Oct. 5, 2009

Center Valley, Pa. -- Kim Eng led Lehigh to two wins last week, tallying eight points en route to this week's Rookie of the Week award.

It is Eng's third Rookie of the Week award. She leads the League in points, goals and assists.

Bucknell won the other three awards after shutting out Lafayette for a 1-0 League win Saturday.

Jessie Atieh was named the Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week for her shutout performance, while Corrine Raczek was named the Offensive Player of the Week and Christine Weiss was selected as the Defensive Player of the Week.

The three award winners from Bucknell will go up against the Rookie of the Week on Saturday when the Bison travel to Lehigh for an 11 a.m. League contest.

Complete Release in PDF Format

Offensive Player of the Week (9.28.09-10.4.09)

Corinne Raczek, Bucknell  Jr., M, Ocean Twp, N.J./Ocean Twp. Raczek led the Bison to a 1-0 shutout of Lafayette in their League opener Saturday. She scored 4:22 into the first half for the game's only tally. It was her second career goal.

Defensive Player of the Week (9.28.09-10.4.09)

Christine Weiss, Bucknell  Jr., D, Bethlehem, Pa./Southern Lehigh  Weiss helped the Bison defense hold Lafayette to four shots and six penalty corners in a 1-0 shutout win Saturday. The Leopards had just one shot in the first half of the League opener. The is the defense's first shutout of 2009.

Goalkeeper of the Week (9.28.09-10.4.09)

Jessie Atieh, Bucknell  Sr., GK, North Caldwell, N.J./West Essex  Atieh led the Bison to their League-opening 1-0 shutout win over Lafayette Saturday, recording four saves. It was the first shutout for Atieh this season and second in her career. She is 7-3 in the cage this season after the big League win.

Rookie of the Week (9.28.09-10.4.09)

Kim Eng, Lehigh  Fr., F, Morristown, N.J./Madison  Eng led the Mountain Hawks to two wins last week recording eight points. She had two goals -- including the game-winner -- in Lehigh's 3-2 win over Siena and had a goal and two assists in a 4-1 League-opening win over Colgate on Saturday. The freshman standout owns the League-lead in points (21), goals (8) and assists (5) -- the latter two she shares the League-lead with another player.

Honorable Mention Performances Last Week

Alyssa Poorman, American  Sr., GK, Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks South  Poorman held No. 1 Maryland to three goals, while posting a shutout of Holy Cross in the Eagles' League opener.

Christine Fingerhuth, American  Jr., F, Santiago, Chile/Deutsche Schule  Fingerhuth tallied a game-winning goal and an assist in two games last week.

Taryn Hartzell, Lehigh  Jr., D, West Chester, Pa./Unionville  Hartzell led the Lehigh defense in two victories last week, while scoring the game-winning goal in the team's League opener.

Kelsey Andersen, Lafayette  Jr., GK, West Long Branch, N.J./Shore Regional  Andersen recorded the 14th shutout of her career last week, going 1-1 in goal. She allowed just one goal in the two games.

Patriot League Notebook

Bucknell Upends Lafayette Again

League play opened with the repeat of last season's League tournament upset as the Bison shut out the Leopards 1-0 at home on Saturday. Lafayette, as the No. 2 seed in last year's tournament, also lost to the No. 3-seeded Bison. Lafayette was predicted to finish second in the League preseason poll, while Bucknell was picked to finish fourth. The team picked to win its seventh title in seven years also opened the League slate with a win. American shut out Holy Cross on the road. Lehigh also started 1-0 with a 4-1 defeat of Colgate. League play will continue Saturday with two undefeated teams taking the field in Bethlehem when Bucknell and Lehigh square off at 11 a.m. American also will look to remain perfect with a noon home game against Colgate, while Lafayette will host Holy Cross at noon with each team vying for their first League win in 2009.

Rough Road

American opened the season with a 4-5 record in non-league games with six of the nine being played against Top 20 teams. The Eagles capped their gauntlet of a first-half schedule with a 3-0 loss to No. 1 Maryland on Tuesday. They've also lost to No. 11 Michigan State, No. 14 James Madison and No. 17 Indiana. American also has two non-League games scheduled for later in the season that will prove to be tough competition. They'll host No. 7 Princeton on Oct. 11 and host Iowa on Oct. 31. The Hawkeyes are currently receiving votes in the latest poll. American, which sits just outside the nation's top 20, is off to a 1-0 start in the League.

Blanking Rally

American senior keeper Alyssa Poorman recorded the 16th shutout of her career on Oct. 3 -- her second of the season -- with a 5-0 win over Holy Cross. The win moved her to within one shutout of tying for fourth place all-time in Patriot League history. The record is 33. Her season-best mark is seven shutouts in 2008 -- 10th in the League record books -- and Lafayette junior Kelsey Andersen is making a run for that mark. She already has five shutouts this season and now has 14 for her career, tied for sixth on the all-time list. She had six as a sophomore last season and three as a freshman.

Leopards Limiting Opposition

Lafayette leads the League in goals against average with a 0.98 -- and the cushion between No. 1 and No. 2 is very cozy. American is second with a 1.97 and Bucknell is third with a 2.24. Lafayette has allowed just eight goals in 10 games. Goalkeeper Kelsey Andersen, selected as a Goalkeeper of the Week twice this season, has a 0.98 GAA in 10 games. She's recorded five of the League's nine shutouts in 2009.

Keep Track of the Patriot League Through Social Media

In addition to visiting www.patriotleague.org, League fans and followers have plenty of new ways to stay updated and involved during the 2009 season and beyond. The Patriot League has accounts on Facebook and Twitter, and has now started a blog to give more information on the action on the field. All three accounts are accessible through the multimedia link at the right-hand sidebar on the front page of www.patriotleague.org.

2009 Patriot League Championship

The 2009 Patriot League Field Hockey Championship will be held Friday-Saturday, Nov. 6-7 at the site of the highest seed. Two semifinal games will take place on Friday, Nov. 6, with the No. 1 seed facing the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed facing the No. 3 seed. The championship game will be played on Saturday, Nov. 7.

Team Notebooks

American The Eagles opened up League play with a 5-0 win over Holy Cross on Saturday to push their League winning streak to 33 games. Earlier in the week, the Eagles lost to No. 1 Maryland 3-0 on Tuesday. American has won 44 consecutive games against Patriot League opponents including the regular season and tournament play. Savannah Graybill, who scored against Holy Cross, is now tied for 12th in career points at American with 75 and tied for ninth in goals with 33. Christine Fingerhuth, who also scored against Holy Cross, now has 61 career points, which is the 16th best total in American history. Alyssa Poorman's 16 career shutouts are second best at American and fifth best in Patriot League history. American will host Colgate at noon Saturday in the League home opener. On Sunday, the Eagles will host No. 7 Princeton at 2 p.m.

Bucknell The Bison opened their League schedule with a 1-0 blanking of Lafayette Saturday. Corinne Raczek scored the only goal, while goalkeeper Jessie Atieh made four saves to preserve the Bison's first shutout of 2009. With the win over Lafayette, Bucknell has started 5-0 at home for the first time in program history. The shutout was Bucknell's first League-opening win since 2003. It also was the first time since 1997-98 that Bucknell has posted consecutive wins against Lafayette. Jeremy Cook is one victory shy of equaling Sally Starr for fifth place on Bucknell's all-time wins list with 19. Cook owns an 18-11 record in his two years at the helm of the Bison. Bucknell will travel to Lock Haven at 7 p.m. Tuesday and Lehigh at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Colgate The Raiders lost their League opener, falling 4-1 at Lehigh on Saturday. Mika Ella-Tang moved into a tie for eighth on the all-time assist list at Colgate in the 4-1 loss at Lehigh. The senior has 14 in her career and needs one more to move into a tie for sixth. Colgate will return to the field with two games this week,  traveling to Cornell for a non-League match at 4 p.m. Tuesday before heading to American for a noon League game on Saturday.

Holy Cross The Crusaders went 0-3 last week, losing a League game Holy Cross 1-0 on Wednesday, American won 5-0 on Saturday and Maine won 5-1 on Sunday. Holy Cross will travel to Lafayette for a League game at noon Saturday. The Crusaders also will travel to Quinnipiac where they will face Columbia at 2:30 p.m. Sunday.

Lafayette The Leopards went 1-1 last week, defeating Penn 2-0 in a non-League contest on Wednesday before losing their League opener 1-0 to Bucknell. The Leopards will return to the field with a non-League contest against Columbia at 7 p.m. Wednesday. They will continue League play at noon Saturday when they host Holy Cross.

Lehigh The Mountain Hawks went 2-0 last week, including a 4-1 win over Colgate on Saturday in the League opener. Lehigh also defeated Siena 3-2 on Tuesday. Kim Eng scored four points in each game and now has a League-best 21 on season. She also is tied for the League-lead in goals (8) and assists (5). Taryn Hartzell converted a penalty stroke for the game-winner against Colgate. Sophomore Madison Ingal scored her first goal of season against Siena, and seniors Morgan Christopher and Lindsey Smith each had goals against Colgate. The Mountain Hawks will host non-League Villanova at 7 p.m. Wednesday and League rival Bucknell at 11 a.m. Saturday.