Over the weekend, Bison women’s soccer faced two tough defeats from the No. 20 Georgetown Hoyas and No. 21 Pittsburgh Panthers, losing their two-game winning streak that started the season.
“We knew that both Pittsburgh and Georgetown were going to be huge opponents for us, so we chose to focus on our defense during the week prior. We take pride in our defensive unit and knew that no matter what happened following these games we were going to grow as a team,” goalkeeper Jenna Hall ’24 said.
The Bison were able to hold the Hoyas to a scoreless draw for the majority of the game thanks to their solid, veteran defense. However, with 11 shots taken against them in the first 35 minutes, the Bison were predominantly on the defensive. Four of the Hoya’s 21 attempted shots throughout the game were saved by Hall, and eight were blocked on the way by the Bison defense.
Despite being in control for most of the game, Georgetown was unable to score on Hall until the last four minutes, when a player scored off of a set piece. The game ended 1-0 Hoyas, bringing the Bison’s record to (2-1-0) and the Hoyas’ to (2-0-1). Regardless of the loss, the Bison were able to find some positivity in their grit shown throughout the game.
“When my team gives it their all, I am always proud of them. Georgetown is a quality team, and to hold them for as long as we did is a huge takeaway to walk away with. I was extremely disappointed with the loss, don’t get me wrong, but we can’t dwell on past games. I know these moments will push my teammates and myself to give it everything we have in every game from here on out,” Hall said.
On Sunday, the Orange and Blue fell 5 – 0 to Pittsburgh. Similar to the game against Georgetown, the Bison were predominantly on the defensive with the Panthers maintaining possession for 74 percent of the game.
The first goal was scored 22 minutes in by the Panthers. During the last 12 minutes of the first half, two more goals were scored, giving Pittsburgh a 3-0 lead heading into half time. Two more goals were scored in the second half by the Panthers, creating a five point deficit for the Bison in the 73rd minute, one they were unable to come back from.
Despite the loss, Hall had a great game and finished with a career high of 16 saves. However, she emphasized that the record would not have been possible without the hard work of her teammates.
“As a goalkeeper, you take each goal personally. There is not one goal, in my entire time here at Bucknell, that I don’t recall how it went in,” Hall said. “I walked away not caring about setting a new career high save statistic because at the end of the day, we still lost. One thing I was pleased about, though, was that I could look around at every girl on my team and knew they gave it their all in that game. Without them, there would have been a lot more shots and definitely a lot more goals.”
