On Thursday, Nov. 2, Bison Field Hockey (8-9) traveled to Washington, D.C. to face off against #1 seed American University (10-7) in the Patriot League Semifinals. Despite their ferocious fourth-period comeback, the Bison fell short 3-2. 

In the first quarter, American came out hot, earning six penalty corners, only scoring on three of them. Until the fourth quarter, the game remained 3-0. 

The second and third quarter featured more American pressure and lots of great Bison defense. Bucknell had a chance to score 45 seconds into the second. However, Kira Leclercq’s ’26 shot was saved. 

Early in the fourth quarter, the Bison broke through and tallied a goal. Hannah Guarente ’25 inserted a pass to Leclercq, who rocketed it into the circle. Luckily, Rachel Apa ’24 was there to tip the ball past the goalie. 

After that goal, the Orange and Blue had lots of momentum. With five minutes to play in the game, head coach Kelsey Kolojejchick made a strategic decision to pull the goalie. The extra Bison combined with American having a player out on a yellow card gave them an attacking advantage. 

The Orange and Blue kept pressing and ultimately were rewarded with a penalty corner. Once again, Apa tapped in her second goal of the game on a shot fired by Leclercq. 

With three minutes left in the game, the Bison were down by one. They kept pressuring American and received a penalty corner with two seconds remaining. Leclercq fired the ball into the cage area, but the shot went wide. However, a second penalty corner was awarded with time expired. Once again, Leclercq loaded up, but the shot went just wide.

Overall, this season, Apa finished the season with six goals, becoming the second-leading scorer on the team. This game was Katie Lintz’s ’27 Bucknell debut. 

Despite the hard work, this close game snuck away from the Bison and marked the end of their 2023 season.