Women's Soccer Visits Lafayette, Hosts Loyola in Busy Two-Game Week

Wednesday, September 30

Easton, Pa.

7 p.m.

Bucknell University

Lafayette

Photo by: Steven Schoenfelder

Women's Soccer Visits Lafayette, Hosts Loyola in Busy Two-Game Week

9/29/2026 2:25:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Bucknell (4-5-2, 1-0-1 PL) at Lafayette (3-3-4, 2-0 PL)
When: Wednesday, Sept. 30, 7 p.m.
Where: Gummeson Grounds, Easton, Pa.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoLeopards.com

Loyola (1-2-7, 1-1 PL) at Bucknell (4-5-2, 1-0-1 PL)
When: Saturday, Oct. 3, 1 p.m.
Where: Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium, Lewisburg, Pa.
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com

About the Bison

Bucknell kicks off a busy two-game week on the road on Wednesday night against Patriot League co-leader Lafayette, and then the Bison return home on Saturday afternoon to face Loyola.
The Bison are looking to break back out offensively, but this week they face the league's two best defensive squads in Loyola (0.90 GAA) and Lafayette (1.00 GAA).
Lafayette, Army, and Boston University sit atop the Patriot League table with six points after two rounds of conference play. The Bison have a win and a draw and sit in fourth on four points, with 1-1 Navy and Loyola just behind. All 10 teams in the league play twice this week.
Bucknell is coming off a 0-0 home draw with Holy Cross. While they struggled to generate much in the attacking third, the Bison also limited the Crusaders to only three shots on target. It was another stout defensive performance, as the Bison have now allowed only one goal in their last three games after conceding 11 in the previous four. The one goal against in this most recent stretch came on a late penalty kick in a 3-1 win over Lehigh.
Two Bucknell defensive stalwarts were honored on Monday. Center back Emma Gavin received Patriot League Defender of the Week honors, and holding midfielder Caitlyn Scott was picked as a Bison of the Week.
Scott has been an impactful addition to the starting lineup. The senior made her first career start against No. 23 Villanova and shined in a scoreless draw against the high-scoring Wildcats. Scott has played the full 90 minutes in each of the last three games.
Six different Bison have now captured Patriot League weekly awards.

Bucknell 2026 Patriot League Players of the Week
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)

Ingrid Murphy has been an offensive catalyst in her rookie season. She leads the team and is one off the Patriot League lead with four goals, and she is third in the league lead in points with 10. Murphy returned against Lehigh after an injury absence, subbed on in the 27th minute, and within six minutes produced an assist and a goal. Only Holy Cross' Sam Halligan, Boston University's Kat Slott and Army's Kamryn McWhinney have more goals in the Patriot League with five each.
The Bison have outscored opponents 17-14 on the season, with the 17 goals coming from nine different players. Fifteen players have registered a point. Bucknell ranks third in the Patriot League in goals at 1.55 per game and fifth in goals allowed at 1.27 per game.
Freshman Sarah McFarland swept the Patriot League Goalkeeper and Rookie of the Week awards on Sept. 14, and freshman outside back Clare Nemsick was named the PL Defender of the Week after the scoreless draw at Villanova. McFarland was also 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 102-76-35 career record, Cook is Bucknell's winningest women's soccer coach.

Lafayette at a Glance/Series History

The Leopards are off to a dream start in Patriot League play with road wins at Colgate (2-1) and American (1-0). Standout midfielder Nadia Zaffanella scored the game-winner at Colgate in the 76th minute, and her penalty kick in the 71st minute was the difference at American this past Saturday.
Zaffanella, a First Team All-Patriot League pick last season and the 2026 PL Preseason Midfielder of the Year, has four goals this season and 21 in her career.
The Leopards also have a standout senior goalkeeper in Catherine Apker. She has four shutouts this season and 17 in her career, and she was named Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week on Monday after a five-save clean sheet against American. Apker has played every minute in goal this season and has 55 saves with only 10 goals against. Her .846 save percentage is the best in the league.
Lafayette has scored nine goals in 10 games this season. In addition to the four from Zaffanella, Lily Castle has two goals and Era Methoxha, Brianna Sousa, and Lily Mazzella have one each.
The Leopards went 3-3-3 in Patriot League play last season and advanced to the tournament semifinals for the first time since 2016. Lafayette erased a 2-0 second-half deficit on a pair of Zaffanella goals and then outlasted Holy Cross in penalty kicks in the quarterfinals before falling 4-0 at Boston University in the semis.
Bucknell is 26-7-4 all-time against Lafayette, including 19-1-3 in the last 23 meetings. The Bison bring a seven-game series unbeaten streak (5-0-2) into Wednesday's contest. The Leopards have scored only two goals in those seven games.
Last season, the two teams played to a scoreless draw at Emmitt Field. Bucknell outshot Lafayette 17-8, but Apker made six saves in goal for the Leopards.
Bucknell's last trip to Easton resulted in a 2-1 win in 2024. Reese Evans and Teresa Deda staked the Bison to a 2-0 lead, and then they held on after Gretchen Waechter scored for Lafayette in the 76th minute.
Lafayette's last win over Bucknell was a 2-0 verdict at Emmitt Field in 2018. The Bison have not lost in Easton since 1997, when the Leopards prevailed 3-0. They are 11-0-3 on Lafayette's home turf since then.
Bucknell and Lafayette have met only once in the postseason. The top-seeded Bison won 2-0 in the 2016 Patriot League Tournament semifinals at Emmitt Field, and two days later they defeated Boston University in overtime to claim the championship.

Loyola at a Glance/Series History

Loyola enters the week with one win, but the Greyhounds have gotten a point out of eight of their 10 games. Now 1-2-7 on the season, they are tied for the national lead in draws alongside Providence.
Loyola hosts American on Wednesday evening, which will be its eighth home date out of 11 to start the season. The Greyhounds are 0-1-6 at home and 1-1-1 on the road thus far.
Two of Loyola's draws have come at home against Power Five teams. The Greyhounds tied No. 10 Arkansas 1-1 on Aug. 16, and they drew Iowa State by the same scoreline on Sept. 10.
Loyola started Patriot League play with a 2-1 win at Holy Cross on Sept. 20. Francesca Curatolo and Savannah Manset scored their goals, the latter coming in the 77th minute, which quickly answered a Holy Cross equalizer only 62 seconds earlier.
In their most recent outing, the Greyhounds fell 1-0 at home to Boston University on Saturday. Samantha Ryan scored for the Terriers in the 62nd minute.
Loyola has scored six goals in 10 games this season while allowing a league-low nine. Manset has two of the goals, including one against Iowa State, while Reagan Mallia, Leah Carter, Katie Ormerod, and Curatolo have one each.
Senior goalkeeper Hannah Goetzer has played every minute between the posts over the last two seasons after transferring from Saint Leo. Goetzer leads the Patriot League with a 0.90 GAA, and her .845 save percentage is second in the league to Lafayette's Catherine Apker.
Bucknell is 9-4-5 all-time against the Greyhounds, including a 3-0-3 mark in the last six meetings.
Last season the two teams played to a scoreless draw in Baltimore, which was typical of the recent meetings between the two teams. Of the last nine clashes, eight have been 0-0, 1-0, or 1-1 scorelines. The lone exception was Bucknell's 4-0 win in the 2024 Patriot League Tournament semifinals.
Bucknell won both home games against Loyola two seasons ago, prevailing 1-0 in the regular season followed by the aforementioned 4-0 result in the PL Tournament, which is the only postseason matchup between the two teams. Teresa Deda scored off a Riley Hayes assist in the first contest, and then Katie Connell, Sydney Hess, Paige Temple, and Deda scored in the playoff game.

The Road Ahead

After this two-game week, Bucknell hits a difficult stretch with road games at Boston University and Navy, followed by home dates with Army and Colgate.