Women's Soccer Hosts American Wednesday, Travels to West Point Saturday as Patriot League Play Heats Up

American (1-4-3, 1-0-0 PL) at Bucknell (5-2-2, 0-0-1 PL)
When: Wednesday, Sept. 20, 6 p.m.
Where: Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium, Lewisburg, Pa.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com
Happenings: Faculty & Staff Appreciation Night

Bucknell (5-2-2, 0-0-1 PL) at Army (3-5-2, 0-1-0 PL)
When: Saturday, Sept. 23, 6 p.m.
Where: Malek Stadium at Clinton Field, West Point, N.Y.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoArmyWestPoint.com

Bucknell at a Glance

The Bison played a scoreless draw at Colgate on Saturday in the opening round of Patriot League play. Bucknell held the Raiders to only four shots on target but couldn't get much going offensively after scoring 10 goals in its previous three games, all wins.
Saturday's game at West Point will be a rematch of the 2022 Patriot League Tournament final. After 110 scoreless minutes, Bucknell won it in a penalty kick shootout.
American knocked off Army 2-1 in Washington, D.C., on Saturday and is the early co-leader in the Patriot League alongside Loyola, Navy, and Lafayette.
Jenna Hall notched her 19th career shutout on Saturday, moving her within three of Jessica Ratner's career record.
The Bison went 5-2-1 in eight matches leading up to the conference opener. The only two losses came in succession to top-25 sides Georgetown and Pittsburgh, but after that they posted a 1-1 draw against a good Villanova team that is still unbeaten at 3-0-5, followed by three straight wins over La Salle (3-1), Colorado College (5-2), and Air Force (2-1).
Bucknell's Sept. 10 win over Air Force was a wild one. Hannah Stuck's header in the second minute of the match gave the Bison the early lead, and the 1-0 margin held up well into the second half as Hall made a spectacular save on a penalty kick. The Falcons did even things up in the 77th minute on a Hailey Ramos shot through heavy traffic, but then the Bison were awarded a penalty kick in the 84th minute after a hand ball in the box. Meghan White's spot kick was saved, as was Paige Temple's point-blank attempt on the rebound, but Reese Evans made the third try count, and the Bison finished off a good win.
Bucknell has scored 17 goals in its five wins this season, with a high of five in a come-from-behind 5-2 verdict over Colorado College. The Bison trailed 2-1 in the second half before surging ahead on an own goal and a White penalty kick, and then Teresa Deda tacked on two big insurance goals in the final 10 minutes.
Deda, the reigning PL Midfielder of the Year, is tied for the league lead in goals with four. Navy's Alexa Riddle, Loyola's Baylee DeSmit, and Holy Cross's Cerys Balmer also have four. Deda's 12 points are one behind DeSmit for the league lead.
Bucknell's 18 goals on the season are the most in the Patriot League, one more than Navy. The 18 goals also rank 62nd among all 336 Division I teams.
The Bison also lead the league with 134 shot attempts. Army ranks second with 109.
Hall's 52 saves are the most in the league and 14th-most nationally. That total is boosted by a career-high 16-save game at No. 21 Pittsburgh. Her .812 save percentage is third-best in the conference.
In addition to Deda's four goals, Henna Andican and Reese Evans have three apiece. Andican also has four assists for 10 points, and the Bison have had 10 different goal-scorers on the season.
Bucknell is the two-time defending Patriot League champion. Last season, the second-seeded Bison won penalty-kick shootouts against Boston University and Army in the Patriot League Tournament, and then dropped a 1-0 overtime decision at Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament.
Seniors Jenna Hall, Hannah Stuck, and Brooke Tracey are this year's team captains.
Kelly Cook is in her ninth season as Bucknell's head coach, and she has led the Bison to four Patriot League championships in her first eight years. Cook owns a 76-57-21 (.562) overall record at Bucknell, including a 40-17-12 (.667) mark in Patriot League play.
Cook has two new assistant coaches in 2023, as former Clarion head coach Alexa Ream and goalkeepers coach PJ Steiner have joined the program.

American at a Glance

The Eagles got out to a great start in Patriot League play with a 2-1 home win over Army on Saturday. It was American's first win of the season after four losses and three draws. One of those ties was a season-opening 0-0 deadlock against Maryland.
American is starting to figure things out offensively. The Eagles were blanked in their first five games of the season, but they have six goals in their last three. The Army win came on the heels of a 3-3 draw with George Washington. American staged a remarkable comeback in that one, scoring three times in the second half after trailing 3-0 after only 25 minutes of play.
Alyssa Giroux scored the last two of those goals against the Revolutionaries, and she also scored against Army on Saturday to give her a team-high three goals on the season, the first three of her career. Brooke Steel has scored twice, the last of which was the game-winner in the 67th-minute against Army. Steel was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week on Monday.
American finished 3-6-6 overall and 2-5-2 in the Patriot League last season. The Eagles missed out on a postseason bid despite winning two of their final three matches of the season against Colgate and Loyola.
Julia Kato has played every minute in goal this season and has 26 saves with 15 goals against.
Head coach Marsha Harper is in her fourth season at AU.

The Bucknell-American Series

Bucknell is 14-8-2 all-time against American, including an active nine-game unbeaten streak (8-0-1).
Abby Gearhart's 81st-minute strike was the difference in Bucknell's 1-0 win at Reeves Field last season. The game was a defensive struggle, with Bucknell finishing with a 5-4 edge in shots, but late in the match Gearhart pressured American's center back into a turnover, and then she was on the finishing end of a 3v2 break with Teresa Deda and Rylee Donaldson picking up assists.
Bucknell won the last meeting at Emmitt Field 3-0 in 2021. Paige Temple and Donaldson scored first-half goals, and Gearhart added a third early in the second half. The Bison outshot the Eagles 16-8 and limited American to one shot on target. The game was played in heavy rain and was called off with 12:30 remaining due to lightning.
Bucknell has outscored American 21-3 during this nine-game unbeaten streak.
American's last win over the Bison was a 3-0 verdict in D.C. in 2013, and the Eagles' last win in Lewisburg was a 1-0 decision in 2012.

Army at a Glance

The Black Knights visit Holy Cross on Wednesday before Bucknell comes to Clinton Field on Saturday evening.
After an 0-4-2 start to the season, Army rattled off three straight wins over Air Force (2-1), Colorado College (3-0), and UAlbany (3-0) by a combined score of 8-1 before getting clipped at American on Saturday.
Army's two draws came against Wake Forest (1-1) and Connecticut (0-0), and the Black Knights also had a two high-scoring, one-goal losses to quality sides in Auburn (3-2) and Princeton (4-3).
Brigid Duffy and Kaitlin Palaian both have three goals and one assist and share the team lead with seven goals. Duffy, who is the niece of Bucknell head athletic trainer Ian Wood, scored against American on Saturday.
Kaelan Bradley has a goal and a team-high four assists.
Sage Strohman, a Second Team All-Patriot League honoree a year ago, is back in net for Army and has 31 saves and 14 goals against in 10 games.
Senior back Lindsey Smith was a Preseason All-Patriot League selection. The Black Knights were picked a close second behind Bucknell in the preseason poll.
Army finished 9-4-7 overall and 6-1-2 in the Patriot League a year ago. The Black Knights edged out Bucknell for the regular-season title, but the Bison came back and prevailed in a penalty kick shootout in the tournament title match.

The Bucknell-Army Series

This has been a tight series through the years, with Army holding a narrow 19-17-4 lead dating back to 1991.
Army won the first six and nine of the first 11 meetings between the teams. Since 1998, the Bison are 15-10-4 against the Black Knights.
Bucknell and Army met twice last season, with both games finishing 0-0.
In the regular-season match at Emmitt Field, Bucknell and Army put their stout defenses on display in a 0-0 draw. The teams were tied for the Patriot League lead at the time. Both teams marked extremely well in the final third, with very few quality chances coming from inside the boxes. The Bison finished with a 14-11 shot advantage. Jenna Hall finished with seven saves and Sage Strohman five.
In the rematch at West Point in the Patriot League Tournament final, Tournament MVP Rylee Donaldson converted the walk-off penalty kick for the second time in three days, sending the Bison to a championship repeat. Hall made a crucial save in the shootout, and Teresa Deda, Meghan White, and Donaldson all scored as Bucknell prevailed 3-1 in PKs.

The Road Ahead

After the Army game, the Bison will have a week off before traveling to Holy Cross on Sept. 30 at 1 p.m.

Women's Soccer Hosts American Wednesday, Travels to West Point Saturday as Patriot League Play Heats Up

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Henna Andican

Teresa Deda

Rylee Donaldson

Reese Evans

Abby Gearhart

Jenna Hall

Hannah Stuck

Paige Temple

Paige Temple

Brooke Tracey

Meghan White

Women's Soccer Hosts American Wednesday, Travels to West Point Saturday as Patriot League Play Heats Up

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Henna Andican

Teresa Deda

Rylee Donaldson

Reese Evans

Abby Gearhart

Jenna Hall

Hannah Stuck

Paige Temple

Paige Temple

Brooke Tracey

Meghan White

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