Women's Soccer Hosts Lafayette, Visits Loyola in Big Two-Match Week

Lafayette (3-3-4, 1-0-1 PL) at Bucknell (3-5-3, 1-0-1 PL)
When: Wednesday, Oct. 1, 7 p.m.
Where: Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium, Lewisburg, Pa.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com

Bucknell (3-5-3, 1-0-1 PL) at Loyola (3-2-5, 0-0-2 PL)
When: Saturday, Oct. 4, 1 p.m.
Where: Ridley Athletic Complex, Baltimore, Md.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: LoyolaGreyhounds.com

Bucknell at a Glance

After playing its first two Patriot League matches on the road, the Bison return home on Wednesday to face Lafayette to start a key two-game week. Bucknell then heads to Loyola on Saturday afternoon.
Like the Bison (1-0-1), Lafayette (1-0-1) and Loyola (0-0-2) have yet to lose a league match. Bucknell, Lafayette, and Colgate are all tied atop the table with four points, with Army, Navy, and American all one point back with 1-1 records.
Bucknell opened PL play with a 2-0 win at Lehigh, and then last Saturday at Holy Cross, the Bison spotted the Crusaders a first-half goal before Gaby Parker scored in the 60th minute to help earn a 1-1 draw.
The freshman Parker has gotten off to a swift start in league play with a goal in each game so far. Parker now has three tallies on the season, trailing only Henna Andican (5) and Katie Connell (4) for the team lead.
Andican ranks fourth and Connell tied for fifth in the league in goals. Navy's Marlee Heaven and Army's Brigid Duffy lead the way with seven.
Sophomore goalkeeper Reese Dolan earned her first career shutout at Lehigh, and she ranks fourth in the league in goals-against average (0.88) and fifth in save percentage (.825). Dolan, who has started the last eight games in goal, was named PL Goalkeeper of the Week after a six-save performance in the Lehigh win.
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 3-2-3 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.
Bucknell is the third-highest-scoring team in the league, averaging 1.5 goals per game. Only Army (2.2) and Navy (2.1) score more.
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 98-68-30 (.577) and a Patriot League mark of 53-20-15 (.688). 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.

Lafayette at a Glance

The Leopards are making their first Patriot League road trip after picking up four points from two home contests. Lafayette started PL play with a 1-1 draw with Colgate, followed by a 2-1 win over American.
In Saturday's win over the Eagles, Lafayette trailed 1-0 until Nadia Zaffanella (81') and Sofia Ruggiero (88') flipped the game with goals in the last 10 minutes. The Leopards also came from behind to grab a point against Colgate. Zaffanella also scored the equalizer in the 62nd minute, just four minutes after the Raiders scored from the penalty spot.
Katrina Santelli, whose older sister Mary once played for Bucknell, and Zaffanella both have four goals to lead the team. All four of Zaffanella's goals have come in the last five games.
Lafayette has scored 13 goals this season and conceded 15, but seven of those 15 goals against came in a 7-1 loss at Texas A&M on Aug. 31.
Catherine Apker has played all but 45 minutes in goal this season. She has 30 saves and 12 goals against.
Lafayette was picked to finish seventh in the Patriot League preseason poll, and Santelli was a Preseason All-PL selection.
Head coach Mick Statham is in his 20th season on the Lafayette sideline.

The Bucknell-Lafayette Series

Bucknell holds a 26-7-3 record in a series that dates back to 1990.
The Bison have had the better of the recent series, going 19-1-2 in the last 22 meetings. That run includes an 11-match winning streak from 2004-14.
Bucknell is 5-0-1 in the last six meetings, with the draw coming in the COVID-modified spring 2021 season.
These two teams met in the penultimate game of the 2024 regular season, and the Bison won 2-1 in Easton to take over sole possession of first place. Teresa Deda set up Reese Evans' opening goal, and then Deda scored herself to make it 2-0 early in the second half. The insurance goal was needed, as Gretchen Waechter pulled one back for Lafayette in the 76th minute. It was Lafayette's first goal against Bucknell in five meetings.
Bucknell was a 2-0 winner two seasons ago in the last meeting between the two teams. Paige Temple and Deda scored the goals in the second half, and Jenna Hall made five saves en route to her 25th career shutout.
Even though these two teams have squared off in every one of Bucknell's 35 varsity seasons, they have met just once in the postseason. That was a 2-0 Bison win at Emmitt Field in the 2016 Patriot League Tournament semifinals. The Bison would go on to defeat Boston University two days later to claim the championship.

Loyola at a Glance

Loyola brings a 3-2-5 record into a Wednesday matinee at American. The Greyhounds have tied their last three matches, including the two Patriot League contests against Holy Cross (1-1) and Boston University (0-0).
Goalkeeper Hannah Goetzer made nine saves to keep last week's game scoreless in Boston, and the Greyhounds picked up a big road point despite a 21-7 shot disparity. Goetzer was named PL Goalkeeper of the Week on Monday. She has started six of the team's 10 games this season and leads the Patriot League in both goals-against average (0.50) and save percentage (.893).
Loyola has scored eight goals this season, led by two apiece from freshmen Taryn Buckley and Savannah Manset. Riley Kennel, Francesca Khachatourians, Ava Blizzard, and Anais Stephen have one each.
Loyola was picked to finish fifth in the Patriot League preseason poll. Defender Zoe Willis was a Preseason All-PL pick.

The Bucknell-Loyola Series

Bucknell is 9-4-4 all-time against Loyola and 9-1-4 in the last 14 games.
Loyola won the first three games of the series in 1992, 1993, and 2007. Bucknell won six straight meetings from 2013-18 and is 9-1-3 since the Greyhounds joined the Patriot League, including two wins at Emmitt Field last season.
In the 2024 regular-season matchup, Teresa Deda put back a rebound of a Riley Hayes shot late in the first half, and that held up as the match-winner in Bucknell's 1-0 verdict. The Bison were stout defensively, holding Loyola to four total shots.
The two teams met again in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals, and the Bison rolled to a 4-0 win to advance to the title match for the fourth straight year. Katie Connell (15'), Sydney Hess (35'), Paige Temple (50'), and Deda (60') all scored goals, and Deda, Temple, and Connell also added assists.
In Bucknell's last trip to the Ridley Athletic Complex in 2023, Bucknell won 1-0 despite Loyola's 20-4 shot advantage. Temple scored just over three minutes into the match, and Jenna Hall made eight saves on the way to her school-record 23rd career shutout. Three of those stops came in a frantic final minute, including a sensational diving save on Baylee DeSmit.

The Road Ahead

After this week's contests, the Bison return home on Oct. 11 to face Boston University in a rematch of last year's Patriot League championship tilt.

Women's Soccer Hosts Lafayette, Visits Loyola in Big Two-Match Week

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Henna Andican

Katie Connell

Teresa Deda

Reese Dolan

Reese Evans

Jenna Hall

Riley Hayes

Sydney Hess

Gaby Parker

Katie Schiano

Paige Temple

Paige Temple

Meghan White

Women's Soccer Hosts Lafayette, Visits Loyola in Big Two-Match Week

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Henna Andican

Katie Connell

Teresa Deda

Reese Dolan

Reese Evans

Jenna Hall

Riley Hayes

Sydney Hess

Gaby Parker

Katie Schiano

Paige Temple

Paige Temple

Meghan White

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