First Up: Women's Soccer Opens 2024 Campaign at Home vs. La Salle, Delaware

Thursday, August 15

Lewisburg, Pa.

5 p.m.

Bucknell University

La Salle

Photo by: Lianne Garrahan

First Up: Women's Soccer Opens 2024 Campaign at Home vs. La Salle, Delaware

8/14/2024 2:59:00 PM | Women's Soccer

La Salle (0-0) at Bucknell (0-0)
When: Thursday, Aug. 15, 5 p.m.
Where: Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium, Lewisburg, Pa.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com

Delaware (0-0) at Bucknell (0-0)
When: Sunday, Aug. 18, 1 p.m.
Where: Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium, Lewisburg, Pa.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com

Season Preview (Click Photo Below)

Bucknell at a Glance

The Bison begin their 35th varsity season on Thursday when La Salle visits Emmitt Field for a 5 p.m. start. This is the start of a four-game homestand to open the season, with Delaware coming in on Sunday, followed by UMBC and No. 7 Pittsburgh next week.
Bucknell's 2024 schedule is evenly split with nine non-conference games followed by nine Patriot League fixtures. The league opener is Sept. 21 at home against Colgate.
Bucknell has captured three straight Patriot League championships, which is 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 was picked a close second behind Army West Point in the preseason poll, with third-place Boston University also just a few points back. While Army was the top seed in each of the last two Patriot League Tournaments, the Bison prevailed in penalty-kick shootouts at West Point in the finals both times. Bucknell also won the 2021 championship on the road, clipping Boston University 1-0.
Seniors Teresa Deda and Katie Schiano both received major preseason awards. Deda was selected as the Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year, and she was also named to the United Soccer Coaches "Midfielders to Watch" list. Schiano was tabbed as the PL Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
Deda is a three-time First Team All-Patriot League selection, and she captured the PL Midfielder of the Year award in each of the last two campaigns. Schiano (Second Team), Henna Andican (Second Team), and Paige Temple (Third Team) are also returning All-Patriot League honorees.
Bucknell has seven of its 11 starters back in 2024. The biggest graduation hits came in the back of the formation, where two-time Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year Jenna Hall and center backs Brooke Tracey (First Team All-PL and PL Scholar-Athlete of the Year) and Eva Frankovic have graduated. The Bison also lost a strong two-way player in winger Hannah Stuck.
Hall (South Carolina), Tracey (Maryland), and Stuck (West Virginia) are all using their fifth years of eligibility playing for major-conference programs as graduate students.
Schiano, senior midfielder Kelley Francis, and senior defender Olivia DeConinck are this year's team captains.
Bucknell scored 34 goals in 21 games last season, and 30 of those goals are back this season. Deda (9-9-27), Andican (6-9-21), and Temple (4-4-12) all ranked among the league's top scorers, with Deda and Andican sharing the Patriot League assist title.
Other returning goal scorers include Francis (3), Reese Evans (3), Meghan White (2), Schiano (1), and Riley Hayes (1).
Deda's 29 career assists are second-most in team history and sixth-most in Patriot League history. She needs six more to match Lisa Gibbons' school record, which has been in the books for 30 years.
Deda also ranks fourth among all active Division I players in career assists. The only players with more are Texas' Lexi Missimo (51) and Trinity Byars (33), and Auburn's Anna Haddock (31). Missimo and Haddock are both entering their fifth years.
Bucknell finished 12-4-5 overall and 5-1-3 in the Patriot League last season. Seeded No. 2 in the Patriot League Tournament, the Bison defeated Boston University 3-1 in the semifinals and then outlasted Army in a penalty-kick shootout to claim the title.
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.
The Bison went 8-0-2 at Emmitt Field last season and are unbeaten in their last 15 home matches (9-0-6) dating back to a loss to Princeton in 2022. Over the last four seasons, the Bison are 11-1-7 at Emmitt Field against league foes, with the only loss a 1-0 defeat to Navy in the COVID-modified 2021 spring season.
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 83-58-24 (.572) and a Patriot League mark of 45-18-14 (.675). She has the highest winning percentage of any coach in program history, and she needs 11 more wins to equal Ben Landis for the most 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.

La Salle at a Glance

Bucknell rallied for a 3-1 victory over the Explorers in Philadelphia early last season, and then La Salle proceeded to go 10-2-3 the rest of the way, including a stellar 8-1-1 record in the Atlantic 10. The Explorers were the No. 2 seed in the A-10 Tournament, and after wins over Rhode Island and Dayton, they fell to top-seeded Saint Louis 3-0 in the final.
La Salle was picked fifth in this year's Atlantic 10 preseason poll. The Explorers return two 2023 all-league honorees in Haley Gchrey and Ricshya Walker.
Gschrey led the team in goals (8), points (18), and shots (49) last season. Justyce Hollenbach, an A-10 All-Rookie honoree, was next with six goals, followed by Walker with five.
La Salle returns its top goalkeeper in Michela Auguadro, who posted a .798 save percentage and 1.09 GAA in 19 appearances last season.
Reigning A-10 Coach of the Year Paul Royal is entering his 22nd season at La Salle. He has guided the Explorers to five NCAA Tournament appearances and sent 16 players on to the professional ranks.

The Bucknell-La Salle Series

Bucknell and La Salle met for the first time last season, with the Bison erasing an early deficit in a 3-1 win in Philadelphia.
Elizabeth Estrada scored for La Salle in the 16th minute, but the Bison quickly responded with three goals in a span of 17 minutes. Reese Evans headed in Hannah Stuck's service to level the match in the 19th minute, and then Katie Schiano and Kelley Francis followed soon after.
The shot board was even at 16-16, with 10 Bucknell shots on target.

Delaware at a Glance

The Blue Hens debut at West Virginia on Thursday night before heading to Lewisburg on Sunday.
Delaware finished 5-5-8 overall and 2-3-7 in the Coastal Athletic Association last season. The Blue Hens missed the final CAA Tournament spot by three points, despite allowing only 13 goals all season. Only once in 2023 did Delaware concede more than one goal in a game, and that came in a 2-2 draw with Stony Brook.
Goalkeeper Kyla Burns was a Preseason All-CAA pick after leading the nation in save percentage with a .911 mark last season. In 14 appearances, Burns made 51 saves and conceded only five goals. Her 0.46 GAA led the league.
Delaware scored 22 goals last season, but 13 of those came in two wins over Hampton (9-0) and Saint Francis (4-1). The Blue Hens graduated top scorer Lea Panagiotodis, who recorded three goals and three assists. Five others finished with two goals.
This will be Delaware's final season in the CAA, as the school has accepted an invitation to join Conference USA effective July 1, 2025. The women's soccer team is eligible for the CAA championship this fall.
Kelly Lawrence is in her second year as Delaware's head coach. She had previously been an assistant coach at Penn State in 2022, and before that was associate head coach at Boston University from 2019-21.

The Bucknell-Delaware Series

Bucknell and Delaware have only met twice previously, and those meetings came in Bucknell's first two varsity seasons in 1990 and 1991. The Blue Hens prevailed 3-1 in Newark in 1990 and 2-1 in Lewisburg in 1991.
Amy Krause scored Bucknell's goal in the inaugural meeting, and Jessica Wright converted a second-half penalty kick in the 1991 matchup.

The Road Ahead

Bucknell continues its homestand with games next Thursday against UMBC and next Sunday against No. 7 Pittsburgh. The Panthers won 17 games a year ago and made it to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen before falling to eventual national champion Florida State.