Bucknell University Athletics
Photo by: Marc Hagemeier
Donaldson Named Patriot League Player of the Year, Five Bison Earn Women’s Soccer All-League Honors
10/29/2021 2:04:00 PM | Women's Soccer
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell forward Rylee Donaldson is in the midst of a breakout junior season with a Patriot League-high 10 goals, including seven in her team's nine conference matches. Donaldson's production was rewarded on Friday when she was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year.
Donaldson was also one of five Bison to earn All-Patriot League honors, which marks Bucknell's most honorees since the 2017 Patriot League championship team also had five. Donaldson and freshman midfielder Teresa Deda were named to the All-Patriot League First Team; senior defender Claire Mensi was a Second Team choice; and junior midfielder Abby Gearhart and sophomore goalkeeper Jenna Hall were both Third Team selections.
This is the seventh time Bucknell has claimed the league's Offensive Player of the Year. Donaldson joins Lisa Gibbons (1993), Jennifer Dervarics (2007, 2008), Christa Matlack (2009, 2010) and Kendall Ham (2016) on that select list.
Donaldson put an exclamation mark on her Player of the Year candidacy when she scored in overtime at Lehigh on Wednesday night to clinch a top-four seed and a Patriot League Tournament quarterfinal home game for her team.
Donaldson's 10 goals are the most in the conference this season, and she ranks 32nd nationally in that category. She has four game-winning goals this season, and in all three of Bucknell's 1-0 victories, it was Donaldson netting the game's lone goal.
She got her Patriot League campaign rolling with a brace in Bucknell's 4-2 win over two-time defending champion Navy on Sept. 18, and she added goals against league foes American, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Loyola and Lehigh. Bucknell is 7-1-1 overall in games in which Donaldson has a goal, with the lone loss coming against No. 12 West Virginia. She scored the opener in that game to give the Bison a 1-0 lead, but the Mountaineers rallied to win 3-1.
Deda has been an impact player as a first-year center midfielder, and she is the first Bison freshman to earn First Team All-Patriot League honors since Kelliann Doherty in 2007. The only other Bucknell rookies to be named to the First Team are Kristie Simon (2000), Kelly Irvin (1999), Sarah Stopper (1996) and Leigh Raymont (1994).
While Donaldson has been Bucknell's primary finisher this fall, Deda has been the playmaker. She leads the Patriot League and ranks seventh in the nation with 11 assists. That is the second-highest total in Bucknell history, trailing only Gibbons, who had 19 assists to go along with 19 goals in 1994. It is also tied for the highest assist total among all Patriot League players in the last 15 years.
Deda had three assists against Rider and two each against Boston University and Mount St. Mary's. She has posted at least one assist in five of Bucknell's nine league games. Playing from box to box as a central midfielder, Deda has played in 89 percent of the team's minutes this season.
Mensi's all-league selection represents a storybook comeback from not one, but two major knee injuries. She missed the back half of her rookie season in 2018, and then suffered a second season-ending injury just 13 minutes into her sophomore year. Mensi saw limited action in the abbreviated spring 2021 campaign, playing mostly as a forward, but this fall she was fully recovered and returned to her familiar center back position.
A two-year co-captain, Mensi has been a rock in the center of the Bison back four. She has played all but five minutes this season, and her role increased even further when her experienced center back partner, fellow senior co-captain Holly Burns, went down with an injury of her own early in the season.
Mensi has also contributed three goals and an assist this year. She scored a 90th-minute equalizer in a 1-1 draw with Towson early in the season, and she added goals from the penalty spot against Monmouth and Holy Cross.
Gearhart makes her all-conference debut after ranking among the Patriot League's top scorers all season. She is second on the squad with 14 points from five goals and four assists. The 14 points are tied for fourth-most in the league, and she ranks fifth in goals and eighth in assists.
Gearhart earned a Patriot League Midfielder of the Week award last week after scoring twice in a 2-2 draw with Boston University, and she also has goals against Princeton, American and Mount St. Mary's. She added two assists in the 4-2 win over Navy.
After splitting the goalkeeper duties as a freshman last spring, Hall has established herself as one of the league's best netminders as a sophomore. Her 87 saves are second-most in the conference, with a career-high 12 of those coming in Wednesday night's overtime shutout at Lehigh.
Hall has five solo shutouts this season as well as a combined clean sheet with Kaylee Donnelly at Mount St. Mary's in September.
Hall is Bucknell's first all-conference goalkeeper since Jessica Ratner earned First Team honors in 2016.
The five on-field major awards went to players from five different teams. In addition to Donaldson, Boston University's Jenna Oldham was named the Defensive Player of the Year; Colgate's Hannah Pinkus was the Midfielder of the Year; Loyola's Paige Sim was the Goalkeeper of the Year; and Navy's Alexa Riddle was the Rookie of the Year. Boston University's Nancy Feldman was picked as the Coach of the Year.
After finishing the regular season with an 8-7-3 overall record and a 5-2-2 mark in the Patriot League, the Bison are the No. 4 seed heading into the Patriot League Tournament. Bucknell and Lehigh will meet for the second time in less than a week, this time at Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium, in a quarterfinal matchup on Sunday at 1 p.m. Admission is free, and the match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Donaldson was also one of five Bison to earn All-Patriot League honors, which marks Bucknell's most honorees since the 2017 Patriot League championship team also had five. Donaldson and freshman midfielder Teresa Deda were named to the All-Patriot League First Team; senior defender Claire Mensi was a Second Team choice; and junior midfielder Abby Gearhart and sophomore goalkeeper Jenna Hall were both Third Team selections.
This is the seventh time Bucknell has claimed the league's Offensive Player of the Year. Donaldson joins Lisa Gibbons (1993), Jennifer Dervarics (2007, 2008), Christa Matlack (2009, 2010) and Kendall Ham (2016) on that select list.
Donaldson put an exclamation mark on her Player of the Year candidacy when she scored in overtime at Lehigh on Wednesday night to clinch a top-four seed and a Patriot League Tournament quarterfinal home game for her team.
Donaldson's 10 goals are the most in the conference this season, and she ranks 32nd nationally in that category. She has four game-winning goals this season, and in all three of Bucknell's 1-0 victories, it was Donaldson netting the game's lone goal.
She got her Patriot League campaign rolling with a brace in Bucknell's 4-2 win over two-time defending champion Navy on Sept. 18, and she added goals against league foes American, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Loyola and Lehigh. Bucknell is 7-1-1 overall in games in which Donaldson has a goal, with the lone loss coming against No. 12 West Virginia. She scored the opener in that game to give the Bison a 1-0 lead, but the Mountaineers rallied to win 3-1.
Deda has been an impact player as a first-year center midfielder, and she is the first Bison freshman to earn First Team All-Patriot League honors since Kelliann Doherty in 2007. The only other Bucknell rookies to be named to the First Team are Kristie Simon (2000), Kelly Irvin (1999), Sarah Stopper (1996) and Leigh Raymont (1994).
While Donaldson has been Bucknell's primary finisher this fall, Deda has been the playmaker. She leads the Patriot League and ranks seventh in the nation with 11 assists. That is the second-highest total in Bucknell history, trailing only Gibbons, who had 19 assists to go along with 19 goals in 1994. It is also tied for the highest assist total among all Patriot League players in the last 15 years.
Deda had three assists against Rider and two each against Boston University and Mount St. Mary's. She has posted at least one assist in five of Bucknell's nine league games. Playing from box to box as a central midfielder, Deda has played in 89 percent of the team's minutes this season.
Mensi's all-league selection represents a storybook comeback from not one, but two major knee injuries. She missed the back half of her rookie season in 2018, and then suffered a second season-ending injury just 13 minutes into her sophomore year. Mensi saw limited action in the abbreviated spring 2021 campaign, playing mostly as a forward, but this fall she was fully recovered and returned to her familiar center back position.
A two-year co-captain, Mensi has been a rock in the center of the Bison back four. She has played all but five minutes this season, and her role increased even further when her experienced center back partner, fellow senior co-captain Holly Burns, went down with an injury of her own early in the season.
Mensi has also contributed three goals and an assist this year. She scored a 90th-minute equalizer in a 1-1 draw with Towson early in the season, and she added goals from the penalty spot against Monmouth and Holy Cross.
Gearhart makes her all-conference debut after ranking among the Patriot League's top scorers all season. She is second on the squad with 14 points from five goals and four assists. The 14 points are tied for fourth-most in the league, and she ranks fifth in goals and eighth in assists.
Gearhart earned a Patriot League Midfielder of the Week award last week after scoring twice in a 2-2 draw with Boston University, and she also has goals against Princeton, American and Mount St. Mary's. She added two assists in the 4-2 win over Navy.
After splitting the goalkeeper duties as a freshman last spring, Hall has established herself as one of the league's best netminders as a sophomore. Her 87 saves are second-most in the conference, with a career-high 12 of those coming in Wednesday night's overtime shutout at Lehigh.
Hall has five solo shutouts this season as well as a combined clean sheet with Kaylee Donnelly at Mount St. Mary's in September.
Hall is Bucknell's first all-conference goalkeeper since Jessica Ratner earned First Team honors in 2016.
The five on-field major awards went to players from five different teams. In addition to Donaldson, Boston University's Jenna Oldham was named the Defensive Player of the Year; Colgate's Hannah Pinkus was the Midfielder of the Year; Loyola's Paige Sim was the Goalkeeper of the Year; and Navy's Alexa Riddle was the Rookie of the Year. Boston University's Nancy Feldman was picked as the Coach of the Year.
After finishing the regular season with an 8-7-3 overall record and a 5-2-2 mark in the Patriot League, the Bison are the No. 4 seed heading into the Patriot League Tournament. Bucknell and Lehigh will meet for the second time in less than a week, this time at Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium, in a quarterfinal matchup on Sunday at 1 p.m. Admission is free, and the match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
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