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Bucknell Women's Lacrosse Hosts Columbia Wednesday on Bison Vision
April 19, 2011
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell women's lacrosse squad, idle since last Tuesday's 17-11 win over Manhattan, entertains another foe from the Big Apple on Wednesday when Columbia visits Graham Field for a 4 p.m. contest. The game will air live on Bison Vision at BucknellBison.com. Bucknell comes in with a record of 3-11, while Columbia has won two straight games to improve to 3-8, including its first Ivy League win of the season over Yale (10-3) on Friday. The Bison offense got rolling in last week's victory over Manhattan, as Madison Hurwitz piled up a career-high six goals, Ali Carey had four goals and Molly Ford dished out five assists. The resurgent offense has averaged 11.0 goals per game in the last five outings. Four Bison have accounted for the bulk of the scoring, and quite a race is shaping up for the team scoring title with two games to play. Carey, Julia Braun and Katelyn Miller all have 33 points, with Hurwitz just behind with 31. Braun, Carey and Hurwitz all have a team-high 27 goals, while Miller (13) and Ford (12) are battling for the lead in assists. Defensively, senior goalie Alyssa DeLorenz had a terrific day in the win over Manhattan. She finished with a career-high 22 saves, including 13 in the first half when Bucknell ran out to a 9-3 lead at intermission. DeLorenz still leads the nation in saves per game at 13.0, and her 177 total saves are just two behind national leader Danielle Pokusa of Saint Francis (Pa.). Fellow senior Ashley St. John also had a great game against the Jaspers, with four draw controls, three caused turnovers and her first three career assists. In addition to her impressive scoring totals, Braun ranks 15th nationally and second in the Patriot League in ground balls per game at 2.91. In the Manhattan game, Braun moved into fourth place on Bucknell's career ground balls list with 137, and she is now just four shy of Bonnie Buechel's school record of 164 career draw controls. If Braun can get those four draw controls against Columbia, she will equal Buechel's record against her younger sister, Kelly, who is a junior midfielder for the Lions. Kelly Buechel has played in all 11 games, with eight starts, and has two goals, three assists and, fittingly, 21 draw controls, which ranks second on the team. Columbia's top scorer is Kacie Johnson, who has 44 points on 29 goals and 15 assists. Johnson broke the school record with eight goals against Quinnipiac earlier in the season. Taylor Gattinella (22-5-27), Olivia Mann (17-2-19), Gabrielle Geronimos (12-5-17) and Paige Cuscovitch (10-3-13) are other top scorers for the Lions. Gattinnella has 24 ground balls and 24 draw controls to lead the team in both categories. Karlee Blank has played every minute in goal for Columbia and has a .512 save percentage and a 10.71 goals-against average. Despite a 3-8 record, the Lions have only been outscored 120-102 in 11 games, and in fact Columbia has outscored foes 57-46 in the second halves of games this season. Columbia had suffered six straight losses, including overtime setbacks against George Mason and Quinnipiac, before bouncing back with back-to-back wins over Lafayette (13-11) and Yale (10-3) last week. In the win over Yale, Blank recorded 15 saves with only the three goals against, while Cuscovitch (4G) and Johnson (2G, 3A) handled the offensive load. These two teams met in New York last season, and the Lions prevailed 16-8 behind five goals each from Geronimos and Brittany Shannon. DeLorenz made 16 saves for Bucknell, while Braun had a hat trick. Bucknell is 2-9 all-time against Columbia, and the Lions have won eight straight in the series dating back to 2002. Following the Columbia game, the Bison will wrap up their 2011 season on Saturday at Colgate at 1 p.m.
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