Bucknell Women's Soccer Winning Streak Ends at Four after 5-1 Loss at Saint Francis (Pa.) - BUCKNELL UNIVERSITY OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

Bucknell Women's Soccer Winning Streak Ends at Four after 5-1 Loss at Saint Francis (Pa.)

Piccirilli nets lone goal, Bison home again Tuesday

Danielle Piccirilli

Sept. 9, 2012

Final Stats

LORETTO, Pa. -- Tesa McKibben and the Saint Francis Red Flash put an end to Bucknell's four-game winning streak with a 5-1 decision on Sunday afternoon at the Stokes Soccer Complex. Freshman Danielle Piccirilli scored for the Bison, who are now 4-3 on the season, but it was not enough to counter McKibben's two goals and three assists.

Bison goalkeeper Sandita McDermott surpassed the school record for consecutive scoreless minutes by a goalkeeper in Friday night's 3-0 win over UMBC, and she extended that mark to 343:81 before Ellie Gavin finished a McKibben cross from close range at the 17:27 mark.

As a team, Bucknell had posted three straight shutouts and had not been scored upon since the 33:06 mark of the Robert Morris game back on Aug. 26. The school record for consecutive team shutouts is four, set back in 2002. Multiple goalkeepers contributed to that streak.

While the Bison played at home on Friday night and had an early morning ride to Loretto for the noon start, the Red Flash were playing for the first time in a week. Saint Francis was an NCAA Tournament team in 2010, falling to Ohio State in double overtime in the first round, and the Red Flash won the Northeast Conference regular-season title last season before falling in penalty kicks in the NEC Tournament final.

McKibben was a big part of those championship teams, and she showed why on Sunday, contributing to all five goals as part of a seven-point afternoon.

The Bison thought they had a chance to take an early lead when Cassie Denger was taken down at the top of the penalty area. The foul was given, but was deemed to be outside the box, so no penalty kick was awarded. Bucknell could not make anything out of the free kick, and five minutes later Gavin was left alone in the goal mouth for Saint Francis' first goal of the day.

The backbreaking goal came just 1:05 before halftime, when McKibben's pass from the right side was touched in by Julia Gembry.

Trailing 2-0, Bucknell played its best soccer of the day in the first eight minutes of the second half. They generated three good shots, two of which required saves by Brianna Butcher, along with two corner kicks.

The Bison could not cash in, however, and the Red Flash put the game away with three goals in a span of just 2:22. Gavin scored her second of the game on a nearly identical play to the first two goals, a close-range shot after a cross from McKibben. McKibben got on the board herself at the 58:30 mark on a 40-yard strike, then she scored again off an Eloa Mascimento assist just 42 seconds later.

Bucknell once again got some strong play from its bench, and they teamed up to produce a goal in the 73rd minute. Corey Tipton, Devan Schulte and Liz Dwornik were involved in the build-up, getting the ball over to Piccirilli on the left side. Piccirilli made a move to free up space and scored a pretty goal on an upper-90 shot, her second tally of the season.

"Saint Francis is a very good team, and today was just not our day," said coach Ben Landis. "We did not mark well on most of their goals, and the one just before halftime really hurt. With a home game coming up quickly on Tuesday we will put this one behind us right away. We will all share the responsibility of getting better as a team."

Saint Francis finished with a 22-10 shot advantage. McDermott made seven saves for the Bison, while Butcher and Katie Ross combined for four for the Red Flash.

Bucknell hosts Mount St. Mary's on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at Emmitt Field.