On Aug. 25, the Bison field hockey team began their 2017 season at Graham Field, playing against Monmouth University in front of wild crowd of over 300 fans. This season, the Bison are led by their two top scorers from the 2016 season: Stephanie Dressler ’18 and Nicole Rupnik ’19, who were named to the preseason All-Patriot League team.

M.C. Evans ’19 put the Bison on the board first as she converted a penalty corner at 10:33 to record her first goal of the season. However, Monmouth came back fighting, scoring the next four goals to pull the team ahead with a 4-1 lead. Leah Fogelsanger ’21 recorded her first collegiate goal at 58:43 off of a rebound from Katie Mannino ’19 to put the Bison within two of the Hawks. Monmouth soon scored again to give the Hawks a three-goal lead. Shortly following, the Hawks scored the final goal of the game at 67:43 to secure the Hawks win at 6-2.

Although the Bison didn’t come out on top, captain Alexis Quick ’19 is confident about their season and upcoming games. “The team did a good job matching Monmouth’s high tempo, speed, and energy. We were unable to convert as much as we wanted on offense and had a few defensive mistakes. The team is really strong this year and has talent at every position, so we are excited to take what we learned from the game and use it the rest of the season,” Quick said.

After their hard-fought home opener, the Bison traveled to Temple on Aug. 27 seeking a win to even their record. Quick earned her first career goal and assist to help the Bison prevail; other goals were scored by Mackenzie Haney ’19, which was also the first of her career, and Dressler. Goalie Emily Finn ’18 stopped three out of four shots taken to solidify the win for the Bison, continuing her success versus Temple over the course of her career. The Orange and Blue finished with a 3-1 victory to bring their season record to 1-1 thus far.

The Bison will be back in action on Sept. 2, on which day they will travel to New York to face Syracuse.