The Bison field hockey team is on a roll thus far, earning their second Patriot League win of the season against Boston University. The Orange and Blue showed true perseverance and grit to win 2-1 on the road in overtime. 

First-year Lily Neilson has been pivotal to the team’s success in these opening league matches. Following her record setting five-goal game last weekend, Nielson netted the game winner against the Terriers just a minute and nine seconds into overtime to secure the victory. Nielson was awarded Rookie of the Week honors for the second week in a row for her performance. 

Maddie Rehak ’23 gave the Bison the initial lead a mere 22 minutes into the game. However, the Terriers were able to even the score with 13 minutes left in regular time. 

Defensively, Clara McCormick ’23 was a big contributor in limiting the Terriers to only one goal, tallying six saves on the day. For the offense, Rachel Apa ’24 and Gugulethu Sibanda ’24 added one assist each on the day. 

The Orange and Blue traveled to Cambridge on Sunday to face the highly-ranked Harvard Crimson. 

Despite suffering a 4-1 loss, the Bison put up a strong fight, limiting the Crimson to a one-goal lead at the half. The Orange and Blue were even able to get on the board in the 43rd minute, when Nielson converted on a penalty corner inserted by Rehak. This goal marked Nielson’s ninth of the season, ranking her first in the Patriot League. 

“It was a great team win against Boston this weekend. Going into the game was a really cool experience because we all recognized we are no longer the underdogs and had a huge advantage with winning the league last year and that was shown in the game. Everyone had great plays that led to the team’s success. Harvard was a disappointing loss, however we played strong and relentlessly as a unit against a top school and I was proud of the whole team for our play this weekend all around” Rehak said about the weekend’s games. 

This coming weekend the Bison face Patriot League rival American in Washington D.C. Last year, the Bison faced American three times, where they earned two thrilling victories to lead them to the Patriot League Championship. Catch the Bison in action at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 2 on ESPN+ as they fight for their third consecutive Patriot League victory!