Oct. 15, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- In each of the past three seasons, Bucknell and Navy have been at the head of the class in Patriot League women's soccer circles. In 2006 and 2007, the Bison finished first in the Patriot League standings, with the Mids within two points of the lead both years. In 2008, Navy won the regular-season title while Bucknell was the runner-up. These two recent powers meet up again on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Emmitt Field. It will be Bucknell's Senior Day, and a Webcast of the game will air live on Bison Vision at BucknellBison.com.
Navy and Bucknell are once again near the top of the standings approaching the midpoint of Patriot League play. First-place American is 3-0 in the Patriot League, but Navy (2-0-1) and Bucknell (2-1) are just behind. The Eagles travel to Colgate on Saturday while Bucknell and Navy are clashing in Lewisburg.
The Bison are coming off a very productive six-point showing last weekend. They swept the two Lehigh Valley teams at home, blanking Lafayette 2-1 on Friday before sailing past a hot Lehigh squad 3-1 on Sunday. Bucknell is now 7-6-1 overall.
Navy is 11-2-2 overall and is unscored-upon during its current four-game unbeaten streak (3-0-1). The Mids blanked Army and Holy Cross by 2-0 counts last weekend in Annapolis. Their lone Patriot League blemish was a scoreless tie with Colgate at home on Oct. 2.
Admission is free for Saturday's game. The Bison field hockey and women's soccer teams will be joining the fight against breast cancer on Saturday, co-sponsoring a "Play 4 the Cure" event. The Bison will be providing pink ribbons to fans in exchange for donations throughout the 10 a.m. field hockey game against American and the 1 p.m. soccer game against Navy. All contributions will be donated to the American Cancer Society and the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
BISON WOMEN'S SOCCER NOTEBOOK
Coverage
- Click HERE to watch the Bucknell-Navy game live on Bison Vision.
- Click HERE to follow Bucknell-Navy live stats via GameTracker.
Bucknell vs. Navy Series Notes- Navy holds an 11-6-1 lead in a series that dates back to 1994.
- Each of the last six Bucknell-Navy games have been one-goal affairs.
- The two teams have met in the postseason three times. In the 1995 Patriot League Tournament semifinals, Navy knocked out the top-seeded Bison (who had been unbeaten in league play in the regular-season) by a 2-0 margin. Bucknell's first Patriot League title came with a 2-1 overtime victory over Navy in Annapolis in 2001.
Lauren Schwarz's overtime penalty kick was the difference. Then in 2007 in Lewisburg, Navy edged the Bison 1-0 in the championship game on Carissa Youker's goal late in the first half.
- Interestingly, the visiting team has had plenty of success in this series. The Bison are 4-4-1 in Annapolis, while the Mids are 7-2-0 in Lewisburg.
- Navy has outscored Bucknell 32-18 in the series. Bucknell's 1-0 win in 2007 was its first shutout against Navy.
- Last season in Annapolis, Navy prevailed 1-0 on Kristen Laraway's 20-yard strike 4:15 into overtime.
About Navy
- The Mids begin a four-game road swing Saturday at Bucknell. Navy comes in with an 11-2-2 record, which was tied for the 16th-best record in all of Division I at the start of the week.
- Navy has posted shutouts in 10 of its 15 games this season, including each of the last four. Goalkeeper Beth Reed ranks fifth nationally in both goals-against average (0.46) and save percentage (.903).
- Navy's senior class just broke the program record for wins by a class. The current seniors are 61-13-10 in their careers.
- Carissa Youker leads the team in scoring with 19 points on seven goals and five assists. Brittany White (4-5-13), Christine Calderon (4-3-11), Brittany Fruin (4-2-10) and Annie Kendzior (4-1-9) all have at least four goals this season.
- The Mids have outscored their opponents 31-8 this season, although the shot totals are fairly even. Navy has outshot its foes 186-177 in 15 games.
About the Bison
- Bucknell jumped back over the .500 mark at 7-6-1 overall and 2-1-0 in the Patriot League with last weekend's sweep of Lafayette and Lehigh.
- Christa Matlack on Monday was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week and the Damon's Bison Athlete of the Week. She scored both goals in the 2-0 win over Lafayette on Friday, and she had the assist on Kelliann Doherty's game-winning goal in Sunday's 3-1 win over Lehigh. It was the second time in three weeks that Matlack earned Patriot League weekly honors.
- Doherty and Chelsea McGorry both had four-point weekends. Both players earned assists in the Lafayette game -- Doherty on Matlack's first goal and McGorry with a perfect cross on the second -- and then both logged a goal and an assist in the Lehigh win.
- Against Lehigh, McGorry opened the scoring just 1:56 into the game -- Bucknell's fastest goal of the year -- and Doherty made it 2-0 with a volley off Matlack's end-line feed in teh 51st minute. McGorry and Doherty both earned assists on Molly Linhart's goal in the 77th minute that gave Bucknell a commanding 3-0 lead.
- Kathryn Sutton made nine saves against Lehigh, her second-highest total of the season behind her 11-save performance against Penn State. Sutton's only blemish of the weekend was a shot that hit under the crossbar and went down over the line in the final minutes of the Lehigh game.
- Matlack now has a pair of two-goal games this season, one against Cornell and one against Lafayette. She now has five goals and two assists for a team-high 12 points on the year. With 21 career goals, Matlack is now tied for eighth on Bucknell's all-time list with Savannah Rennels and Leigh Raymont. The assist against Lehigh was the 11th of her career, and that moves her into the top 10 in Bucknell history in that category.
- Matlack is tied for second in the league in points per game and fourth in goals per game.
- Caitlin Holtz (2-3-7) is still the team's No. 2 point-producer, with Doherty (2-2-6) right behind.
- Saturday's game against Navy will be the final regular-season home contest for seniors Sutton, Linhart, McGorry, Erin Lavery, Lauren Stoller and Chelsea Brinkman. This was the first complete class recruited by head coach Ben Landis, and the six will be honored prior to the game.
Looking Ahead
- Bucknell plays its final three regular-season matches on the road, beginning Thursday night at West Point. The Bison and Black Knights square off at 7 p.m. at Clinton Field. Bucknell also visits Holy Cross on Oct. 25 and Colgate on Oct. 31. The Patriot League Tournament will be held Nov. 6 and 8 at the home of the top seed.
