Women's Soccer Hosts Boston University in Patriot League Championship on Sunday

#2 Boston University (6-7-6, 5-0-4 PL) at #1 Bucknell (12-4-2, 7-2 PL)
What: PenFed Credit Union Patriot League Tournament Championship Match
When: Sunday, Nov. 10, 12:30 p.m.
Where: Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium, Lewisburg, Pa.
TV: CBS Sports Network
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com

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For Bucknell Students: Free admission with ID

Bucknell at a Glance

For the first time since 2016, Bucknell is the No. 1 seed in the PedFed Credit Union Patriot League Women's Soccer Tournament. Bucknell and Boston University, the No. 2 seed, will meet on Sunday for the Patriot League Championship. The Bison head to their fourth consecutive championship after a dominant 4-0 win over Loyola in a semifinal match on Thursday. The Terriers defeated Army in overtime on Thursday night to head back to the championship for the first time since 2021, when the Bison took down the Terriers 1-0.
The Bison and Terriers are quite familiar, as this will be the eighth meeting in the last four seasons. Bucknell has gotten past Boston University in the postseason in each of the last three years. The Bison won in Boston in the 2021 final, and they eliminated the Terriers in the semifinals in Lewisburg in each of the last two seasons.
This will be a star-studded affair, with a combined 13 All-Patriot League players featured.
Bucknell is trying to become just the second team to win four straight Patriot League women's soccer titles. The three straight is already a rarity in the league's history. Before Bucknell, the most recent to do it was Boston University, which won titles in its first three seasons as a league member in 2013-15. Prior to that, it was Colgate winning six in a row from 1994-99 and three straight from 1990-92 during the league's infancy.
The Bison are one of only seven Division I teams that have won at least their last three league titles. The other six are Memphis (AAC), Florida State (ACC), Saint Louis (A10), Georgetown (Big East), UC Irvine (Big West), and Milwaukee (Horizon).
Bucknell clinched the No. 1 seed with a 2-0 win over Lehigh in the regular-season finale. The Bison finished 7-2 in league play for 21 points, two better than Boston University (5-0-4).
Bucknell finished atop the regular-season standings for the sixth time, and the Bison will be seeking their fourth straight and eighth all-time PL Tournament title.
Bucknell's only tournament title as the No. 1 seed came in its most recent opportunity in 2016. That year, the Bison finished 8-1 in PL play and defeated Lafayette and Boston University to claim the title at Emmitt Field.
The Bison are coming off a record-breaking night in Thursday's semifinal match. Bucknell's four goals are the most scored in a postseason match in program history. The Bison previously scored three goals on three different occasions.
Freshman Katie Connell, senior Paige Temple, and three-time Patriot League Midfielder of the Year Teresa Deda, each scored a goal and provided an assist in the contest.
Connell and junior Sydney Hess gave the Bison two first-half goals in the 15th and the 35th minute, respectively. Temple kept the momentum going with an early second-half goal in the 50th minute. Deda put the game away for good with a 60th-minute goal for her 10th of the season.
2024 PL Defensive Player of the Year Katie Schiano and the Bison defense kept two-time Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year Baylee DeSmit in check in the semifinal match. DeSmit rattled off six shots in the match, but could only manage one on target. Junior Jess Benattar only needed to make three saves in goal.
Deda and Schiano were both First Team All-Patriot League selections. Benattar was a Second Team pick, and Connell, midfielder Reese Evans, and defender Meghan White all made the Third Team.
Deda notched her third consecutive Patriot League Midfielder of the Year award, and this marks her fourth selection to the All-Patriot League First Team. She is only the second player in league history to win any of the major awards three times. Navy's Jade Seabrook was the Defensive Player of the Year in 2012, 2013, and 2014.
Deda is the third Bison to be selected to any all-league team in all four years of her career, joining Krista Lee Gentile '08 and Katie McElligott '00. Deda is the first player in Bucknell history and the 10th player in Patriot League history to earn First Team honors four times.
Head coach Kelly Cook was named Patriot League Coach of the Year for the third time. She also won it in 2015 and 2016. The win over Lehigh last week was her 94th in 10 years at the helm of the Bison, which tied the program record. She now stands alone with 95 wins after the semifinal victory over Loyola.
Deda has surpassed her career high with 10 goals, and she leads the league with nine assists. Loyola's DeSmit (16-5-37) and Deda (10-9-29) are the league's top two point-producers.
Deda's assist against Loyola was the 38th of her career, extending her school record. Lisa Gibbons' mark of 35 had stood since 1994. Deda is the sixth player in team history to reach 80 career points (23G, 38A, 84P).
Deda ranks fourth among all active Division I players in career assists. The only players with more are Texas' Lexi Missimo (60) Pitt's Sarah Schupansky (43), and Auburn's Anna Haddock (42). Missimo and Haddock are both in their fifth years.
The Bison have scored 27 goals in 18 games thus far. Deda leads the way with 10 goals and nine assists, and two-time Patriot League Rookie of the Week Connell now has five goals. Evans scored her third of the season at Lafayette. Henna Andican, who is out with an injury, has two. Kelley Francis, Hess, and Temple all have two goals after Temple and Hess found the back of the net against Loyola. Presley Sutter has one.
Bucknell's shutout of Loyola was the 10th of the season, and Benattar has eight solo clean sheets. Benattar has played in 16 games this season – the first action of her career -- and she leads the Patriot League and ranks eighth nationally in GAA at 0.43. Her .870 save percentage (40 saves, 6 GA) is also the best in the league, and that figure ranks 9th nationally.
Bucknell has been stout defensively even with the introduction of a new starting goalkeeper (Benattar) and two first-time starters at center back (senior Laura Schmidt and sophomore Julia Palitti). The Bison have used the same back four in every game this season, with outside backs Schiano and White flanking Schmidt and Palitti.
The Bison have paid close mind to the league's top offensive players this season. Bucknell has faced 10 league opponents who have scored five or more goals this season (including PL scoring leader Baylee DeSmit twice), and none have scored against the Bison. In fact, those nine players combined for only 22 shots. Four of the nine didn't get a single shot, including 14-goal-scorer Ari Bezanson of Colgate.
Bucknell has been shown only seven yellow cards all season, with two of them coming at FDU on Sept. 15. The seven yellow cards are 16th fewest in Division I. Hess and Deda each picked one up in the semifinal match against Loyola.
Last season Bucknell faced a Big Ten opponent in the NCAA Tournament for the third year in a row, falling to Iowa 2-0 in overtime. It was a similar script as 2022 when the Bison and Ohio State played 90 scoreless minutes before the Buckeyes found the net late in overtime. This time it was the Hawkeyes scoring twice in the extra periods to swipe the first-round verdict.
Head coach Kelly Cook is in her 10th season at Bucknell, and she has led the Bison to five league titles in her first nine years. Cook owns a career record of 95-63-26 (.585) and a Patriot League mark of 52-20-14 (.686). She has the highest winning percentage of any coach in program history, and she has now surpassed Ben Landis for the most total wins in team history.
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.

Boston University at a Glance

The Terriers are still the only team not to lose a Patriot League match this season. They went 5-0-4 in the regular season to secure the No. 2 seed behind Bucknell, and then they came from behind to beat No. 3 Army 2-1 in overtime in the semifinals on Thursday.
Margy Porta notched the golden goal against the Black Knights with only 1:11 remaining in the second OT period. Morgan Fagan scored the equalizer in the 68th minute, and the Terriers outshot Army 22-9.
This is Boston University's seventh appearance in the Patriot League title match in its 12 seasons in the league.
Porta and Giulianna Gianino are now tied for the team lead with eight goals apiece. Gianino also has five assists for a team-high 21 points.
The Terriers now have 28 goals in 19 games this season.
Freshman Bridget Carr has made 11 starts and Celia Braun eight in goal. Carr has been featured in the latter stages of the season and has a 6-1-5 record and a 1.06 GAA.

The Bucknell-Boston University Series

Bucknell holds an 8-6-3 edge in 17 all-time meetings, with six of those clashes coming in the postseason. Bucknell is 8-2-3 in the last 12 after the Terriers won the first four.
This will be the fourth straight year the two teams have met in the postseason, meaning on Sunday the Bison and Terriers will have played eight times in four years.
The Bison and Terriers met twice last season at Emmitt Field. In the Patriot League Tournament semifinals, Teresa Deda scored in the first five minutes of each half and Meghan White also scored in Bucknell's 3-1 win. Morgan Fagan scored a consolation goal for Boston University with 13 seconds left in the match.
In last year's regular-season fixture, the Bison and Terriers finished in a 3-3 draw in the highest-scoring game in series history. Bucknell overcame an early goal and took the lead twice in the second half, only to see Boston University answer each time. Kelley Francis, Deda, and Paige Temple all scored for the Bison. Fagan scored twice and Margy Porta registered the game's final goal in the 78th minute.
In the 2022 semifinals at Emmitt Field, the two teams played 110 scoreless minutes before the Bison advanced 4-3 in penalty kicks. Jenna Hall made seven saves during regulation and overtime, and she even chipped in with a goal in the shootout. Rylee Donaldson ultimately notched the winning PK, setting off a pitch-storming from the large student crowd.
These two teams also had a couple of tense battles during the 2021 season. With first place on the line late in the year, 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 the last three Patriot League Tournament results, 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.
Earlier this year in Boston, the Terriers won 1-0 on a goal from Juliana Osterman with 5:51 left in the first half.

The Road Ahead

Sunday's winner receives the Patriot League's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The 2024 NCAA field will be revealed on Monday at 4 p.m.

Women's Soccer Hosts Boston University in Patriot League Championship on Sunday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Henna Andican

Jess Benattar

Katie Connell

Teresa Deda

Rylee Donaldson

Reese Evans

Kelley Francis

Jenna Hall

Sydney Hess

Julia Palitti

Katie Schiano

Laura Schmidt

Presley Sutter

Paige Temple

Meghan White

Women's Soccer Hosts Boston University in Patriot League Championship on Sunday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Henna Andican

Jess Benattar

Katie Connell

Teresa Deda

Rylee Donaldson

Reese Evans

Kelley Francis

Jenna Hall

Sydney Hess

Julia Palitti

Katie Schiano

Laura Schmidt

Presley Sutter

Paige Temple

Meghan White

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