March 8, 2008

Final Stats

LEWISBURG, Pa. - Lauren Lane scored four goals and Lauren Aksionoff, Jackie Lane and Amanda Makoid tallied three goals apiece to lead American to a 16-9 victory over Bucknell in the Patriot League opener for both teams Saturday afternoon at wet and windy Graham Field.

Playing in only its second game of the season, Bucknell (1-1) received three goals and an assist from Carol Donohue (West Babylon, N.Y./West Babylon), two goals and an assist from both Chelsea Peters (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y./Cold Spring Harbor) and Paige Kasschau (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side), and three assists from Sarah Collins (Goldens Bridge, N.Y./John Jay).

Bucknell made a spirited comeback after falling behind 11-3 less than a minute into the second half. About eight minutes into the second half Peters scored twice in only 11 seconds, then Donohue tallied twice in 38 seconds. All told, the four goals came in only 2:33, and the Bison were back within 11-7 with 19:49 still to play.

Bucknell appeared poised to pull even closer when Peters won the ensuing draw and raced to the goal. But just outside the crease American's Tahra Johnson stick-checked the ball loose, the Eagles raced up the field and Kira Sonberg found Aksionoff alone behind the Bison defense. Aksionoff's tally at 18:59, followed by a Maeve Koch goal 1:19 later, stopped Bucknell's momentum and gave the Eagles a 13-7 lead. The Bison never got closer than five goals the rest of the way.

The Bison got off to a good start in this one, as Donohue and freshman Ashley St. John (Wayne, Pa./Conestoga) scored in the first seven minutes to give them a quick 2-0 lead. American scored three straight, the last coming from Brittany Finnegan, to take its first lead of the day, but Kasschau scored with 12:33 left in the half to tie the game at 3-all.

American (2-4) dominated the last 12 minutes of the first half, however, scoring seven straight goals to surge ahead 10-3 at the break.

American outshot Bucknell 27-21, but the Bison did well on the loose balls, gathering 18 of the 27 draws and winning the ground ball battle 23-18.

A steady rain fell throughout the game, and during halftime a gale force wind began blowing that hampered both teams' passing in the second half. The teams combined for 49 turnovers, 28 coming in the final 30 minutes. Bucknell was just 7-for-16 on clears, while the Eagles were 10-for-20.

Bison goalie Alyssa DeLorenz (Garland, Texas/Plano East) finished with 10 saves, while American's Kristine Vida had eight stops. Bucknell senior Lauren Deitrich (Collegeville, Pa./Hill School) had a good day defensively with four caused turnovers and five ground balls. Freshman Laura Van Schaack (Winnetka, Ill./New Trier) had a team-high four draw controls.