Devan Schulte
Contributing Writer
With a strong offensive effort on Nov. 3, the women’s field hockey team earned a 5-2 home victory over Rutgers to boost the team’s overall record to 8-9 (4-2 Patriot League). After celebrating their careers, the team’s four seniors helped capture the win over the Big East opponent, whom the Orange and Blue had yet to defeat since 1984.
“We came out today ready to go and not only play as a team, but also play for the seniors,” Emily Hitchings ’16 said.
The Bison started the game strong, immediately taking shots and capturing the first penalty corner opportunity in the eighth minute. The team utilized a new corner play against the Scarlet Knights, with Amie Pritchard ’15 capitalizing off a shot by Vickie Resh ’14, putting the Bison on the scoreboard early. With a continuous strong defensive effort, the Orange and Blue were able to keep Rutgers off the board for the rest of the half. In addition, Abby Watson ’16 and Kiersten Sydnor ’16 exploited a messy scramble in front of the opponent’s net, as Watson assisted an upper cage flick by Sydnor to put the Bison up by two right before the half concluded.
The game continued to heat up in the second half, as five more goals were added to the scoreboard. In the 46th minute, Rutgers quickly slimmed down the lead to 2-1. The Bison countered three minutes later as Estelle Palandjian ’17 captured her first collegiate goal off a tough shot from the top of the circle.
Two seniors concluded the scoring for the Bison, as Leigh Hillman ’14 and Rachel Misko ’14 put the final two goals on the board for the Orange and Blue. The Scarlet Knights continued to fight and managed to put one more goal away, but a tough defensive mindset and execution kept the score at 5-2, and the Bison seniors walked away with their last victory on Graham Field.
“It was an amazing feeling to finally beat them, especially on Senior Day. Our team played with incredible heart and I couldn’t have asked for a better game to end my career at Bucknell with,” Hillman said.
Erica Perrine ’14 guarded the net the entire game and recorded two saves. In addition, Perrine, Resh, Hillman, and Misko were honored before the game as the team’s four seniors.
The Bison will head to Washington, D.C. this weekend for the Patriot League tournament, where they will look to avenge their loss (Oct. 19) from earlier in the season to Boston University Terriers on Nov. 8.