Women's Soccer NCAA Tournament Game at Rutgers Postponed Until Sunday

Saturday, November 13

Piscataway, N.J.

4 p.m.

Bucknell University

Rutgers (NCAA First Round)

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Women's Soccer NCAA Tournament Game at Rutgers Postponed Until Sunday

11/11/2021 5:55:00 PM | Women's Soccer

**UPDATE: The Bucknell-Rutgers NCAA Tournament game has been postponed until Sunday at 1 p.m. due to inclement weather. Tickets already purchased will be honored on Sunday.**

Bucknell was picked ninth out of 10 teams in the Patriot League preseason poll, but the Bison put those prognosticators to shame by contending for the regular-season title all year and then winning the Patriot League Tournament as the fourth seed. Bucknell did not allow a goal in three tournament wins over Lehigh, Navy and Boston University, and now the Bison are headed to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time. Bucknell's first-round opponent is a Rutgers side that is ranked fifth nationally and is a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time. The Scarlet Knights ran the table in Big Ten regular-season play but saw their 13-match winning streak end with a loss to Michigan in the Big Ten tournament final.

Bucknell (11-7-3, 5-2-2 PL) at #5 Rutgers (17-3-0, 10-0-0 PL)
NCAA Tournament First Round | NCAA Digital Program | Tickets
When: Sunday, Nov. 14, 1 p.m.
Where: Yurcak Field, Piscataway, N.J.
Streaming: Big Ten Network+
Live Stats: NCAA.com

How the Bison Got Here
• The Bison had an outstanding regular season, finishing 5-2-2 in league play, but that was only good enough for the No. 4 seed as the Patriot League was loaded with quality sides in 2021. Bucknell did go undefeated (1-0-2) against the three teams above them in the table, but a late-season loss to Army knocked the Bison out of a top-two seed.
• In that game at West Point on Oct. 22, Bucknell conceded goals in the 72nd and 87th minutes to lose 2-1. But the Bison have won all four games since then and have not allowed another goal.
• Bucknell closed the regular season with a 1-0 overtime win at Lehigh to secure the fourth seed. The Bison beat Lehigh again four days later in the Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals, this time by a 2-0 count. Then Bucknell went on the road and took down second-seeded Navy 1-0 on Teresa Deda's overtime goal, followed by Sunday's 1-0 win at top-seeded Boston University in the final.
• Bucknell secured its fifth Patriot League title thanks to a 75th-minute corner kick and some stellar defensive work. Deda's corner kick service bounced in off a Terriers player, and goalkeeper Jenna Hall (four saves) and the defense took it from there.
• Deda was named Tournament MVP, and she was joined on the All-Tournament team by Hall, Petie Nassetta and Claire Mensi.
• Bucknell became the first team to win three Patriot League Tournament games since the league expanded to a six-team format in 2013. Only teams seeded No. 1 or 2 — and thus earning a bye straight into the semifinals — had ever won the title.
• Bucknell is the only team in the country seeded fourth or lower to win its conference tournament. Of the 28 Division I conference tournaments, 25 were won by No. 1 or 2 seeds. Michigan in the Big Ten and Memphis in the AAC won as No. 3 seeds, and Bucknell did it as a No. 4.

Getting Defensive
• Bucknell's 2021 resurgence was sparked by the offense, as the Bison are the Patriot League's second-highest scoring team (behind Navy) with 30 goals, but it has been the defense that has carried the team in the postseason.
• Bucknell heads into the NCAA Tournament with a season-best scoreless streak of 367:33.
• The Bison now lead the Patriot League with nine shutouts on the season.

Bison in the NCAA Tournament
• The Bison are back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since back-to-back appearances in 2016 and 2017. They also made it through in 2001 and 2005.

Bucknell NCAA Tournament Matches:
2001 – at Penn State, L 3-1
2005 – at Penn State, L 6-0
2016 – at Penn State, L 6-0
2017 – at West Virginia, L 3-0

A Tough Schedule
• The Bison will certainly have a tough test against a fifth-ranked and No.1-seeded Rutgers side that is 17-3 overall and went 10-0 in Big Ten regular-season play. But Bucknell has already faced some high-caliber opposition this season.
• In non-conference play this fall, Bucknell played West Virginia, Hofstra and Princeton, each of which was ranked at the time of the game or at another time during the season. Bucknell also played Monmouth, which won the MAAC title and takes a 15-4-1 record into an NCAA date with Penn State.
• The Bison lost to all four of those NCAA-bound teams, but they scored goals in three of them, including the opening goal from Rylee Donaldson at home against West Virginia.
• Bucknell has allowed 27 goals this season, but 14 of them came in those four games.

Awards Season
• The Patriot League announced its all-league teams and major award winners, and Bucknell was well-represented with five players honored, including Offensive Player of the Year Rylee Donaldson. Donaldson was also named to the Academic All-Patriot League squad.
• This is the seventh time Bucknell has claimed the league's Offensive Player of the Year. Donaldson, who leads the league with 10 goals, joins Lisa Gibbons (1993), Jennifer Dervarics (2007, 2008), Christa Matlack (2009, 2010) and Kendall Ham (2016) on that select list.
• 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.
• 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).
• Deda leads the Patriot League and ranks ninth nationally with 12 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 the highest assist total among all Patriot League players since 2006, when Navy's Meggie Curran had 15.
• 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.
• Hall is Bucknell's first all-conference goalkeeper since Jessica Ratner earned First Team honors in 2016. Hall was at her best in the two recent wins over Lehigh. In the regular-season finale in Bethlehem, Hall made a career-high 12 saves, including a diving stop that saved the game with about three minutes left in regulation. That is the highest save total by a Patriot League goalkeeper in a shutout this season. She then notched seven saves in the quarterfinal shutout over the Mountain Hawks, and she now leads the Patriot League with eight shutouts.

Bucknell vs. Rutgers
• Bucknell is 0-5 all-time against Rutgers, with the previous matchups coming in 1995 (3-2), 2007 (2-1), 2008 (4-1), 2010 (3-0) and 2012 (2-1). The 2010 contest was played in Lewisburg, while the other four were contested in Piscataway.
• When the teams last met at Yurcak Field in 2012, Bucknell stunned 23rd-ranked Rutgers with an early goal from Courtney Nelson just six minutes into the match. But Canadian National Team member Jonelle Filigno scored a pair of goals seven minutes apart in the second half to rescue a 2-1 win for the Scarlet Knights.

Notes & Notables
• Bucknell freshman Katie Schiano is the daughter of Rutgers' head football coach Greg Schiano. Katie played in three games early in the season but has been out with an injury. Greg graduated from Bucknell in 1988 and was a standout linebacker for the Bison.
• Bucknell has six New Jersey natives returning home for the game against Rutgers. Among them is sophomore back Lea Tarzy, who hails from nearby Medford and attended the Hun School in Princeton.
• Bucknell went 6-1-2 at home and 5-6-1 on the road this season.
• Bucknell leads the Patriot League in shots (16.4) and corner kicks (6.8) per game. The corner kick figure ranks 21st in the nation.

Head Coach Kelly Cook
• Head coach Kelly Cook is in her seventh season on the Bison sideline. Cook owns a 63-48-13 (.560) overall record at Bucknell, including a 35-16-8 (.661) mark in Patriot League play and an 8-2-0 record in the Patriot League Tournament.
• Cook knows the Patriot League very well, as she was a two-year captain and three-time Second Team All-Patriot League selection at Colgate, where she recorded 27 goals and 23 assists in her career. She ranked in the top 10 in program history in career points (77) and assists. As a junior in 2004, Cook (then Kelly Kuss) was named Patriot League Tournament MVP after leading the Raiders to the league title, and then her team knocked off Arizona in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, marking the first NCAA win in school and league history.