Lehigh University
Bucknell
Lehigh falls to Bucknell, but still qualifies for tournament
10/29/2005 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
The two teams went over 65 minutes without scoring, and then totaled two goals in a span of just 18 seconds to send the game into the extra sessions. Bucknell got on the board first when Kelly O’Brien scored her seventh goal of the season at the 65:23 mark off of a feed from Callista Costopoulos to put the Bison in front 1-0. Lehigh came right back though, as sophomore Christy Smith dribbled through the entire Bucknell defense and beat Bison keeper Liz Jordan at the 65:41 mark to tie the contest at one. The score would remain that way, sending the teams into overtime.
In the first overtime session, Lehigh had its chances, out shooting the Bison 12-6. Junior Moira Garrity had a penalty stroke for Lehigh, and Katie Urosevich was awarded one for Bucknell, but neither found the back of the cage, and so the teams headed into a second overtime period. In the second extra session, Kelly Hoffman slipped the ball past Lehigh keeper Meghan Gove after Gove had sent back a shot by Katie Leinen, and Bucknell escaped with the 2-1 victory.
For the game, Lehigh out shot its counterpart 28-21, and had ten penalty corners to the Bison’s six. Gove made a number of outstanding saves in goal, going airborne for several, and finished the day with 15.
Senior Marissa Iannarone led the Brown and White with ten shots, while Smith unleashed eight. Bucknell was led in shots by O’Brien with six.
Like any coach, Julie Mazer wanted Saturday’s win badly, but despite the loss, the third year coach offered much praise for the way her team fought. “Certainly this is a frustrating way to lose after we fought back. But this was a great game by both teams. We did a lot of things well that we had been working on. I thought we received the ball well, we were moving well and we just played together out there.” Mazer added, “I want the team to use the frustration they are feeling right now, to prepare themselves for next weekend, when we go into the playoffs.”
The Mountain Hawks will go into next weekend’s tournament as the number four seed and will play the top-seeded American Eagles in one semifinal. In the other semifinal matchup, second seeded Bucknell will take on the number-three seed Holy Cross.
