Pivotal Week Ahead as Women's Soccer Hosts Loyola Wednesday, Visits Boston University Saturday

Loyola (6-4-3, 3-1-1 PL) at Bucknell (7-5-1, 4-1-0 PL)
When: Wednesday, Oct. 12, 7 p.m.
Where: Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium, Lewisburg, Pa.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com

Bucknell (7-5-1, 4-1-0 PL) at Boston University (8-6-0, 4-1-0 PL)
When: Saturday, Oct. 15, 1 p.m.
Where: Nickerson Field, Boston, Mass.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoTerriers.com

Bucknell at a Glance

We're down to four games remaining in the 2022 regular season, and two pivotal games lie ahead this week for a Bison squad that has moved into a share of the lead in the Patriot League standings. Bucknell and Boston University both have 12 points from 4-1 records, while Loyola and Army lurk just two points back at 3-1-1. Now the Bison face two of those top-four squads this week, with Loyola coming to Emmitt Field on Wednesday followed by a trip to Boston on Saturday for a rematch of the 2021 Patriot League championship game.
The Bison play three of their final four games at home, with Army and Lehigh in town next week.
Bucknell moved to the top of the table after Friday's 2-0 win at Lafayette. Abby Gearhart continued her goal-scoring spree with a ninth-minute tally, and Rylee Donaldson tacked on one more in the 90th minute. Donaldson also had the assist on Gearhart's goal, and Teresa Deda assisted on tallies.
Gearhart has scored in each of the last four Patriot League games, totaling five goals in that span. She leads the Patriot League with six goals on the season, which is a new career high for her. Gearhart (6G, 2A) and Loyola's Baylee DeSmit (5G, 4A) are tied for the league lead with 14 points.
Five of Gearhart's six goals this season have been game-winners. That is the third-highest total in the nation, trailing only Dayton's Itala Gemelli and Hartford's Imani Jenkins with six each.
Deda's two assists at Lafayette give her a league-high eight on the season and 20 in her career. The sophomore moved past Hall-of-Famer Jennifer Dervarics into sole possession of third place on Bucknell's all-time list. Lisa Gibbons (35) and Liz Woodrow (22) are the only other Bison to record 20 career assists.
Deda's eight assists are the most in the Patriot League and seventh-most in the nation.
Donaldson ranks third in the Patriot League in both goals (4) and points (11).
Bucknell is now the highest-scoring team in the Patriot League with 19 goals in 13 games (1.46 per game). The Bison rank third defensively allowing 1.00 goals per game, and their +6 goal differential is second-best in the league to Navy (+7).
Center back Brooke Tracey earned Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week honors on Monday. Tracey played all 90 minutes in the road shutout of Lafayette and had a key shot block with the Bison protecting a 1-0 lead in the 89th minute. Bucknell limited Lafayette to four total shots and no corner kicks in that game.
Tracey is one of only four field players in the Patriot League who has played every minute of every game this season. The others are Lehigh's Erin Keefe and Lafayette's Rory Schauder and Lauren Cunningham.
Goalkeeper Jenna Hall ranks second in the Patriot League with a 0.95 goals-against average and third with a .786 save percentage.
Bucknell is the defending Patriot League champion. Seeded fourth in the 2021 league tournament after being picked ninth in the preseason poll, Bucknell posted consecutive shutouts of Lehigh (2-0), Navy (1-0 OT), and Boston University (1-0) to claim the fifth conference title in team history. The Bison then held their own in a 2-0 loss to top-seeded Rutgers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Scarlet Knights later advanced all the way to the College Cup semifinals.
Bucknell last year 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 was also 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.
Seniors Leanne Engemann and Petie Nassetta are the team co-captains in 2022.
Kelly Cook is in her eighth season on the Bison sideline. Cook owns a 70-54-14 (.558) overall record at Bucknell, including a 39-17-8 (.672) 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.

Loyola at a Glance

The Greyhounds are in the midst of a good season with a 6-4-3 overall record and a 3-1-1 mark in Patriot League play. All three of Loyola's league wins are by 1-0 scorelines against Colgate, Navy, and Holy Cross. The Greyhounds also have a 1-1 draw with Army and a 1-0 loss at Lafayette.
Following their game at Bucknell on Wednesday, the Greyhounds close the season with a road match at Lehigh and home games with Boston University and American.
Loyola is one of the top defensive teams in the league with seven shutouts in 13 games. The Greyhounds have conceded 14 goals on the season, but 12 of those came in three losses to Drexel (3-1), No. 4 Virginia (6-0), and Columbia (3-2).
Loyola played a scoreless draw with No. 24 Wake Forest on the same day that Bucknell did the same against No. 17 West Virginia.
Baylee DeSmit is Loyola's top scorer with five goals and four assists for 14 points. DeSmit is tied for the Patriot League points lead with Bucknell's Abby Gearhart, and she is one goal behind Gearhart in the race for the golden boot.
Kelly Hutton (3), Alex Searing (2), and Sarah Mirr (2) also have multiple goals for the Greyhounds, who have 14 as a team this season.
Ada Clare Tempert's first goal of the campaign came in the 78th minute and was the difference in Loyola's 1-0 home win over Holy Cross on Saturday. Tempert was a First Team All-Patriot League selection in the spring of 2021.
Goalkeeper Paige Sim was the Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year and a Third Team All-Region selection last season. She was a Third Team All-PL pick in the spring of 2021 and a Second Team All-PL choice as a rookie in 2019. This year Sim leads the league in shutouts with seven and is second in save percentage at .797.
Bucknell associate head coach Riley Piechnick is a 2016 Loyola graduate. She was a three-year starting defender for the Greyhounds and was part of Loyola's 2012 MAAC championship team. After Loyola moved to the Patriot League, Piechnick helped the squad reach the 2015 PL Tournament semifinals.

The Bucknell-Loyola Series

Bucknell is 6-4-3 all-time against Loyola and 6-1-3 in the last 10 games, although the Greyhounds have managed at least one point in each of the last three meetings.
Loyola won the first three games of the series in 1992, 1993, and 2007.
Bucknell won six straight meetings from 2013-18, but since then there have been two ties sandwiched around a 1-0 Loyola win in Baltimore during the spring 2021 season.
The Bison had posted five straight shutouts against the Greyhounds until Ada Clare Tempert scored in the 73rd minute in that spring 2021 game. That ended a Loyola scoreless string at 568 minutes against Bucknell.
In last season's game in Baltimore, Rylee Donaldson scored off a Teresa Deda assist to give the Bison a 1-0 lead in the 28th minute, but Sarah Bayer equalized for Loyola 10 minutes later and the game finished in a 1-1 draw. Bucknell piled up a 22-7 shot advantage and a 14-4 edge in corner kicks.

Boston University at a Glance

The Terriers are red-hot right now, with four straight 1-0 victories heading into Wednesday night's Massachusetts derby at Holy Cross. An away win over No. 25 Harvard is part of this recent stretch, along with Patriot League victories over Navy, Lehigh, and American.
Boston University last conceded a goal on Sept. 21 in a 1-0 loss at Colgate.
The Terriers have received 14 of their 15 goals from four players. Morgan Fagan and Amy Thompson have four each, and Abigail McNulty and Giulianna Gianino have three apiece.
Three of Thompson's goals have come in Patriot League play, while McNulty tallied the goal in the win over Harvard.
Boston University typically splits the goalkeeping duties between Celia Braun and Gretchen Bennett. Braun has 26 saves with only six goals allowed on the season, and she has gone six straight appearances without yielding a goal.
Head coach Casey Brown, a 2010 Boston University graduate who was a four-time All-America East selection during her playing days, is in her first year as the Terriers' head coach. She succeeded Nancy Feldman, who retired last April after 27 years on the Boston U. bench.

The Bucknell-Boston University Series

Bucknell holds a 6-5-1 edge in 12 all-time meetings, with four of those clashes coming in the postseason. Bucknell is 6-1-1 in the last eight after the Terriers won the first four.
These two teams had a couple of tense battles last season. With first place on the line last October, the Bison and Terriers played a scintillating 2-2 tie at Emmitt Field. They met again a few weeks later in the Patriot League championship match, and Bucknell prevailed 1-0 at Nickerson Field.
In addition to last year's title-game victory, Bucknell owns a couple of other memorable postseason wins over Boston University. The Bison downed the Terriers 2-1 on Cora Climo's overtime goal in the 2016 Patriot League championship game. One year later in Annapolis, Bucknell clipped the Terriers 1-0 in the PL semifinals, and then went on to beat Navy two days later to claim a second straight title.
The 2016 game avenged Boston University's 1-0 win over Bucknell in the 2015 Patriot League final in Boston.
Abby Gearhart scored twice in last year's regular-season meeting in Lewisburg. She scored once in each half to give the Bison leads, but Boston University answered both times. Lily Matthews had the final equalizer in the 88th minute.
In last year's title game in Boston, the fourth-seeded Bison capped off a magical postseason run with a 1-0 win over the top-seeded Terriers. Bucknell's goal came off a corner kick in the 75th minute, with Teresa Deda's service bouncing in off a Terriers defender in the 6-yard box.

The Road Ahead

Following the Boston University game, Bucknell will have a week off before hosting Army on Senior Day on Saturday, Oct. 22 at 2 p.m.
The final match day of the regular season will be Wednesday, Oct. 26. Bucknell hosts Lehigh that evening, and then the top six teams in the league standings will move on to the Patriot League Tournament.

Pivotal Week Ahead as Women's Soccer Hosts Loyola Wednesday, Visits Boston University Saturday

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Players Mentioned

Teresa Deda

Rylee Donaldson

Leanne Engemann

Abby Gearhart

Jenna Hall

Petie Nassetta

Brooke Tracey

Pivotal Week Ahead as Women's Soccer Hosts Loyola Wednesday, Visits Boston University Saturday

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Next Event

Players Mentioned

Teresa Deda

Rylee Donaldson

Leanne Engemann

Abby Gearhart

Jenna Hall

Petie Nassetta

Brooke Tracey

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