Friday, August 27
Lewisburg, Pa.
7 p.m.
Bucknell University
vs
West Virginia
Photo by: Phil Inglis
Women's Soccer Hosts No. 12 West Virginia, Travels to MAAC Favorite Monmouth this Weekend
8/26/2021 5:51:00 PM | Women's Soccer
#12 West Virginia (1-1-0) at Bucknell (1-0-1)
When: Friday, Aug. 27, 7 p.m.
Where: Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium, Lewisburg, Pa.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com
Note: The first 100 Bucknell students in attendance for the West Virginia game will receive a free Bucknell Soccer t-shirt, courtesy of Geisinger.
Bucknell (1-0-1) at Monmouth (2-0-0)
When: Sunday, Aug. 29, 1 p.m.
Where: Hesse Field on the Great Lawn, West Long Branch, N.J.
Streaming: None
Live Stats: MonmouthHawks.com
Bucknell at a Glance
When: Friday, Aug. 27, 7 p.m.
Where: Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium, Lewisburg, Pa.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com
Note: The first 100 Bucknell students in attendance for the West Virginia game will receive a free Bucknell Soccer t-shirt, courtesy of Geisinger.
Bucknell (1-0-1) at Monmouth (2-0-0)
When: Sunday, Aug. 29, 1 p.m.
Where: Hesse Field on the Great Lawn, West Long Branch, N.J.
Streaming: None
Live Stats: MonmouthHawks.com
Bucknell at a Glance
- The Bison face perhaps their most challenging weekend of the non-conference schedule, with a home test against No. 12 West Virginia on Friday night, followed by a Sunday afternoon away fixture at MAAC preseason favorite Monmouth.
- The West Virginia game will mark Bucknell's third straight home match to start the 2021 season, and it is a rematch of Bucknell's most recent NCAA Tournament appearance in 2017. After knocking off top-seeded Navy in the Patriot League Tournament final, the Bison dropped a 3-0 decision at WVU in the opening round of NCAAs.
- This will be Bucknell's first game against a ranked opponent since Sept. 1, 2019, when the Bison fell 2-0 at No. 13 Georgetown. The last ranked team to visit Emmitt Field was No. 11 Princeton on Oct. 3, 2017. The Tigers scored three times in the first half en route to a 4-0 win. Bucknell has never beaten a ranked opponent.
- The Bison pocketed a win and a draw to start the season last week. Rylee Donaldson's 15th-minute tally held up in a 1-0 victory over Youngstown State in the opener. The scoreline did not reflect Bucknell's dominance, as the Bison finished with a 23-3 shot advantage and came close on a number of opportunities in the second half.
- Last Sunday, a dramatic 90th-minute equalizer from Claire Mensi helped the Bison salvage a 1-1 draw with Towson. The Tigers' goal came on a penalty kick about five minutes into the second half. Goalkeeper Jenna Hall was sensational in overtime, when she made four of her nine saves, including two highlight reel stops that kept Bucknell alive.
- Hall was named the Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week on Tuesday. She made 10 saves in the two games last week and did not concede a goal in the run of play. The lone blemish was the penalty against Towson. It was Hall's second career Goalkeeper of the Week honor.
- Both of Bucknell's goals last week were set up by quality assists. Donaldson's tally against Youngstown State came after a perfect through ball from Abby Gearhart. Kenar Gelman had the helper on Mensi's goal. After Towson cleared a last-minute corner kick, Gelman was first to the loose ball, and her service back into the box was placed right on Mensi's foot. It was the first career point for Gelman.
- Bucknell played five Patriot League opponents in a modified spring schedule last March. The Bison went 1-2-2, with a 1-0 win over American, scoreless draws with Lafayette and Lehigh, and 1-0 losses to Loyola and Navy.
- Low-scoring games were the theme of the spring, as the Bison conceded only two goals and scored once in the five games.
- Bucknell's 0.37 team goals-against average was the best in the Patriot League and sixth-best in Division I in the abbreviated spring season. The only teams with better GAAs were Georgetown (0.28), South Dakota State (0.28), Evansville (0.34), Northern Kentucky (0.35) and Bowling Green (0.36).
- Bucknell graduated five players from last year's squad: Alex Catanzarite, Chloe Christakos, Sarah Hazard, Bri Kropinack and Jenna Marek. Christakos, a center back, was a Second Team All-Patriot League selection in the spring of 2021.
- Junior midfielder Petie Nassetta joined Christakos on the All-Patriot League squad in the spring. Nassetta was a Third Team choice.
- Bucknell was picked ninth in the Patriot League preseason poll, ahead of American and behind Navy, Boston University, Colgate, Army, Loyola, Lehigh, Lafayette and Holy Cross.
- Kelly Cook is in her seventh season on the Bison sideline. Cook owns a 53-41-11 (.557) overall record at Bucknell, including a 30-14-6 (.660) mark in Patriot League play. 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.
- This will be West Virginia's first road contest of the season and also their first-ever trip to Lewisburg.
- The Mountaineers kicked off their season last Thursday with a 4-0 rout of Buffalo, but then they dropped a 1-0 decision to No. 4 Virginia on Sunday. The Cavaliers scored in the seventh minute and held on from there.
- Despite the loss, Nikki Izzo-Brown's side remains ranked No. 12 in the United Soccer Coaches poll this week. Izzo-Brown has been the head coach in each of West Virginia's 26 seasons as a varsity program. She has a career record of 363-122-56.
- The Mountaineers had four different goal-scorers against Buffalo, with Julianne Vallerand, Lauren Segalla, Maya McCutcheon and Rhea Kijowski doing the honors.
- Last week All-America defender Jordan Brewster was named to the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy (national player of the year) watch list. Brewster was the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2020, and it is her second straight year on the Hermann Trophy watch list.
- Alina Stahl is the team's top returning scorer. She logged 14 points from six goals and two assists last season.
- WVU went 10-3-1 last season and made the NCAA Tournament for the 21st year in a row. That is the fifth-longest streak in the nation. The Mountaineers, who are the preseason favorite in the Big 12 this year, earned a first-round bye in the NCAA Tournament last spring but then fell to Rice 1-0 in the second round.
- The only other meeting between the Bison and Mountaineers came in the 2017 NCAA Tournament. West Virginia prevailed 3-0, and then went on to advance past Rutgers in penalty kicks before falling 3-1 to Penn State.
- Michaela Abam's goal in the 16th minute was the only scoring in the first half, but Abam struck again just 1:43 after halftime, and Sh'Nia Gordon added a third in the 58th minute.
- The Hawks are off to a strong start in 2021, with shutout wins over Lehigh (1-0 at home) and NJIT (2-0 away) last week. Monmouth hosts Delaware on Thursday night before Bucknell comes to town on Sunday.
- Lauren Karabin scored the goal on a free kick in the win over Lehigh, and then Sarina Jones and Jesi Rossman tallied against NJIT.
- The Hawks have used two different goalkeepers thus far. Rebecca Winslow made five saves in the shutout of Lehigh, and Maddie Ogden was credited with one save in blanking NJIT.
- Monmouth was picked as the preseason favorite in the MAAC, and Jones, Karabin and Jill Conklin were all named to the Preseason All-MAAC Team.
- Like Bucknell, Monmouth played a limited, conference-only schedule last spring. The Hawks went 5-1-3 and advanced to the MAAC Tournament final, where they bowed out to Siena in penalty kicks after 110 scoreless minutes.
- Head coach Krissy Turner is in her 24th season on the Monmouth sideline. She has a 269-125-43 record with the Hawks and has guided the program to seven NCAA Tournament appearances, including four in a row from 2016-19.
- The Bison and Hawks have met three times, with Bucknell owning a 2-1 series lead.
- Bucknell won 2-0 away in 2014 and 3-1 at home in 2016. Monmouth prevailed 1-0 in the most recent clash in 2018 in West Long Branch.
- Bucknell's win in 2016 came in the season opener, and the Bison would go on to finish 16-2-2 and win the Patriot League title. Trailing 1-0 at the half, center backs Karli Cirovski and Maddie Dano scored 1:17 apart early in the second half to flip the game around. The Bison added an insurance marker on an own goal in the 84th minute.
- Twin sisters Jackie and Kendall Ham accounted for the goals Bucknell's 2-0 win at Monmouth in 2014. It was just the second collegiate game for the Ham twins, who both went on to highly decorated careers in Orange and Blue.
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