Feb. 15, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Despite the wintry weather again menacing the central region of Pennsylvania, as of Tuesday morning, the non-conference contest between the No. 18 Penn State women's lacrosse team (1-0) and Bucknell (0-0), scheduled for 4 p.m. later this afternoon at Graham Field in Lewisburg, will be played as planned.
The Nittany Lions will be playing on short rest, embarking on their first road trip of 2010 just two days after opening the season with a 9-8 upset victory over No. 14 Loyola on Sunday. Six different players scored for Penn State, led by juniors Laura Lesnick (Jarrettsville, Md.) and Jen Steadman (Sykesville, Md.) and sophomore Theresa Zichelli (Severna Park, Md.), who each netted two. The defense was anchored by junior Ashley Boccio (Northport, N.Y.), who had a game-high five ground balls in addition to two caused turnovers, and senior goalkeeper Stephanie Ellis (Bryn Mawr, Pa.), who recorded seven saves.
Bucknell is coming off a nine-win season (9-9) in 2009, the program's most in its 11-year history. The Bison attack will be without its top returning scorer, Carol Donohue (37-17-54), who suffered an injury in the offseason and is not expected back until March. Despite that loss, Bucknell still has five returning players who produced double-digit points last season, including a 30-goal scorer in junior midfielder Julia Braun. Headlining the defense is 2009 Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year, junior Alyssa DeLorenz.
Penn State owns a perfect 13-0 record versus in-state rival Bucknell, including last year's 18-5 rout in Holuba Hall. The Nittany Lions have dominated the prior four meetings, three of which took place in University Park, outscoring the Bison by a 75-19 margin.
Fans can follow all of the action of the Penn State-Bucknell match-up with live stats and instant scoring updates from Gametracker. Find a link on the official website of Nittany Lion athletics, www.GoPSUsports.com.
The Nittany Lions return home this weekend to host No. 2 Maryland (1-0) in a 1 p.m. game at Holuba Hall. Penn State possesses a 14-31-1 all-time record against the Terrapins, including last season's 20-12 loss in the ALC/ACC Challenge in Columbus, Ohio.