Category: Women

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Cross Country Sports Women

Women’s XC finishes twelfth

Lauren Boone

Contributing Writer

On Nov. 9, the women’s cross country team traveled to Penn State to compete in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships to close out its season, where they finished 12th out of 31 teams. The Bison were led by a respectable performance from Caroline Tolli ’13.

Leading the Orange and Blue in the six-kilometer course, Tolli crossed the finish line with a time of 22:06, claiming a 54th place finish. Following close behind her was Katie Jessee ’15, who placed in 58th with a time of 22:10. Deanna Godby ’16 was next for the Bison, finishing in 73rd with a time of 22:20.

Despite a knee injury early in the season, Hana Casalnova ’14 recovered strong and became a scoring member of the team, finishing 86th (20:43). The fifth place finisher for the Bison was Meghan Carroll ’16 (22:55) in 99th place, followed by teammates Alison Billas ’16 (122nd; 23:15) and Betsy Edinger ’15 (129th; 23:19).

“It’s impressive we did so well with such a young team,” Edinger said.  “[The freshman] really stepped up when they needed to. [Tolli], our one senior, has been our top finisher all season … she had an amazing season and was an inspiration to us all. I think that because we’re young we’re only going to get better … right now we’re just starting. I’m really proud of my team.”

In the overall team standings, the Bison ended up in about the middle of the pack with 368 points. Penn State claimed first in the region with a score of 61. Nicky Akande of Villanova was the top individual finisher with a time of 20:14.

The Orange and Blue have now completed their schedule for the fall season.

Categories
Sports Swimming & Diving Women

Women’s squad splits meet

 

Edward Louie | The Bucknellian
A Bison swimmer prepares herself at the block. The Bison defeated American but fell to Navy.

Lauren Boone

Contributing Writer

The women’s swimming and diving team held its own in a dual meet against American and Navy, defeating the host Eagles 252-36 but falling to the defending Patriot League champion Midshipmen 185-113.

Kelly Pontecorvo ’14 (1,000 freestyle) and Emma Levendoski ’16 (100 backstroke) led the Orange and Blue in the swimming competition held at Reeves Pool in Washington D.C., both earning first place finishes in their respective events. Levendoski posted a time of 57.98 seconds in her heat. Although she already held the eighth fastest time for this event in Bison program history, she improved her record by 0.26 seconds. Additionally, Levendoski was the runner-up in the 200 backstroke. Pontecorvo also added to her contribution with a third place finish in the 500 freestyle.

 

Leading the Bison in diving were Tara Boyle ’15 and Katie Hetherington ’15, who finished with first place victories in the one-meter and three-meter boards, respectively. In support, Tori Molchany ’15 was fourth off both boards, followed by teammate Lisa Bolle ’13 who finished seventh in the one-meter and fifth in the three-meter.

“Our meet this weekend went very well,” Levendoski said. “We are continuing to improve and are getting faster at every meet. It was the first meet against teams in our conference so it was a good gauge of our competition. We are looking forward to our meet this weekend against Lafayette and the Bison Invitational next weekend.”

The weekend left the Bison’s overall record this season at 1-3. Tomorrow the Orange and Blue face Lafayette at home before the Bucknell Invitational takes place on Nov. 16-18.

Categories
Sports Volleyball Women

Volleyball goes 1-1

Katherine Harris
Writer

The women’s volleyball team played their last home games of the season last weekend, first crushing Holy Cross in a decisive 3-0 victory before falling to a tough Army team.

The Bison came out for Senior Night on Nov. 2 against a Holy Cross team they had lost to earlier in the season, and quickly took care of business with a victory in three straight sets. Kebah Edoho ’13 and Kat Tauscher ’13 were honored that night, and both players stepped up with impressive performances, with Edoho racking up six blocks and a career-best 14 kills, while Tauscher pulled a double-double with 10 digs and 22 assists.

“Friday night was a great senior night for Kebah [Edoho] and I. We had a lot of fun playing in front of our family and friends and really appreciated all the love and support we received from our teammates and coaches,” Tauscher said. “It was a great overall team effort with no lulls or setbacks and it was icing on the cake that everyone, including Kebah and I, had such great games.”

Many other members of the team also stepped up for the Bison in the victory. Leylin Marroquin ’14 recorded 14 digs on the day, while Kristen Titley ’14 recorded eight kills. Karen Campbell ’16 also added two blocks to Edoho’s six, putting the Orange and Blue in the lead for team blocks.

The Bison struggled to keep up the momentum on Nov. 3 when they went up against Army team, losing in straight sets. The team was against bolstered by Tauscher and Meghan Wentzel ’16 who each recorded nine assists on the day. Campbell and Titley also played well, racking up eight and five kills, respectively.

“The difference between the two games was clearly the level of the competition as well as us as a team just not having a good night,” Tauscher said. “For some reason, on Saturday night we couldn’t put things together and nothing was going our way. With that said, it gives us something to work on this week and a chance for redemption this weekend at Navy and American.”

The Bison will finish out their regular season this weekend with two games on the road, travelling tonight to face Navy, and then facing off at American tomorrow afternoon.

Categories
Field Hockey Sports Women

F. Hockey ends season

Andrew Arnao

Senior Writer

The field hockey team concluded its season on Nov. 2 after a 4-0 loss to American in the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament. The Orange and the Blue finished with a 3-3 record in Patriot League play, and a 9-10 record overall.

“I’d say that it was an exciting season with goals scored by multiple players, people stepping into new roles and taking them on with determination and a real infusion of emotion into the game by our players,” assistant coach Jamie Montgomery said. “They set the bar high this season and in doing so took real risks trying to get there.”

After facing American the previous week and dropping a close 2-1 contest, the Bison put in a week of practice to readjust and entered last weekend determined to come out on top. The practice appeared to pay off in the first half, where the Bison defense held American to seven shots and only one goal scored right before halftime. However, the usually dominating second half offense did not make an appearance for the Bison, and American was able to tack on three more goals to pull away.

“We traded opportunities to score with them in the first half, and when they were able to capitalize and we were not, it really changed the way we had to approach the second half,” head coach Jeremy Cook said. “Had we been able to put one away in the first, I think it would have gone differently.”

American finished with a 13-4 shot advantage, as well as a 6-4 edge in penalty corners. The Eagles lost to Lafayette in the final.

Goalie Erica Perrine ’14 recorded eight saves to go along with four goals allowed, and finishes the season tied for sixth in program history for wins in a single season. Defender Tayler Siegrist ’13 also finished the season with a team-leading eight goals. Midfielder Kelsey Mucelli ’15 and forward Rachel Misko ’14 were named to the Patriot League All-Tournament Team.

“This year was an awesome year for our team,” Misko said. “We were a young team who went out to every game with a lot of heart and the will to win every game … We may not have won the Patriot League Championship but we have made unbelievable strides toward the future as a team.”

Graduating from the team are Siegrist and midfielder Kelly Stefanowicz ’13.

“We are graduating two phenomenal student-athletes this year, both of whom are fantastic representatives of the scholar-athlete model in completely different ways,” Cook said. “I am very proud of them and the whole group; we were relentless in our pursuit even if we came up a bit short at the end.”

“Expectations are big next year … We return a large group of experienced student-athletes that I think have big potential within the league,” Cook said. “Adding a traditionally powerful program like Boston University will change the landscape in the league, but with hard work this spring and a strong incoming class, I think we’ll be in a great position to take another step forward.”

Categories
Soccer Sports Women

W. soccer season ends

Ajan Caneda
Copy Editor

The women’s soccer team battled hard against Navy on Oct. 27, but was defeated 1-0 in Annapolis, Md. A win or draw would have clinched a Patriot League playoff spot for the Orange and Blue, but one-loss Navy broke the scoreless game and protected the lead from a Bison shooting surge in the second half. Lehigh’s win against Holy Cross eliminated the Bison from playoff contention.

With Navy being undefeated in the Patriot League, the Bison were determined to give the Midshipmen their first loss in conference play. Navy started out aggressively on offense with a 15-5 shot advantage in the first half. Goalie Sandita McDermott ’13 halted Navy’s barrage temporarily, saving seven shots. The game appeared to be 0-0 going into halftime, but Navy scored their first goal in the 43rd minute to take the lead.

“[Our] team kept the shape and formation the same to start the second half but switched to a more offensive minded shape halfway through in hopes to get a goal and tie the game up,” McDermott said.

The Bison were more successful defending Navy in the second half, limiting them to eight shots and zero corner kicks. Courtney Nelson ’15 and Liz Dwornik ’14 combined for nine of the Orange and Blue’s 14 shot attempts in the game. Even with the shot advantage in the second half, Navy’s defense controlled the tempo of the game, as the Bison were unable to find the net. McDermott had 11 saves in the game. Nelson had three shots on goal, while Chelsey Garkowski ’14, Cassie Denger ’15 and Dwornik each had one on target.

“We put three players in the back instead of four [in the second half] which did help us get an increased offensive attack but unfortunately not enough for this particular day,” McDermott said.

The Orange and Blue finished their season 10-9 overall with a 3-4 record in Patriot League play, improving from a 5-10-1 record last year. They also had six shutouts this season, including three straight against Buffalo, St. Bonaventure and UMBC.

Although disappointed from the loss, McDermott is proud of her team’s effort and the strong showing it put together this year. She ends her Bison career second in program history in both shutouts and goals-against average. She also finished third in save percentage, fourth in wins and fifth in saves. Joining McDermott on the graduating stage are Taryn Boucher ’13, Corinne Collins ’13, Meghan Fitzpatrick ’13, Emily Trosch ’13, Jenna Tryon ’13 and Kayla Yee ’13.

“Navy is the first place team, currently, and we played an amazing game against them. Having a 1-0 result is something to be proud of,” McDermott said. “I just couldn’t be happier to have been surrounded by such an amazing group of girls and coaching staff to allow us all do what we love and just play soccer. Having the chance to break school records and now be listed on several of the record lists is amazing and more than anything I ever imagined out of my college career.”

Categories
Field Hockey Sports Women

Field hockey suffers tough loss

Andrew Arnao
Senior Writer

The field hockey team played a close game at Patriot League rival American on Oct. 27, but could not come out with the win, eventually falling 2-1. Forward Kiersten Sydnor ’16 scored the lone goal for the Bison, giving her a fourth Patriot League Rookie of the Week honor.

“This weekend we had a tough loss to American,” Sydnor said. “We didn’t come out on the field ready to win and weren’t able to capitalize on our opportunities inside our attacking 25. We had spurts of aggressiveness but it wasn’t enough to beat American.”

The Bison fell behind early as American scored 13 minutes into the game. The 1-0 deficit held for the rest of the half, but about 11 minutes after play resumed, Sydnor managed to find the back of the net with an assist from midfielder Kelly Stefanowicz ’13 to knot the score at 1-1. American responded quickly, scoring once again a couple minutes later to put themselves up 2-1. Despite outshooting American for the rest of the half, the Bison were unable to equalize the score.

“Although we lost to American, our team made vast improvements in certain areas when comparing our game this year to the games against them last season,” midfielder Vickie Resh ’14 said. “We need to improve on certain things for next weekend that we have identified and are excited to work on this week.”

The Bison and American offenses proved to be very evenly matched, with each side taking a total of nine shots and the Bison leading penalty corners by a four to three total. Though the Bison offense started out slow in the first half, they responded with a typically strong second half to keep the game close.

“This week we will focus on fixing our mistakes so that we can come out ready to win this weekend,” Sydnor said. “After losing on Saturday, I think we will be very determined and motivated to give it our all during the Patriot League Tournament.”

The loss brought an end to regular season, giving the Orange and the Blue a 9-9 record overall and a 3-2 record in the Patriot League. The Bison are now the No. 3 seed for the upcoming Patriot League Tournament, and will play American, the No. 2 seed after their victory, in a semifinals rematch today in Easton, Pa.

“This past week’s game has also shown us that even though we didn’t, we can win and having that loss will hopefully energize us for Friday’s rematch,” Resh said.

Categories
Cross Country Sports Women

Women’s XC finishes strong at Colgate

Katherine Harris

Writer

The women’s cross country team performed strongly at the Patriot League Championships last weekend, falling only to Navy to place second on the day. Individual Bison also shone, as three were named to All-Patriot League teams for their performances.

“We were proud of our performance this weekend. Navy ran a very strong race, and we respect them for that, though it is certainly disappointing not to come out on top,” Caroline Tolli ’13 said.

The Orange and Blue traveled to Colgate University on Oct. 27 to compete with the top teams in their league for the conference title. Though the team has been struggling with some injuries this season, the Bison started out aggressively in the race. The day ended with the women pulling in the runner-up title, once again falling to Navy as they did last year.

Many individuals held strong and placed amongst the top runners in the league. Leading the way for the Bison was Tolli, who has been a consistent presence at the top of the leaderboard for the team all season. With an impressive time of 22:56.0, she finished seventh in the field and earned a spot on the First Team All-Patriot League team.

Two other Bison were also honored with All-Patriot League team selections, as Deanna Godby ’16 and Katie Jessee ’15 were named to the Second Team for their strong performances. Both team members followed close behind Tolli in the race, with Godby earning 10th place with her time of 23:14.9 and Jessee bringing in 13th for the Orange and Blue with a time of 23:28.0.

“I was most impressed with the strong performance of the younger members of our team. Three of our scoring five finishers were freshmen and one was a sophomore,” Tolli said. “That’s exciting. This is a young team and they already know how to race tough in high-pressure situations.”

Alison Billas ’16 and Meghan Carroll ’16 rounded out the top five for the Bison, contributing to an overall team score of 68. Billas posted a time of 23:36.5 for 16th place on the six-kilometer course, while Carroll finished in 22nd place with a time of 23:49.4.

The Orange and Blue will now have a week off to prepare before gearing up for the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships. The team will travel to Penn State on Nov. 9 to compete against the top runners in the region.

Categories
Field Hockey Sports Women

Field hockey makes playoffs

Andrew Arnao

Senior Writer

The Bison field hockey team clinched a spot in the Patriot League Tournament on Oct. 20 with a 6-2 win over visiting Lehigh. On Oct. 23, the Orange and the Blue fell to No. 5 Penn State, giving them a 9-8 record overall and a 3-1 record in Patriot League play.

“Given the fact that we lost to Lehigh 1-0 last year, this was a huge game for us,” said defender Tayler Siegrist ’13. “[Especially since it means] making our fifth consecutive appearance in the Patriot League Tournament.”

Siegrist and midfielder Kelly Stefanowicz ’13 were honored before the game for Senior Day, and each contributed to the final score. Stefanowicz scored early in the game to put the Bison up 1-0, and the Orange and the Blue went on to score four more unanswered goals, including an impressive hat trick for midfielder Amie Pritchard ’15. Forwards Leigh Hillman ’14 and Hope Obernesser ’15 also scored a goal apiece, and Siegrist added an assist in the eventual 6-2 victory.

Against Penn State the defense did its best to hold back a strong offense. Goalie Erica Perrine ’14 led the Bison effort with 12 saves, her second-highest single game total of the season. She now has 181 career saves, putting her in tenth on the Bison’s all-time list. Siegrist and defenders Cassie Goggin ’14 and Liz Wills ’15 all recorded defensive saves. Unfortunately, they were unable to keep out two late goals from Penn State, the first coming with just under 13 minutes left to play. The Bison were outshot 29-2, as they failed to produce a strong offensive effort.

The Bison will head to Washington D.C. tomorrow to face American and determine the No. 2 seed in the Patriot League bracket. The two teams are already guaranteed to meet each other again in the semifinals next week, with the No. 2 seed hosting.

Categories
Men Sports Swimming & Diving Swimming & Diving Women

Men’s and women’s swimming exhibit strength at UConn

Cooper Mead
Writer

The men’s swimming and diving team traveled to Connecticut to face UConn and Fordham with high hopes of beating UConn in only their second meeting of all time and continuing their strong record against Fordham (8-4 all-time). Mike Nicholson ’14 and Ben Seketa ’15 led the Bison in their first meet of the season, as Nicholson was the only two event winner. He won the 200-yard butterfly by 2.47 seconds and the 200 individual medley by 1.92 seconds. Seketa finished first in the 200 breast stroke, was runner-up in the 100 breast stroke and finished fourth in the 200 individual medley.

The Bison also recorded second-place finishes in the 200 medley relay and 400 free relays. Cameron James ’16 and Trevor Reitz ’14 finished second in the 200 free and 100 free, respectively. These performances were enough to propel the Bison to a 179-120 win over Fordham, but fell short of UConn, losing 175-125.

Jon Jones ’15 was the top diver for the Bison off of the one-meter board, tallying a score of 220.20, six points below his career high. This placed him third overall.

“We had a lot of people step up–especially late in the meet–that helped drive us past Fordham and closer to UConn. Losing to UConn was tough, but it will help us grow into the team we need to be to succeed later in the season,” Reitz said.

The women’s swimming and diving team also traveled to UConn as Emma Levendoski ’16 led the team and posted a new program top-10 mark in the 100-yard backstroke. Lauren Perry ’15 and Elizabeth Porcellio ’13 also tallied victories for the Bison in the 200 free and 200 individual medley, respectively. Despite such efforts, the Bison were defeated by UConn 186.5-113.5, and Fordham by a margin of 173.5-126.5.

Levendoski also finished second in the 200 backstroke with a time of 58.24, placing her  at eighth in program history. Her time puts her as the second active Bison swimmer on the list along with Jennifer Brennan ’14.

Perry also had a strong performance, placing third in the 50 free and fourth in the 100 free. She was a member of the 200 medley relay and the 400 free relay, which placed third. Similarly, Porcellio also placed third in the 100 fly and came in sixth place in the 200 free.

Tori Molchany ’15 and Tara Boyle ’15 were the Orange and Blue’s best divers for the day, coming in third off of the one-meter board and fourth off of the three-meter board, respectively.

“I was pleased with our overall performance at the meet,” head coach Dan Schinnerer said [Bucknell Women’s Swimming and Diving Outscored by UConn and Fordham, bucknellbison.com, Oct. 20, 2012].  “Our main emphasis at this point in the season is to see improvement from meet-to-meet and we saw a lot of progress today compared to where we were against UMBC a few weeks ago. That said, we have to make a significant improvement to get to where we ultimately want to be as a team.”

Both the women’s and the men’s squads will have one week off before they travel to Easton, Pa. to compete against American, Lafayette and Navy on Nov. 3.

Categories
Soccer Sports Women

Women’s soccer fights for playoff spot

Ajan Caneda
Copy Editor

The women’s soccer team defeated Lafayette 1-0 this past weekend to put itself in prime position to secure a playoff spot. Earlier last week, the Bison suffered a 2-1 loss at Lehigh in a double overtime thriller. The Orange and Blue are currently fourth in the Patriot League standings with one regular season game left to play.

“Going into the Lafayette game, we knew we had to win. Our team handled that pressure and I thought we remained composed even though it was 0-0 for the majority of the game,” Kayla Yee ’13 said.

On Sunday, the Bison defeated Lafayette 1-0 in a hard fought match-up. Defense was the focus for both teams, as they combined for only four shot attempts in the first half.

The Orange and Blue pressured the Leopard defense, as they attempted six shots in the second half. In her first minutes of the match, Jenna Tryon ’13 launched a cross pass that found Taryn Boucher ’13, who scored the game winning goal on a leaping volley with seven minutes and six seconds remaining in the game. Boucher also shined on the other end of the field, leading to her first career Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week award.

“Taryn [Boucher] had a great goal with about seven minutes to play, and after that our defense did great to finish out the game and keep them off the scoreboard,” Yee said.

At Lehigh, the Bison were in unusual territory, as they went into overtime for the first time this season.

Thirty seconds into the first half, Chelsey Garkowski ’14 nailed a goal in the top left corner of the net to give the Orange and Blue the early lead. The Mountain Hawks answered back with a goal in the 12th minute to tie the score. It remained 1-1 at halftime.

The Mountain Hawks picked up the intensity in the second half with 11 shot attempts. The Bison defense remained stout, preventing Lehigh from finding the net. Goalie Sandita McDermott ’13 continued her sensational goalkeeping with a season-high of 12 saves. Unfortunately, the Orange and Blue only had five shot attempts in the second half, two of which were on target. The game remained 1-1 heading into overtime.

Lehigh carried their momentum into overtime with 13 shot attempts. The Bison offense struggled to produce, finishing with one shot attempt in the overtime period. Even with a strong defensive performance, the Mountain Hawk attack was too much, as a Lehigh goal clinched the game in the 106th minute.

Garkowski finished with a team-high four shot attempts. Courtney Nelson ’15 had three of her own, while six players finished with one.

The Bison will conclude their regular season tomorrow in Annapolis, Md. against Navy. The Orange and Blue can clinch a playoff berth with a win or tie against the Midshipmen, or a Lehigh loss or draw tomorrow.

“Saturday is a big game; we have to win or draw against Navy in order to make playoffs. I have complete confidence in my team and am looking forward to Saturday,” Yee said.