No. 5 Field Hockey Defeats Bucknell 3-1 at Alumni Turf Sunday Afternoon
BOX SCORE
ALBANY, N.Y.- With two games to go before the start of the conference season, No. 5 University at Albany field hockey (5-1) downed Bucknell (2-5) by a score of 3-1 on Sunday afternoon. Anna Bottino led the Danes with one goal and one assist.
“I think Bucknell did a very good job of disrupting us today,” said head coach Phil Sykes. “They got us to do things we didn't want to do, and got us out of our rhythm a bit. We were trying some new things today which is positive, but there are definitely some aspects of that to work on going forward.”
UAlbany appeared to be in control of the game early, as the first penalty corner of the game resulted in a Purple & Gold tally. Fiori Van Rijswijk inserted to Laura Page, who stopped the pass for Paula Heuser. Heuser fired low to make the score 1-0 five minutes in.
Sykes & co., nearly found themselves up two moments later, as freshman Frederike Helmke had a deflected shot saved at the goal line.
The teams would go back and forth through much of the first half, but Maxi Primus did not see a Bucknell shot in the first 35 minutes. The Bison had their midfield momentum intercepted before getting past the UAlbany 25-yard line, courtesy of Page, Jaclyn Hibbs and Helmke.
With Helmke pushing NFHCA Player of the Year Heuser to the forward line in her first collegiate appearance, Bottino had more space to work in the Bucknell end. The sophomore connected with Liza Morgan at the top of the circle, and Morgan fired top-shelf for a 2-0 lead with 10 minutes left in the first half.
At the end of the first stanza, UAlbany held a 3-0 advantage in penalty corners and 7-0 edge in shots.
As the contest became more physical in the second half, the Purple & Gold was awarded two penalty corners in the first 10 minutes. Both attempts on net came up empty, as Heuser had a shot saved, and Helmke's short penalty corner shot from Van Rijswijk was blocked.
With a few miscues in the midfield, the Bison found themselves deep in Dane territory. On its first and only corner of the game, Bucknell deflected a pass from the top of the circle in to make the score 2-1 with 15 minutes to play.
Sykes called timeout following a green card assessed to Page and momentum swinging Bucknell's way.
As UAlbany spread the Bison defense out wide, Van Rijswijk took the ball to the right endline. The senior beat her defender to find Bottino on the other side of the Bucknell goalkeeper. Bottino tapped in the ball on an open net for a 3-1 UAlbany cushion in the 66th minute.
Van Rijswijk tallied her first multi-assist game of the year with two. The senior has at least one assist in three games.
Bottino has score in each of the last four games. She has four goals and two assists to date, ranking second on the team in points with 10.
Heuser continued her point streak with one goal against the Bison. The junior has scored in every game but one, leading the team with 19 points thus far in 2015. She is 16 points and 10 goals away from becoming the all-time UAlbany record holder in career goals and points. She has 133 career points and 54 goals to date.
The No. 5 Danes visit Lafayette (5-2, 0-1 PL) on Friday, Sept. 25, before hitting the road for Monmouth (3-5) on Sunday Sept. 27.
