Bucknell University Athletics
Wednesday, November 4
Washington, D.C.
1 p.m.
Bucknell University
at
American
Photo by: Will Micciche
11/3/2026 1:16:00 PM | Women's Soccer
Bucknell (6-8-3, 3-3-2 PL) at American (0-12-4, 0-6-2)
When: Wednesday, Nov. 4, 1 p.m.
Where: Reeves Field, Washington, D.C.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: AUEagles.com
About the Bison
Aug. 17 – Ingrid Murphy (Rookie)
Aug. 24 – Presley Sutter (Forward)
Sept. 14 – Clare Nemsick (Defender), Sarah McFarland (Goalkeeper & Rookie)
Sept. 21 – Louisa Thomsen (Midfielder)
Sept. 28 – Emma Gavin (Defender)
Oct. 5 – Sarah McFarland (Goalkeeper)
Oct. 12 – Gaby Parker (Forward), Sarah McFarland (Goalkeeper)
When: Wednesday, Nov. 4, 1 p.m.
Where: Reeves Field, Washington, D.C.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: AUEagles.com
About the Bison
- Bucknell heads to Washington, D.C., for a Wednesday matinee at American. This is the final day of the Patriot League regular season, and there are plenty of postseason implications on the line.
- Army (7-0-1), 22 points
- Navy (6-1-1), 19
- Holy Cross (4-2-2), 14
- Boston University (4-3-1), 13
- Loyola (3-2-3), 12
- Bucknell (3-3-2), 11
- Lafayette (3-4-1), 10
- Colgate (2-5-1), 7
- American (0-6-2), 2 / Lehigh (0-6-2), 2
- The top six teams qualify for the Patriot League Tournament, with the top two receiving byes into the semifinals. The 3 and 4 seeds host quarterfinal games on Sunday. With one game to play, Army and Navy have clinched the byes, Holy Cross has secured a tournament bid, and Colgate, American, and Lehigh have been eliminated.
- Bucknell enters the final round in sixth place but can finish anywhere from third to seventh. A win at American would clinch a postseason spot, but a loss or tie would put the Bison at risk of being caught from behind by Lafayette, which finishes up at Lehigh on Wednesday.
- The Bison missed a chance at clinching a Patriot League Tournament berth on Saturday when Colgate spoiled their Senior Day. The Raiders scored two goals in a four-minute span in the first half and held on for a 3-2 decision. Bucknell outshot Colgate 18-6 in the second half but just missed on a couple of good chances to tie the game in the final minutes.
- Presley Sutter and Julia Palitti scored Bucknell's goals against Colgate. Palitti, one of the seven seniors honored prior to the game, notched her first career goal in the 84th minute.
- Bucknell had an impressive defensive stretch going until conceding seven times in the last two games against Army and Colgate. In their previous seven contests, the Bison had allowed only three goals, and all three came on penalty kicks. The defense went 720:55 – more than 12 hours of game action – without giving up a goal in the run of play until Army's Sabrina Rogers ended the streak.
- Bucknell ranks fifth in the Patriot League in goals-against average (1.35), while American is ninth (2.25). At the other end, Bucknell is fifth in scoring (1.29), while American is 10th (0.69).
- Freshman goalkeeper Sarah McFarland has notched three Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week citations along with one Rookie of the Week honor. Seven different Bison have combined to capture 10 Patriot League weekly awards this season.
Aug. 17 – Ingrid Murphy (Rookie)
Aug. 24 – Presley Sutter (Forward)
Sept. 14 – Clare Nemsick (Defender), Sarah McFarland (Goalkeeper & Rookie)
Sept. 21 – Louisa Thomsen (Midfielder)
Sept. 28 – Emma Gavin (Defender)
Oct. 5 – Sarah McFarland (Goalkeeper)
Oct. 12 – Gaby Parker (Forward), Sarah McFarland (Goalkeeper)
- McFarland has six shutouts on the season, the most ever for a Bucknell freshman goalkeeper and sixth-most among all Division I freshmen.
- Ingrid Murphy has been an offensive catalyst in her rookie season. She leads the team and ranks ninth in the Patriot League lead with 11 points.
- Gaby Parker, who is tied for the league lead in shots with 49, has three goals and three assists on the season, as does Sutter. Louisa Thomsen has two goals and three assists. Dani Howard, Katie Connell, and Tennessee Murphy also have two goals, and Clare Nemsick is tied for the team lead in assists with three.
- Bucknell's 22 goals have come from 10 different players. Sixteen players have registered a point. Of the 23 goals against, 15 have been confined to four games against Penn State (5), Army (4), Colgate (3) and Towson (3).
- After the scoreless draw at No. 23 Villanova, McFarland was named to the TopDrawerSoccer Team of the Week, and her spectacular diving save in the 89th minute was selected as the IWOC National Save of the Week.
- The Mount St. Mary's win on Aug. 20 was career victory No. 100 for head coach Kelly Cook, who is now in her 12th season on the Bison sideline. Six of her previous 11 have resulted in a Patriot League regular-season or tournament championship. With a 104-79-36 career record, Cook is Bucknell's winningest women's soccer coach.
- The Eagles have had a tough year at 0-12-4 overall and 0-6-2 in the Patriot League. Their draws have come against Richmond (1-1), Elon (0-0), Loyola (2-2), and Lehigh (2-2).
- Most recently, American fell 1-0 at Holy Cross on Sunday on a Sam Halligan goal in the 50th minute. Holy Cross outshot the Eagles 34-2, but freshman goalkeeper Riley Molbury kept them in the game with 13 saves.
- Molbury has started 15 of the team's 16 games this season and has 106 saves with 31 goals allowed. Her 7.07 saves per game are by far the most in the Patriot League. Lafayette's Catherine Apker is second with 5.44.
- Senior Lauren Sanders leads the team with four goals, including two in Patriot League play against Lehigh and Boston University.
- Piper Garcia has two goals, and five others have one each.
- Bucknell is 16-9-2 all-time against American, but the Eagles snapped Bucknell's 11-game series unbeaten streak (10-0-1) with a 2-1 win in Lewisburg last season.
- Avery Klingensmith converted a penalty kick with 1:06 remaining in the match to give American the win last season at Emmitt Field. Louisa Thomsen scored for the Bison just minutes after the Eagles took the lead in the first half, but the hosts could not find a second goal despite dominating large stretches of the match and finishing with a 26-8 shot advantage.
- This will be Bucknell's first game at Reeves Field since 2022. Two seasons ago the Eagles played their home games at the Maryland SoccerPlex while Reeves Field underwent renovations, and the Bison won 3-1. After Jennifer McGuire scored for AU just 2:20 into the match, Reese Evans (12'), Kelley Francis (77') and Katie Connell (82') tallied for Bucknell, all three assisted by Teresa Deda.
- In that 2022 game, Bucknell won 1-0 on Abby Gearhart's 81st-minute tally.
- Bucknell and American have met only twice in the postseason. Bucknell won 2-1 in the 2001 Patriot League Tournament semifinals at Navy. Two days later, the Bison beat the top-seeded Mids to capture their first-ever conference championship. Bucknell's 2009 season ended with a 1-0 loss to American in the PL semifinals at Colgate. The lone goal was scored by AU's Kristin Piorun with just 51 seconds remaining.
- The Patriot League Tournament starts with quarterfinal action on Sunday, Nov. 8. Should Bucknell earn the right to host, it would be a 1 p.m. start at Emmitt Field.
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's SoccerTuesday, November 03
Tuesday, November 03
Sunday, November 01
Saturday, October 31