Saturday, September 20
Bethlehem, Pa.
2 p.m.
Bucknell University
3-5-2, 1-0-0
2
at
0
Lehigh
2-4-2, 0-1-0
1
2
F
Bucknell
2
0
2
Lehigh
0
0
0
Photo by: Steven Schoenfelder
Women’s Soccer Rides Two First-Half Goals to 2-0 Win at Lehigh in Patriot League Opener
9/20/2025 4:37:00 PM | Women's Soccer
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Katie Connell scored from the penalty spot in the 12th minute, and Gaby Parker added a second 20 minutes later, and that's all the Bucknell women's soccer team needed in a 2-0 defeat of Lehigh in the Patriot League openers for both sides on Saturday at the Ulrich Sports Complex.
Reese Dolan made six saves en route to her first career shutout, and the Bison improved to 3-5-2 on the season and 5-0-2 in their last seven games against the Mountain Hawks. Bucknell used a relentless press to generate a bevy of first-half chances, and then the Bison withstood a few Lehigh opportunities in the second half.
The Bison were on their heels in the opening four minutes, as Lehigh generated the first three shots of the game and nearly scored on a corner kick. Faith Dobosiewicz put her header into the crossbar, and then Connell blocked Abby-Lee Sanogo's follow-up attempt off the goal line and into the hands of Reese Dolan.
But then the Bison got their press going, giving Lehigh all sorts of trouble coming out of its own end. After they won a ball back near midfield, Henna Andican played Dani Howard into open space down the center of the park. Howard stormed into the box and was taken down for a penalty, and Connell stepped to the spot and slotted a shot into the bottom left corner for her fourth goal of the season.
Three minutes later, the freshman combo of Howard and Parker played a 1-2 at the edge of the box, and Howard's clean look went over the bar. In the 22nd minute, Parker picked the pocket of a Lehigh back and broke in alone, but R'Reeyah Mabry-Francis came out to make a sliding kick save.
The Bison found their second goal 10 minutes later, with another takeaway leading to the score. Louisa Thomsen intervened at midfield, sending Parker away as the point on a 3v2 break. With Andican to her left and Thomsen making a run to her right, Parker took matters into her own hands and tucked a shot inside the left post for her second career goal.
Lehigh generated a bit more offense in the second half, and Dolan's two best saves of the day came in quick succession right around the hour mark on Aminah Baruwa, The first came on an unsettled play as the ball bounced around in traffic in the box, and then just over two minutes later, Dolan made a diving stop after Baruwa made a nice turn to tee up a low shot.
Lehigh had another close call in the 75th minute when Dobosiewicz just missed on a running header off a corner kick, but the Bison were able to keep the ball in Lehigh's end for much of the final 15 minutes. Andican and Connell both came close on a couple of long-distance tries, and Bucknell finished the game with a 23-12 shot advantage.
"I was proud of how the team executed the game plan today," said head coach Kelly Cook. "We worked all week on our pressure and turning it into chances. We would still like to see a little better quality in the attacking third, but getting those two goals in the first half was huge. Getting our first shutout was something that we also talked about coming in, and I was very pleased with our organization in the back. Reese stepped up and made a couple of big saves in the second half, and you can see her growing more and more confident each game. The Patriot League is going to be tight this year and road wins are going to be huge, so this was a great way to start."
Dolan upped her record to 3-2-2 in seven starts this season, and she upped her save percentage to .829 and lowered her goals-against average to 0.86. Mabry-Francis stopped seven shots for Lehigh.
Bucknell is back on the road next Saturday with a trip to Holy Cross at 1 p.m.
Reese Dolan made six saves en route to her first career shutout, and the Bison improved to 3-5-2 on the season and 5-0-2 in their last seven games against the Mountain Hawks. Bucknell used a relentless press to generate a bevy of first-half chances, and then the Bison withstood a few Lehigh opportunities in the second half.
The Bison were on their heels in the opening four minutes, as Lehigh generated the first three shots of the game and nearly scored on a corner kick. Faith Dobosiewicz put her header into the crossbar, and then Connell blocked Abby-Lee Sanogo's follow-up attempt off the goal line and into the hands of Reese Dolan.
But then the Bison got their press going, giving Lehigh all sorts of trouble coming out of its own end. After they won a ball back near midfield, Henna Andican played Dani Howard into open space down the center of the park. Howard stormed into the box and was taken down for a penalty, and Connell stepped to the spot and slotted a shot into the bottom left corner for her fourth goal of the season.
Three minutes later, the freshman combo of Howard and Parker played a 1-2 at the edge of the box, and Howard's clean look went over the bar. In the 22nd minute, Parker picked the pocket of a Lehigh back and broke in alone, but R'Reeyah Mabry-Francis came out to make a sliding kick save.
The Bison found their second goal 10 minutes later, with another takeaway leading to the score. Louisa Thomsen intervened at midfield, sending Parker away as the point on a 3v2 break. With Andican to her left and Thomsen making a run to her right, Parker took matters into her own hands and tucked a shot inside the left post for her second career goal.
Bucknell's press has been relentless in the first half, and here Louisa Thomsen's takeaway results in Gaby Parker's second career goal! #rayBucknell
— Bucknell Women's Soccer (@Bucknell_WSOC) September 20, 2025
Watch: https://t.co/GWIBhY7Vc3@PatriotLeague | @ESPN pic.twitter.com/4v8I28NIw5
Lehigh generated a bit more offense in the second half, and Dolan's two best saves of the day came in quick succession right around the hour mark on Aminah Baruwa, The first came on an unsettled play as the ball bounced around in traffic in the box, and then just over two minutes later, Dolan made a diving stop after Baruwa made a nice turn to tee up a low shot.
Lehigh is starting to turn up the pressure, but Reese Dolan has made two very good saves in the last few minutes to keep it 2-0. #rayBucknell
— Bucknell Women's Soccer (@Bucknell_WSOC) September 20, 2025
Watch: https://t.co/GWIBhY7Vc3@PatriotLeague | @ESPN pic.twitter.com/5NxKXuund5
Lehigh had another close call in the 75th minute when Dobosiewicz just missed on a running header off a corner kick, but the Bison were able to keep the ball in Lehigh's end for much of the final 15 minutes. Andican and Connell both came close on a couple of long-distance tries, and Bucknell finished the game with a 23-12 shot advantage.
"I was proud of how the team executed the game plan today," said head coach Kelly Cook. "We worked all week on our pressure and turning it into chances. We would still like to see a little better quality in the attacking third, but getting those two goals in the first half was huge. Getting our first shutout was something that we also talked about coming in, and I was very pleased with our organization in the back. Reese stepped up and made a couple of big saves in the second half, and you can see her growing more and more confident each game. The Patriot League is going to be tight this year and road wins are going to be huge, so this was a great way to start."
Dolan upped her record to 3-2-2 in seven starts this season, and she upped her save percentage to .829 and lowered her goals-against average to 0.86. Mabry-Francis stopped seven shots for Lehigh.
Bucknell is back on the road next Saturday with a trip to Holy Cross at 1 p.m.
Team Stats
BUC
LEH
Goals
2
0
Shots
23
12
Shots on Goal
9
6
Saves
6
7
Corners
6
5
Fouls
9
9
Scoring Plays
Katie Connell (3)
BUC Katie Connell PENALTY KICK GOAL.
11:11
Gaby Parker (2)
Assisted By: Dani Howard , Louisa Thomsen
GOAL by BUC Parker, Gaby Assist by Howard, Dani and Thomsen, Louisa.
31:37
Game Leaders
Players
fwd
Shots
4
SOG
2
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
3
SOG
2
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
3
SOG
3
Goals
0
Assists
1
Shots
1
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's SoccerF
/ Women's Soccer
GK
/ Women's SoccerM
/ Women's SoccerF
/ Women's SoccerM
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