The AU women's team concluded their regular season with a 2-1 defeat to Bucknell University Saturday, ending their chance to qualify for the Patriot League's postseason tournament. The loss ends the Eagles' season record at 5-10-4 and 2-2-3 within the league.
The Bisons scored the first goal of the match in the 25th minute of play, as sophomore forward Kelliann Doherty collected a rebound off of teammate senior defender Nicole Marotta's shot and put it home to give Bucknell a 1-0 lead, a margin they would continue to hold entering halftime.
Bucknell added to their lead only seconds into the second half of play, as sophomore forward Christa Matlack took her own rebound off of AU senior goalkeeper Kelsey Wiggins and put it into the back of the neat to give the Bison a 2-0 lead.
AU was able to cut the lead in half in the 67th minute, as junior defender Erin Stebbins connected with junior forward Kelsey Brasher, who scored her team-leading sixth goal of the season to put the deficit at 2-1. However, this would be all the scoring the Eagles would get for the rest of the match, falling by the same 2-1 score.
"We lost to a very good team today but showed tremendous heart and guts to come back and get a goal in the second half and battle until the end in a close match," AU Head Coach Dave Bucciero told AUeagles.com. "I want to thank all five of our seniors who did a great job this year and helped contribute to the growth of this program during the last four years."
The match was the final game in an AU uniform for seniors Tatiana Barbato, Jess Cole, Krystn Hodge, Lindsay Miller and Kelsey Wiggins.
You can reach this staff writer at jhall@theeagleonline.com.
