Thursday, Nov. 7, Bucknell Field Hockey faced the Lafayette Leopards in the Patriot League Semifinals. The Bison put up a fight but fell 2-1 to the Leopards, the Bison’s fourth straight season getting defeated in the semifinals. Senior Lily Neilson’s 60th career goal was not enough to overcome the preceding 2-0 deficit. 

The Leopards’ defense remained solid throughout the game, entering the semifinals with a three-game shutout streak. Lafayette scored a goal in the first quarter and another in the second quarter to start the game with the lead. 

With 30 seconds remaining in the first half, Neilson scored her 18th goal of the season off a penalty corner, striking the ball past Lafayette defenders and breaking their defensive streak of over 300 scoreless minutes of Patriot League opponents.  

The second half of the game was a defensive battle. The Orange and Blue only managed to generate one penalty corner in the third quarter and one shot in the fourth. Both teams attained eight shots, but the Bison obtained two more penalty corners. 

Neilson’s 60th goal moved her into second place in Patriot League history. She finished her career as Bucknell’s leading player in goals and points with 126. Neilson became the first player in Patriot League history to win Offensive Player of the Year three times, lead the conference in goals for all four seasons and will go down in school history as one of Bucknell’s best field hockey players. 

The Bison finished the season with a record of 8-9, improving from last year at 4-2 in the conference. The Orange and Blue will return to the field next August.