Friday, Sept. 6, the Bison faced a tough loss against the Delaware Blue Hens. With multiple close shots on goal and attempts to win the game, the Bison ultimately could not score any points to secure a win for the team.
The first period of the game was all about defense. For both teams combined, there was only one shot on goal throughout the first quarter of the game. Moving into the second quarter, the game picked up offensively with four shot attempts from both the Bison and the Blue Hens. The Orange and Blue even had several penalty shots on goal, but couldn’t get past the Delaware goalie. The Bison had one final perfect chance in the third quarter after a player from Delaware got a yellow card, but the Blue Hens goalie refused to be beaten.
The Orange and Blue did not quit. Kira Leclercq ’26 made history in the fourth quarter after an impressive defensive save gave her four for the season and 16 in her field hockey career. It wasn’t until the 58th minute of the game that there was a monumental shift. Reese Czajkowski ’28 was flagged for a ten-minute penalty, ultimately causing the Bison to play a man down as they headed into 7v7 overtime. The Blue Hens took their shot and scored, ending the game with a final score of 1-0.
Sunday, Sept. 8 was a big day for Bison Field Hockey as they avenged last year’s loss to UMass Lowell with a 2-0 win. Zoe Carlson-Pietraszek ’25 and Lily Neilson ’25 led the way with one goal each, both their firsts of the season. The Bison had a total of ten shots on goal in comparison to UMass Lowell’s seven and took four penalty corners in comparison to UMass Lowell’s three.
The game was an intense one. However, it took no time at all for the Orange and Blue to establish an offensive rhythm. It was only six minutes into the game that Carlson-Pietraszek was able to lock in the first goal for Bucknell after a beautiful assist from Isabella Pavlides ’25.
Neilson was able to shut out the game with a second goal for the Bison in the 40th minute off an impressive aerial pass down the pitch by Leclercq. This now puts Neilson at 43 goals throughout her collegiate career. For the rest of the game, the Bison kept a tight defense and had no goals scored on them for the rest of the game. UMass Lowell tried to pull their goalie in for the last four minutes of the game, but this still resulted in no goals for the team.
Look out for the Bison’s next games in New York, N.Y. against Wagner on Sept. 13 and Columbia on Sept. 15.
