Feb. 28, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's lacrosse team will finish out an early season two-game home stand on Wednesday evening when it hosts regional foe Bucknell (1-2) for a 7 p.m. contest at Holuba Hall.
In its home opener on Saturday, Penn State (0-2) was edged by visiting Albany, 8-7, in Holuba Hall. Junior midfielder Elaine Welch (Bernardsville, N.J.) led Penn State with two goals while senior attacker Jen Steadman (Sykesville, Md.) and freshman attacker Mackenzie Cyr (Westminster, Md.) tallied one goal and one assist each. Junior goalkeeper Dana Cahill (Towson, Md.) recorded nine saves versus 23 Albany shots.
Bucknell's season thus far has been marked by a record-breaking offensive performance in its lone victory and two four-goal losses. The Bison's 24-5 romp over Howard on Feb. 19 was bookended by home losses to St. Bonaventure (14-10) and Robert Morris (9-5). The Bucknell attack has been spearheaded early on by the freshmen duo of Ali Carey and Molly Ford. Carey tops BU in goals (10) and points (12) while Ford has notched a team high seven assists. Julia Braun (9g, 2a), Katelyn Miller (6g, 3a), who also leads the Bison in draw controls and ground balls, and Madison Hurwitz (5g) have also been chief contributors on offense. Senior goalkeeper Alyssa DeLorenz boasts a 9.39 goals against average and a .460 save percentage.
Penn State owns a perfect 14-0 all-time series record versus Bucknell, including last year's 15-2 rout in Lewisburg. The Nittany Lions have dominated the last five meetings, three of which took place in University Park, outscoring the Bison by a combined 90-21 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 begin a two-game road swing this weekend when they visit Charlottesville, Va. for a 1 p.m. Sunday showdown with ACC power No. 7 Virginia (2-1) at Klöckner Stadium. The Cavaliers, which are coming off a 21-11 whipping of No. 9 Syracuse and face Maryland on Friday, have taken five straight in the series. Penn State will then head north to the Charm City to take on No. 12 Loyola (Md.) (1-0) on Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. The Lions knocked off the Greyhounds, 9-8, in the 2010 season opener at Holuba Hall.
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