Bucknell, Boston University to Meet Saturday at Emmitt Field in Rematch of Last Year's PL Women's Soccer Final

Boston University (5-4-3, 2-1-1 PL) at Bucknell (3-5-5, 1-0-3 PL)
When: Saturday, Oct. 11, 1 p.m.
Where: Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium, Lewisburg, Pa.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com

Bucknell at a Glance

The Bison welcome Boston University back to Emmitt Field on Saturday for a rematch of last year's Patriot League championship game. This will actually be the Terriers' fifth trip to Lewisburg in the last three seasons, as the two teams also met here in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals in 2022 and 2023.
Bucknell is one of two teams unbeaten in Patriot League play, but the Bison come in to Saturday's match one point behind Boston University and Colgate for the league lead. Bucknell is 1-0-3 for six points and is coming off back-to-back scoreless ties with Lafayette and Loyola. The Terriers and Raiders are both 2-1-1 for seven points. Through four of the nine PL match days, only three points separate first place from ninth.
The Bison have hit a bit of a scoring slump after recording at least one goal in nine of their first 11 games. But at the same time their young back line has improved as the season has progressed, and Bucknell has allowed only one goal in four Patriot League contests.
In those four PL matches, Bucknell has outshot its opponents 60-39, and only 14 of those 39 shots against have been on frame. The only one that got past goalkeeper Reese Dolan was a deflected shot in the first half of the game at Holy Cross.
Dolan has started the last 10 games in goal for the Bison, and she is now 3-2-5 with a 0.70 goals-against average and an .837 save percentage. She ranks third in the Patriot League in both categories, and in the NCAA rankings she is 37th in GAA and 47th in SV%.
Henna Andican leads the team and ranks fourth in the Patriot League with five goals. Katie Connell (4) and Gaby Parker (3) close behind, and Louisa Thomsen, Dani Howard, Emma Gavin, and Reilly Traynor have one goal each.
The Bison have a different look this season, as 12 players have made their first career starts and five have scored their first career goals. After starting 0-3 with losses to La Salle (3-2), Delaware (2-1), and Monmouth (3-2), Bucknell is 3-2-5 since then. That stretch includes an impressive 1-1 tie at ACC foe Pittsburgh and a tough 1-0 loss to No. 16 Georgetown, when the only goal came on an 87th-minute penalty kick. All five of the team's losses are by one-goal margins.
The 1-1 draw at Pittsburgh was a good result for the Bison, who had fallen 5-0 and 5-1 to the Panthers in 2023 and 2024. Bucknell conceded a goal in the seventh minute before blanking Pitt for the final 83 minutes. That left the door open for a sensational game-tying strike from eventual Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week Katie Connell with 20 minutes remaining.
Bucknell won three straight Patriot League championships from 2021-23, and last year the Bison claimed the PL regular-season title before falling to Boston University in a 10-round penalty-kick shootout in the championship match. The Bison graduated a highly decorated senior class, led by three-time PL Midfielder of the Year Teresa Deda and 2024 PL Defensive Player of the Year Katie Schiano.
Andican and Connell both earned Preseason All-Patriot League honors. Andican was a Second Team All-PL pick in 2023, but last year she suffered a season-ending injury in just the fifth game of the campaign. Connell was a Third Team All-PL pick as a freshman in 2024.
Andican, Sydney Hess, and Meghan White are this year's captains.
Head coach Kelly Cook is in her 11th season at Bucknell, and she has led the Bison to five league titles in her first 10 years. Cook owns a career record of 98-68-32 (.576) and a Patriot League mark of 53-20-17 (.683). She holds the program records for most coaching wins and highest winning percentage.
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 started Patriot League play with a 3-1 loss at Navy and a scoreless draw with Loyola, but they have scored eight goals in two games since then. Boston University won a wild 3-2 affair at Army last Wednesday, and then on Saturday the Terriers blasted Lafayette 5-0.
Boston University outshot Lafayette 33-6 and led 10-0 in corner kicks. It was just a 1-0 game at the half before the Terriers pumped in four in the second stanza, including two from Mackenzie Stickelman.
In the mid-week game at West Point, Stickelman and Margy Porta stunned Army with a pair of goals in the opening five minutes. The Black Knights leveled the match with two goals in the second half, but Giulianna Gianino scored in the 73rd minute to give the Terriers three big points on the road.
Gianino, who is this week's Patriot League Midfielder of the Week, now has five goals and a league-high six assists on the season. Her 16 points are second-most in the league.
Stickelman also has five goals, including the three last week. Olivia Avellar, Juliana Osterman, and Georgia Prouty have two goals apiece.
As a team, the Terriers have scored 21 goals and allowed 17 in 12 matches.
Sophomore Bridget Carr, who was last year's starter and this year's Patriot League Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year, regained her spot at Loyola on Sept. 27 and is 2-0-1 with two shutouts in her three starts. She has made 11 saves with two goals allowed in that recent stretch. Senior Susan Shobieri started the other nine games.
The Terriers were picked as the preseason favorites in the Patriot League coaches' poll, and they earned all four preseason major awards. In addition to Carr's selection, Porta (Offensive), Gianino (Defensive), and Helene Tyburczy (Defensive) were also honored.
First-year head coach Megan Burke welcomed 23 returning letterwinners from last year's Patriot League championship squad.

The Bucknell-Boston University Series

These two teams know each other very well, as they have met in both the regular season and postseason in each of the last four years. Going back a bit further, the Bison and Terriers have clashed seven times in the Patriot League Tournament since 2015, and they have met a total of 18 times since Boston University joined the PL in 2013.
Bucknell holds an 8-6-4 lead in the all-time series. Boston University won the first four meetings, and the Bison are 8-2-4 since then.
Bucknell and Boston University in the Patriot League Tournament:
- 2015 Final at Boston: L 0-1
- 2016 Final at Bucknell: W 2-1 (OT)
- 2017 Semis at Navy: W 1-0
- 2021 Final at Boston: W 1-0
- 2022 Semis at Bucknell: T 0-0 (2OT), Bucknell advanced 4-3 on PKs
- 2023 Semis at Bucknell: W 3-1
- 2024 Final at Bucknell: T 1-1 (2OT), Boston advanced 8-7 on PKs
Bucknell went 7-2 in Patriot League play last season, but one of the two losses was a 1-0 verdict at Nickerson Field. Juliana Osterman scored the goal in the 40th minute.
The two teams had a rematch at Emmitt Field in an epic Patriot League title tilt that was not decided until the 10th round of penalty kicks. Bucknell took the lead in the 67th minute of regulation on a goal by Sydney Hess, but the Terriers tied it on Morgan Weaver's perfectly struck shot off the left post and in with only 4:27 remaining.

The Road Ahead

Bucknell's challenging schedule continues next week with Patriot League games against the two service academies in a four-day span. The Bison visit Army on Wednesday evening, and then Navy comes to Emmitt Field the following Sunday.