Nov. 6, 2008

LEWISBURG, Pa. -

The Bucknell field hockey team will travel to Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Nov. 6, for the annual Patriot League Field Hockey banquet, prior to taking on the Lafayette Leopards in the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament on Friday at 1:30 p.m. The Bison (10-7, 2-3 PL) are the No. 3 seed in the tournament, which is being hosted by No. 1 seed American (10-7, 5-0 PL). Lafayette is the No. 2 seed (12-6, 4-1 PL), while Colgate (9-8, 2-3 PL) is the No. 4 seed and will play American at 11 a.m. on Friday. The championship game is scheduled for Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

It has been a historic season for the Orange and Blue under first-year head coach Jeremy Cook. Cook has led the program to just its fifth season with at least 10 wins in 36 years of Bucknell field hockey, and the first since the 1999 team compiled a 14-7 record. The Bison lead the league in scoring average (2.64), goals and goald per game (43, 2.69), assists and assists per game (52, 3.19) and penalty corners (130). Bucknell's 52 assists this season shatters the previous program record of 36, set in 2006.

Senior co-captain Amanda Faust (Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) and classmate Trina Boyer (Macungie, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) were First Team All-Patriot League selections this season, while sophomores Morgan Kauffman (Millersville, Pa./Penn Manor) and Corinne Raczek (Ocean Township, N.J./Ocean Township) were chosen for the second team. Faust has now been a first team choice for each of the last three seasons, and is the second Bison field hockey player to be a four-time all-conference choice. The other is recent Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Almira Baldwin Arnold, a 1994 Bucknell graduate. Boyer, Kauffman and Raczek are all first-time all-league honorees.

Faust, a 2008 NFHCA All-Star, leads the team in points (28) and goals (nine), placing her third and tied for fifth in the conference, respectively. Her 10 assists place her fourth in the league, but just third on her own team, behind league leaders Raczek and Kauffman. Raczek has 14 helpers, while Kauffman has 13. Both tied the single-game Bucknell record for assists this season with three in a contest, and the duo now ranks first and second, respectively, in the Bison record books for assists in a single season. Faust's total places her in a tie for third, and she is the all-time leader in assists for Bucknell with 34. Faust is the third leading scorer in program history with 88 points, and her 27 goals rank sixth in Bucknell annals.

Kauffman is sixth in the league in scoring, accumulating 23 points, while Boyer ranks seventh in goals (eight) and tied for ninth in points with 16. Four of Boyer's goals were game-winners, tops on the team and tied for third in the Patriot League. Bison sophomore Kelly Bruvik (Skillman, N.J./Stuart Country Day) has seven goals this season, ranking her in a tie for eighth place in the league, while senior Katie Ruiz (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg Area) and junior Megan Krebs (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./GAR Memorial) contributed 16 and 15 points, respectively, to the Bucknell offensive attack.

Along with Faust, senior co-captain Steph Graf (Jamison, Pa./Central Bucks East), junior Sarah Ebright (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin), sophomore Christine Weiss (Bethlehem, Pa./Southern Lehigh) and senior Emily Hutchison (Leola, Pa./Conestoga Valley) anchored the defense for the Bison. The latter four combined for five defensive saves, a goal and three assists this year.

Many times this year Cook would play use both junior Jessie Atieh (North Caldwell, N.J./West Essex) and freshman Sarah Zargarpour (North Vancouver, Canada/Handsworth Secondary) in a game. Atieh started 16 games for Bucknell, playing 855 minutes, 34 seconds, and accumulating a 2.05 goals against average and a .709 save percentage. Zargarpour played in eight games, totaling 335:54 of game time. She had an 1.67 goals against average, a .758 save percentage and one shutout.

Other players seeing significant playing time for Bucknell this year are seniors Sarah Herrmann (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock North) and Jacquie Kataneksza (Harare, Zimbabwe/Arundel School), junior Austin Thomas (Tunkhannock, Pa./Tunkhannock) and freshmen Marci Richard (Oley, Pa./Oley Valley) and Mallory Smith (Schnecksville, Pa./Parkland).

Bucknell battled Lafayette on Oct. 4, in Easton, Pa., falling to the Leopards, 2-1, in double overtime. Krebs gave the Bison a 1-0 lead with eight minutes, 18 seconds left in the first half. The Orange and Blue would keep their 1-0 lead until the Leopards tied the game with just 4:57 remaining in regulation on a goal by Lindsay Manjo. Maggie Condon, the league's leading goal scorer with 14, scored the game-winning goal 5:54 into the second overtime. Zargarpour made five saves in the second half and the overtimes for the Bison. Condon, who has attempted 41 more shots than anyone else in the league this year, had 11 shots, six on goal, in the contest.

All Patriot Tournament field hockey games will be available to watch online through the Patriot League's All-Access package. Registration and a small fee are required.