Wednesday, October 27
Bethlehem, Pa.
6 p.m.
Bucknell University
8-7-3, 5-2-2PL
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Lehigh
6-9-1, 4-4-1PL
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Bucknell
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Photo by: Marc Hagemeier
Bucknell Downs Lehigh on Donaldson’s Golden Goal; Teams Will Meet Again Sunday in Lewisburg in Patriot League Tournament
10/27/2021 9:32:00 PM | Women's Soccer
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Allentown native Rylee Donaldson came home and added yet another highlight to her sensational junior season, scoring her Patriot League-leading 10th goal of the season two minutes into overtime to lift the Bucknell women's soccer team to a 1-0 victory over Lehigh on Wednesday night at Ulrich Sports Complex. The win secured the No. 4 seed for the Bison, who will turn right back around and face Lehigh again on Sunday at home in a Patriot League Tournament quarterfinal matchup.
Coming into the final Patriot League matchday of the regular season, fourth-place Bucknell had already secured one of the six postseason berths, but it could have been seeded anywhere from first to sixth. Third-place Loyola's win over American in the afternoon took the No. 1 seed out of play, and when first-place Boston University and second-place Navy both scored two early goals in their games on Wednesday night, it became clear that the Bison would need any type of result at Lehigh to hold the fourth spot and clinch a quarterfinal home game.
While a draw would have done the trick, the Bison went ahead and grabbed all three points thanks to a wonderful ball in from Kenar Gelman and a headed finish from Donaldson. Donaldson used speed along the left flank to win a corner kick, the eighth of the night from a Bison squad that leads the Patriot League in corner kicks at just under seven per game.
A Lehigh defender was the first to get a head on Teresa Deda's corner kick, but Gelman was the first to it. She chipped a left-footed service back across to the back post, where Donaldson cracked a header past Abby Trainor to send the Bison home with a 5-2-2 Patriot League record (8-7-3 overall).
"There were two main things we wanted to accomplish coming into the game," said head coach Kelly Cook, whose side was picked ninth out of 10 teams in the Patriot League preseason poll. "First was that we really wanted to execute our game plan. We felt like in the Army game we got away from some of the things that we do best, and I think we took a step back in the right direction tonight. And the other thing was to realize how important momentum can be going into postseason play. From the goalkeeper all the way thought the defense, midfield and forward lines, they were all really solid today. It was also nice to score on a set piece, which is something that we have been working on."
Donaldson is the first Bison to reach double figures in goals since Kendall Ham had 12 in 2017. Of Donaldson's 10 goals this season, seven came in Bucknell's nine Patriot League games. This was Bucknell's third 1-0 win of the season, and Donaldson had the goal in all three. Her first career goal came back in her home neighborhood at Lehigh in 2019, and now she has two in two games at the Ulrich Sports Complex.
The assist on the game-winning goal was Gelman's seventh of the season. That is the second-most on the squad behind Deda's league-leading 11. Her seven assists are tied for sixth-most in a season in Bucknell history.
For a game that was scoreless for 90 minutes, it was a wide-open affair, and not to be lost in Donaldson's heroics was the play of sophomore goalkeeper Jenna Hall. There were a combined 42 shots attempted in the match, with Lehigh finishing with a 25-17 edge.
Hall logged a career-high 12 saves, which were the third-most by a Patriot League goalkeeper this season and the most in a shutout performance. She was at her best in the game's late stages.
In the opening minute of overtime, Julianna Bonner one-timed a shot from the center of the box, but the attempt was right at the keeper. Perhaps Hall's best save of the night came with four minutes left in regulation. Corinne Lyght got a half-step on her defender and fired a shot from about eight yards out, and Hall made a diving save moving to her left to keep the Bison alive.
With about 10 minutes to go, Ava Schaller cut back into space in the middle of the area, but Hall was well-positioned to make that save.
Trainer stopped four shots for Lehigh, including a tricky one on Hannah Stuck's header on a corner kick in the first half. Stuck, who made her first career start, was a dangerous target on corners and finished with four shots in the game.
The Bison and Mountain Hawks are set to meet for the fourth time in postseason play. Bucknell is hoping to avoid a repeat of 2018, when its 1-0 road win in the regular season was countered by a Lehigh overtime win in the Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals at Emmitt Field.
In addition to that 2018 Lehigh victory, the Mountain Hawks won 1-0 in a Patriot League semifinal game at West Point in 2010, and Bucknell prevailed in penalty kicks in the 2005 semis in Bethlehem. The Bison defeated Army in the final two days later to win the league title.
Sunday's game is slated for a 1 p.m. start and can be seen on ESPN+.
Coming into the final Patriot League matchday of the regular season, fourth-place Bucknell had already secured one of the six postseason berths, but it could have been seeded anywhere from first to sixth. Third-place Loyola's win over American in the afternoon took the No. 1 seed out of play, and when first-place Boston University and second-place Navy both scored two early goals in their games on Wednesday night, it became clear that the Bison would need any type of result at Lehigh to hold the fourth spot and clinch a quarterfinal home game.
While a draw would have done the trick, the Bison went ahead and grabbed all three points thanks to a wonderful ball in from Kenar Gelman and a headed finish from Donaldson. Donaldson used speed along the left flank to win a corner kick, the eighth of the night from a Bison squad that leads the Patriot League in corner kicks at just under seven per game.
A Lehigh defender was the first to get a head on Teresa Deda's corner kick, but Gelman was the first to it. She chipped a left-footed service back across to the back post, where Donaldson cracked a header past Abby Trainor to send the Bison home with a 5-2-2 Patriot League record (8-7-3 overall).
"There were two main things we wanted to accomplish coming into the game," said head coach Kelly Cook, whose side was picked ninth out of 10 teams in the Patriot League preseason poll. "First was that we really wanted to execute our game plan. We felt like in the Army game we got away from some of the things that we do best, and I think we took a step back in the right direction tonight. And the other thing was to realize how important momentum can be going into postseason play. From the goalkeeper all the way thought the defense, midfield and forward lines, they were all really solid today. It was also nice to score on a set piece, which is something that we have been working on."
Here's look at Rylee Donaldson's game-winning goal off a perfect service from Kenar Gelman. What a way to score goal No. 10 on the season! #rayBucknell pic.twitter.com/PGCs5Bgknb
— Bucknell WSoccer (@Bucknell_WSOC) October 28, 2021
Donaldson is the first Bison to reach double figures in goals since Kendall Ham had 12 in 2017. Of Donaldson's 10 goals this season, seven came in Bucknell's nine Patriot League games. This was Bucknell's third 1-0 win of the season, and Donaldson had the goal in all three. Her first career goal came back in her home neighborhood at Lehigh in 2019, and now she has two in two games at the Ulrich Sports Complex.
The assist on the game-winning goal was Gelman's seventh of the season. That is the second-most on the squad behind Deda's league-leading 11. Her seven assists are tied for sixth-most in a season in Bucknell history.
For a game that was scoreless for 90 minutes, it was a wide-open affair, and not to be lost in Donaldson's heroics was the play of sophomore goalkeeper Jenna Hall. There were a combined 42 shots attempted in the match, with Lehigh finishing with a 25-17 edge.
Hall logged a career-high 12 saves, which were the third-most by a Patriot League goalkeeper this season and the most in a shutout performance. She was at her best in the game's late stages.
In the opening minute of overtime, Julianna Bonner one-timed a shot from the center of the box, but the attempt was right at the keeper. Perhaps Hall's best save of the night came with four minutes left in regulation. Corinne Lyght got a half-step on her defender and fired a shot from about eight yards out, and Hall made a diving save moving to her left to keep the Bison alive.
With about 10 minutes to go, Ava Schaller cut back into space in the middle of the area, but Hall was well-positioned to make that save.
Trainer stopped four shots for Lehigh, including a tricky one on Hannah Stuck's header on a corner kick in the first half. Stuck, who made her first career start, was a dangerous target on corners and finished with four shots in the game.
The Bison and Mountain Hawks are set to meet for the fourth time in postseason play. Bucknell is hoping to avoid a repeat of 2018, when its 1-0 road win in the regular season was countered by a Lehigh overtime win in the Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals at Emmitt Field.
In addition to that 2018 Lehigh victory, the Mountain Hawks won 1-0 in a Patriot League semifinal game at West Point in 2010, and Bucknell prevailed in penalty kicks in the 2005 semis in Bethlehem. The Bison defeated Army in the final two days later to win the league title.
Sunday's game is slated for a 1 p.m. start and can be seen on ESPN+.
Team Stats
BUCKNELL
LEHIGH
Goals
1
0
Shots
17
25
Shots on Goal
5
12
Saves
12
4
Corners
8
5
Fouls
8
8
Scoring Plays
Donaldson, Rylee
Assisted By: Gelman, Kenar
#5 made long cross to #13, who headed in
91:59
Game Leaders
Shots
2
SOG
2
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
1
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
1
Shots
5
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots
4
SOG
1
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
M
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