The Raiders are home this weekend as they take on the Bucknell Bison in their last home game and last game in the regular season. It is also Senior Day for the Women's Soccer team. The game is set to start at 4 p.m.

 

Bucknell is coming off a five-game winning streak with a 3-1 win against Holy Cross to put them first place in the Patriot league. Bucknell is now 10-6-1 overall and 5-1-0 in conference play. The Bison, who reached the 10-win plateau for the fifth year in a row, now have 15 standings points. Junior forward Christa Matlack leads the Bison with nine goals and two assists for a total of 20 points. Junior defender Caitlin Holtz is next on the list with two goals and five assists for a total of nine points. The Bison have outscored their opponents in both goals per period (26-24) and shots per period (247-229). Senior goalkeeper, Kathryn Sutton has a save percentage of .776 and has posted three shutouts.

The Raiders are coming off a league win against Army, 2-1, to clinch their spot in the Patriot League tournament. Goals were scored by junior Anna Baldwin (Woodbury, Conn.) and rookie Alyssa Manoogian (Peabody, Mass.). Freshmen Jillian Kinter (Newburyport, Mass.) and Avery Atkins (Dallas, Texas) recorded the assists on the goals.  Goalkeeper, Ashley Walsh (Cicero, N.Y.) also made five saves, winning her eighth game of the season.

 

Even though the Raiders currently hold a 16-5-0 series record over Bucknell, the last time the Raiders faced the Bison, it was the home field advantage of Bucknell that prevailed over Colgate taking the win, 3-1. Danielle Wessler (Port Republic, N.J.) scored Colgate's lone goal in the contest, while Raider goalkeeper Rebecca Michlin (Southington, Conn.) made seven saves.

  

Freshman forward Jillian Kinter was honored with her first Patriot League accolade on Oct. 26, being awarded the league's Rookie of the Week. Kinter scored the game-winning goal in the final six minutes of regulation to give the Raiders a crucial win over Holy Cross last week, then recorded an assist in Colgate's, 2-1, win over Army.

 

Goalkeeper Ashley Walsh leads the team in Patriot League Awards, picking up her third Rookie of the Week accolade on Oct. 19th. Walsh also was honored as the Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week on Oct. 5th. Joining Walsh and on the weekly awards list was junior Calista Victor (Seattle, Wash.) who picked up her first honor as the leagues Defensive Player of the Week.

 

Prior to kickoff, the Raiders will acknowledge their eight seniors, who will be playing their final regular season game at Van Doren Field. The honored seniors, who have given their hard work and dedication to the women's program are: Jessica Bitsack (Mendham, N.J.), Liz Polido (Stow, Mass.), Vera Carrington (Marietta, Ga.), Jillian Arnault (Clay, N.Y.), Kiki Koroshetz (Norwalk, Conn.), Christine Walker (Renton, Wash.), Jamie Herrmann (Seattle, Wash.) and Carrie Glass (Alpharetta, Ga.).

 

Ashley Walsh is currently ranked 10th in the nation, and second in the Patriot league in save percentage with a .886, just .002 behind Navy's Beth Reed. Walsh also tops the league in total number of saves with 117. Her six shutouts on the year also places her third in the league.

 

Freshman Jillian Kinter leads the Raiders offensively with four goals and two assists for 10 points. Avery Atkins sits in second on the roster with three goals, while Jillian Arnault (Clay, N.Y.), Maddie Malone (Glen Ridge, N.J.) and Danielle Wessler have also contributed having scored two goals apiece. Alyssa Manoogian leads the team in assists with three and also has one goal for give points. Walsh's 8-6-3 record leads the Raiders goalkeeping.

 

The Raiders were selected to finish according to the Patriot League Preseason Poll as chosen by conference coaches and sports information directors. The Raiders collected the most first-place votes with seven but fell just short in total points with 83, just seven less than the No. 1 team, Navy. 

Head coach Kathy Brawn will open her 19th season with the Raiders this weekend.  Brawn hails as the Colgate women's soccer all-time winningest coach with 217 career wins and has collected nine of the Raiders ten Patriot League Tournament titles, the most for any Patriot League coach.  

 

The Raiders return last year's top three point leaders in Jessica Bitsack, Danielle Wessler and Jillian Arnault. Bitsack and Wessler led the team in goals with four apiece, while Bitsack added three assists and Wessler one. Arnault finished the year with three goals and two assists. Goalkeeper Rebecca Michlin is also back this season after starting in all 19 games last year while earning five shutouts.