Terriers, Bison to Play for PL Title Saturday
November 7, 2014 | Field Hockey
Watch on PLN | Championship Central
Semifinals: Terriers Top American, 3-1
The Terriers (12-7), who are the No. 2 seed, earned a 3-1 triumph over third-seeded American in Friday's semifinal round. The top-seeded Bison (13-5) blanked fourth-seeded Colgate, 2-0.
BU's lone conference loss this season came at the hands of Bucknell, which had a perfect 6-0 record in League play. The Terriers will look to avenge that 5-2 loss in Lewisburg on Oct. 4. Since that result, BU has posted a record of 8-2 while allowing only eight goals during the 10-game stretch.
Last year in its inaugural season in the Patriot League, BU reached the championship game but fell to American by a score of 3-0. The Terriers defeated Bucknell, 1-0, in last season's semifinal round.
A win on Saturday would put the Terriers in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2007.
In the regular-season tilt in Lewisburg, Bucknell got goals from five different players to claim the 5-2 win. The Bison took a 2-0 lead into halftime before sophomore Bea Baumberger Altirriba tallied her first collegiate goal. The Bison, however, quickly regained their two-goal cushion and went on to secure their first-ever win over BU.
Bucknell, led by Patriot League Coach of the Year Jeremy Cook, hasn't lost consecutive games all season long and enters Saturday on a three-game win streak.
Senior Liz Wells leads the Bison in scoring with 19 points on eight goals and three assists. Junior Kiersten Sydnor has added 16 points (7g, 2a) and senior Amie Pritchard has tallied 14 (4g, 6a). Wills and junior Abby Watson provided the goals in Friday's semifinal win over Colgate.
Junior Shannon Keen has an impressive 1.40 goals-against average in goal for the Bison this season to go along with a .679 save percentage.
On Friday against American, sophomore Amanda Cassera continued her offensive tear with two more goals to increase her conference-leading totals to 13 goals and 29 points. Those numbers are the most by a Terrier since Andrea Greene had the exact same 13-3--29 scoring line in 2010.
Junior Sofi Laurito, who assisted on goal by sophomore Taylor Blood on Friday, now has 18 points on six goals and a team-best six assists. Sophomore Hester van der Laan (6g, 3a), who missed Friday's game due to injury, and Blood (6g, 2a) have 15 and 14 points, respectively.
The BU defense, led by senior netminder Valentina Cerda Eimbcke, has been stifling over the past five weeks. Her goals-against average has fallen to 1.50 while her save percentage stands at .750.
