March 24, 2008

LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell women's lacrosse team continues its busiest stretch of the season with three more road games this week, beginning Tuesday night at La Salle at 6 p.m. The Bison will also play at Ohio State on Friday night and at Robert Morris Sunday afternoon. Including Saturday's loss at Holy Cross, the current four-game road trip spans only eight days and features games as far east as Worcester, Mass., and as far west as Columbus, Ohio. Bucknell is actually in the middle of a six-games-in-12-days stretch, with five of the games coming against non-league competition.

Series Notes:
• Bucknell is 2-1 all-time against La Salle, including a 5-4 victory in Philadelphia in 2004 in the most recent meeting.
• Bucknell and Ohio State met for the very first time last season. The Buckeyes won 17-4 at Graham Field in Bucknell's final game of the year.
• The Bison also began a new series with Robert Morris in 2007, and the Colonials prevailed 9-8 on a fluky goal from 40 yards out as time expired.

Last Outing:
Four goals each from Kristine Corkum and Nikki Bolduc propelled Holy Cross to a 16-6 Patriot League victory over Bucknell on Saturday afternoon in Worcester, Mass. Bonnie Buechel scored a season-high three goals for the Bison, who fell to 2-3 overall and 1-2 in conference play. The two-time defending Patriot League champs outshot the Bison 37-17 and erased an early 2-1 deficit with an 8-1 run in the first half. Holy Cross (2-6, 1-2) led 10-4 at the half, then outscored Bucknell 6-0 in the second half until the Bison scored twice in the final 47 seconds of the game.

Bison Bits:
• After scoring 23 points in her first four games (13 goals, 10 assists), Carol Donohue was kept off the scoresheet against Holy Cross. Still, she ranks fourth in the Patriot League in points per game (4.60).
• Donohue also ranks fourth in the league in goals per game and third in assists per game.
• Lauren Deitrich still leads the league by a wide margin in caused turnovers per game (2.80). The No. 2 player in that category is Caitlin Mandrin Hill of Navy at 1.86.
• Bonnie Buechel is fifth in the PL in draw controls per game (2.80).
• Bucknell ranks second in the Patriot League in shooting percentage, converting on 52.1% of its attempts.
• The Bison have outscored foes 36-27 in the second halves of games this season.

This Week's Opponents:
• La Salle is 0-6 on the season, with three of the losses coming by three goals or less. The Explorers' last two losses both came at the hands of Patriot League teams in Lehigh (13-10) and Colgate (14-9). Emily Bonczek leads the team in scoring with 30 goals and one assist in 31 games.
• Ohio State is 6-2 on the season after Saturday's 13-6 victory over St. Bonaventure, and it is idle until Friday's game against Bucknell. The Buckeyes opened the season with a 14-3 victory over American, the preseason PL favorite, and their only two losses are to No. 1 Northwestern (21-5) and No. 11 Notre Dame (14-11). Ohio State's top scorers are Brittany Zerhusen (14-7-21) and Kelly Haggerty (13-8-21), and they have seven players with 10 or more goals.
• Robert Morris is 2-6 on the season heading into Friday's home game against Sacred Heart. The Colonials have beaten Cincinnati (11-8) and Wagner (18-8). Alana Beck leads the squad in scoring with 10 goals and eight assists for 18 points.

In the Polls:
• Bucknell was picked tied for fifth (with Navy) in the Patriot League preseason poll. American adged defending champion Holy Cross by just two points in the poll, followed by Colgate, Lehigh, Bucknell/Navy and Lafayette.