Kaur Earns PL Offensive Player and Bison of the Week, Neilson Tabbed as Rookie of the Week

LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell field hockey junior Noor Kaur was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week on Monday following her five-assist outing against Lehigh on Saturday. She was also named the Bison of the Week, and first-year Lily Neilson earned Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors.

Kaur's five assists in the 6-1 victory over the Mountain Hawks broke a Bucknell record and are currently the most in a single game by any player in the nation this season. The previous program record for single-game assists was three, and Kaur had already tied that mark by the 25^th minute of the first half. The Basking Ridge, N.J. native added two more assists in the final 10 minutes of the game.

Big congrats to junior Noor Kaur, who broke Bucknell's single-game assists record with 🖐️ in today's win over Lehigh. No other player in NCAA Division I field hockey has registered more than 3 in a game this season! #rayBucknell 🔶🔷 pic.twitter.com/igaTnQ4NJ8
— Bucknell FieldHockey (@Bucknell_FH) October 16, 2021

Four of Kaur's assists came during set pieces as she was instrumental in the Bison attack penalty corners. No other player in NCAA Division I field hockey has posted more than three assists in a contest this season. Kaur is one of three Bucknell players to reach the three-assist mark in a game this year, as fellow junior Mackenzie Kile added three of her own in Saturday's game. Erin Zielinski, who was an honorable mention for PL Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, posted three assists in a win over Holy Cross earlier this season.

Kaur's five assists were one shy of the all-time Patriot League record, which was set in 2010. She had just one assist on the season entering Saturday's game and now ranks sixth in the league in the category.

Neilson earned her fourth Rookie of the Week award and her fifth overall Patriot League weekly award with three goals in the Lehigh win. She posted the go-ahead goal in the second quarter and added another less than two minutes later to give Bucknell a 3-1 cushion before halftime. The Australia native scored once more in the waning minutes of the game to give her a Patriot League-best 12 goals on the season.

It was Neilson's second hat trick of the season after she broke the Bucknell single-game record with five goals in the Holy Cross victory. She's scored in six different games this fall and sports a .375 shot percentage.

Zielinski earned the honorable mention after playing all 120 minutes over the Bison's two games and leading a defensive unit that limited its opponents to 1.5 goals per game. She also scored the first goal of her career on Sunday, doing so on just her second career shot.

Bucknell's win over Lehigh helped clinch a spot in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament. The Bison have earned a spot in the postseason tourney in 14 consecutive seasons. Specific seeding for the tournament has yet to be decided as Bucknell has two league games remaining in the regular season.

Bucknell hosts Colgate at Graham Field at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 22.