Women’s Soccer Locks up Postseason Bid with 5-1 Rout of American

Wednesday, November 4

Washington, D.C.

1 p.m.

Bucknell University

7-8-3, 4-3-2

American

0-13-4, 0-7-2

Team	1	2	Final F
Bucknell	2	3	5
American	1	0	1

Photo by: Will Micciche

11/4/2026 5:31:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

UPDATE: Bucknell will be the No. 5 seed for the Patriot League Tournament and will play at No. 4 Boston University in the quarterfinal round on Sunday at 1 p.m.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Bucknell women's soccer team is postseason bound after wrapping up the regular season with a convincing 5-1 win over American on Wednesday in the regular-season finale at Reeves Field. Katie Connell and Riley Hayes converted first-half penalty kicks, and Gaby Parker, Ashley Kozlowski, and Emma Gavin put the match away with three goals in a 14-minute span in the second half.

The Bison finished the regular season with a 4-3-2 Patriot League mark and will play in the Patriot League Tournament for the 25th time since the league's inception in 1991. They will have to wait until later in the evening to find out their seed, as the other four league matches will be played under the lights. Pending those results, Bucknell sits in a tie for third place with Holy Cross on 14 points. The Bison could finish anywhere from third to sixth. The tournament starts on Sunday with two quarterfinal matchups, which will be hosted by the third and fourth seeds.

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After dropping their last three gams, Bucknell had to push for all three points at American, as a loss or tie would have had them in danger of missing the postseason. The Bison earned a corner kick in the opening minute of the match but really didn't have much going until a wild three-minute stretch around the 25-minute mark.

Presley Sutter had just had a header saved off the goal line, and then off a second corner kick she took another shot that went into the outstretched arm of an American defender. The penalty was awarded, and Katie Connell slotted her spot kick past a wrong-footed Riley Molbury.

The Eagles needed only 1:36 to pull even, and they did it off a corner kick of their own. Bella Vozar headed the ball into the mix from the back post, and Natalia Crose had one shot blocked off the line by Presley, but her second attempt snuck through to make it 1-1.

Bucknell had been awarded only one penalty kick all season coming into the day, but the Bison earned a second one in a span of only three minutes when Sutter intercepted a back pass and was taken down by Molbury along the left edge of the box. Bucknell switched penalty takers, and Hayes stepped up and scored in nearly the identical spot as Connell.

Bucknell took that slim 2-1 lead to the locker room, then came out and completely dominated the second half. The Bison outshot the Eagles 21-4 over the final 45 minutes and 36-11 for the game, and they put the match to bed with three insurance goals.

In the 62nd minute, Connell won possession after a goal kick from Sarah McFarland and played a long ball down the left sideline. Sutter was first to it, and she took her defender 1v1 into the box before slotting a pass to Parker for the one-time finish. Parker tallied her fourth goal of the season, tying her with Ingrid Murphy for the team lead.

In the 74th minute, Parker intercepted a short goal kick and her redirect sent Kozlowski in behind the defense. Addison Zerkle, in for an injured Molbury, blocked Kozlowski's first attempt, but the Bison senior headed her own rebound into the empty net for her second goal of the year.

Less than two minutes later, Emma Gavin headed in Ava Palladino's corner kick from close range to make it 5-1.

"The first half was a battle and a bit frantic, but I was very happy with our second-half response," said head coach Kelly Cook. "I thought we were much more composed and kept the ball better in the second half. We had a lot of different players contribute on the scoresheet, and the most important thing is that hopefully we build some momentum going into the playoffs. Coming off three straight losses, we will go into Sunday with some energy and a much brighter outlook."

Bucknell's 36 shots were the most for any Patriot League team this season, and the five goals were the team's most in a conference road game since a 6-0 win at Holy Cross in 2007. It was the highest scoring output in any road game in 10 years (8-0 at Iona in 2016), and it was the eighth time in team history that the Bison scored five or more goals in an away contest.

Bucknell's two starting forwards combined for half of Bucknell's 36 shots. Parker led all players with a career-high 11 shot attempts – also the most in the Patriot League and tied for sixth-most in all of Division I women's soccer this season -- while Sutter notched seven. Parker leads the league with 60 shots through 18 games.

McFarland was credited with three saves in goal for Bucknell, while Molbury and Zerkle had five each for American.