated for the Honda Broderick Award, presented to the nation's most outstanding female collegiate athlete.Â
1980s
The decade of the 1980s saw the Bison varsity field hockey program join a conference for the first time, with East Coast Conference competition starting in 1982. Bucknell had some outstanding seasons in the '80s and produced three future Bucknell Athletics Hall-of-Famers. One of the best seasons of the decade came in 1984, when the Bison won 11 games to tie a school record and went 5-2 in the ECC, including a wild 5-4 overtime win over rival Delaware on the final day of the regular season to clinch second place and a first-round bye for the ECC Tournament. The Bison scored with just over a minute left in regulation to force extra time, and after the teams swapped goals in quick succession, Michelle Manoff '88 scored the game-winner late in OT. Standout goalie Cindy Barbosa '87 made 35 saves in that game, which remarkably was two shy of her career high of 37, a school record that will likely never be broken. Barbosa and Manoff join us on this episode of Bison Field Hockey Through the Decades, along with Susan Lenker '84 P'16 and Hall-of-Famer Dianne Czarnecki '87. Lenker captained the 1983 team, while Barbosa and Manoff were two-year captains in their junior and senior seasons. Barbosa was an All-ECC and all-region selection as a senior, and her 1,039 career saves not only remain the school record, but they are 206 more than the next-highest total. Czarnecki, who was also a standout on the softball diamond, was a three-time All-ECC pick in field hockey. She was an all-region selection as a senior and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999. Manoff still ranks third on Bucknell's all-time goals list with 35, and her 80 career points rank fourth. She was a two-time All-ECC selection and was an all-region pick as a senior. Head coach Jeremy Cook moderates the discussion, along with rising junior defender Erin Zielinski.Â
1990s
In this installment we hit the rewind button to the 1990s, a decade that closed with the winningest season in program history. The 1999 Bison squad, under the direction of head coach Heather Lewis, finished 14-7 -- the 14 wins are still a school record -- and advanced to the Patriot League Tournament final. In 1992, Lewis succeeded Jennifer Averill, who is now entering her 29th season as head coach at national power Wake Forest. Today we hear from five outstanding alumnae from this era: Jeannette Aurand '92, Katrina Mueller '93, Tracy Bass '96, Dani Johnston '97 and Sarah Catlin '98. Aurand captained the 1990 team, was a two-time First Team All-Patriot League selection and the 1991 Patriot League Player of the Year. She was a Christy Mathewson Award winner as the top athlete in her senior class. Mueller was a three-time First Team All-PL choice and was an All-Region selection as a junior. Bass lettered all four years at Bucknell and won the Bradley N. Tufts Award as a senior. Johnston was a team captain in 1996 and earned All-Patriot League and all-region honors as both a junior and senior. And Catlin was a team captain in 1997, when she earned her second straight All-PL citation. Joining head coach Jeremy Cook to lead the conversation is rising junior forward Emily Doyle. Â
2000s
Next up on our Through the Decades tour is the 2000s, a decade that began with a trip to the Patriot League championship game and finished with back-to-back double-digit win seasons. Along the way, the Bison program took a huge leap forward with the installation of the Graham Field turf in 2003, meaning no more home games on grass, followed by the construction of the Holmes Stadium facility in 2007. The 2000s also saw the many of the top players in team history, including its first Division I All-American in Lauren Campbell '02, who earned Third Team honors as a senior captain in 2001. Campbell is one of four outstanding alumnae to join head coach coach Jeremy Cook and rising sophomore Alina Arko on the call, along with Liz Jordan '06, Amanda Faust '09 and Megan Krebs '10. In addition to her All-America distinction, Campbell was a two-time all-region selection and was named the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2001. Jordan was one of the premier goalkeepers in Bison history. She was a three-time All-Patriot League selection and the league's Goalkeeper of the Year in 2005. A two-time all-region selection, Jordan ranks sixth in Bucknell history in career wins (24) and seventh in saves (473). Faust co-captained the 2008 squad, which was Cook's first year at the helm. The Patriot League Rookie of the Year in 2005, she was a rare four-time All-Patriot League and three-time all-region selection. Faust holds a share of the school record for career assists with 34, and her 92 career points rank third all-time, behind only Hall-of-Famers Karin Wegener and Kathy Kline, who both played in the 1970s. Krebs was one of the senior leaders on the 2009 squad that finished 12-7 overall and 4-1 in the league. She was a two-time All-PL pick and was an all-region selection in 2007.Â
2010s
We start our Through the Decades series with a look back at the most recent decade of the 2010s. The Bison posted a 36-21 Patriot League record in those 10 seasons, highlighted by a perfect 6-0 season and a regular-season championship in 2014. That season Bucknell hosted the Patriot League Tournament for the first time at Graham Field and advanced to the championship game before dropping a hard-fought 2-1 decision to Boston University. The Bison played in three league title games in the decade, and they have never been closer to breaking through and making the NCAA Tournament, with each of their last seven Patriot League Tournament losses coming by one goal. Joining head coach Jeremy Cook and first-year student-athlete Gugulethu Sibanda (all the way from Harare, Zimbabwe!) on this installment are Rachael Misko '14, Vickie Resh '14, Kelsey Mucelli '15 and Liz Wills '15. These four alumnae represent two of the most successful classes in team history. Misko was a four-time All-Patriot League selection and the 2010 PL Rookie of the Year. She was also a two-time Academic All-Patriot Leaguer and the 2013 PL Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Her 25 goals and 63 points rank 10th on Bucknell's all-time list. Resh was a three-time all-conference pick and an NFCHA All-Mideast Region selection as a senior. Resh was also a member of the U.S. Junior National Team. Mucelli and Wills co-captained that PL regular-season title-winning team in 2014. Mucelli was a three-time First Team All-Patriot League selection and was a member of the All-Region squad as a senior. Her 20 career assists are seventh-most in team history. She was selected to play in the NFHCA Senior All-Star Game and was voted to the Academic All-Patriot League Team in 2014. Wills was a two-time all-league choice and a 2014 all-region selection, and she joined Mucelli on the 2014 Academic All-Patriot League Team. Â
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Players Mentioned
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