No. 19 Bucknell Bests Harvard 12-10 to Advance to Eastern Championship Fifth Place Game

Laurel McCarthy

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Kandis Canonica (Jr., Burlingame, Calif./St. Ignatius Prep) and Amanda Skonezney (So., Mechanicsburg, Pa/Cumberland Valley) both scored four goals to key No. 19-ranked Bucknell University to a 12-10 victory over Harvard University as the Bison earned a spot in the fifth place game at the 2010 Eastern Championship at the University of Maryland.

The story of the game was special teams play as the squads combined for four five-meter penalty shot goals and eight man-up tallies as over half of the offense generated in the game did not come at even-strength.

Bucknell trailed just twice in the game with the first instance coming 1:31 into the contest as Elise Molnar (Fr., Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar) found the back of the cage on a five-meter penalty shot drawn due to a Bison hold.  Harvard saw its lead evaporate 21 seconds later when Skonezney broke through the Crimson line to uncork a blast from the wing on a man-up opportunity to even the damage at 1-1 with 5:08 remaining in the first period. 

Bucknell took the lead with a penalty shot by Skonezney at the 4:29 mark which was drawn when Aisha Price (Fr., Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou School) pulled back when the Bison had advantage inside five-meters.  Harvard retied the game on a man-up marker by Shannon Purcell (So., Danville, Calif./Monte Vista), but the Bison charged back out to a 3-2 lead when Haley Prickett (Jr., Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar) solved the Harvard man-down defense with a whip from the wings with 3:24 showing on the period clock. 

Again, Harvard came back as Devan Kennifer (So., Monterey, Calif./Santa Catalina) rifled a shot which settled into the left, rear corner of the cage on a counter chance to even the scoring at 3-3 with 2:02 left in the period. 

The back-and-forth, slugfest continued as Canonica scored on a rollaway with 23 seconds left on the clock as the goal joined the preceeding score by Kennifer as the only even-strength tallies in the first eight minutes of play.

Harvard retied the game in the opening minutes of the second period when Monica Zdrojewski (So., Irvine, Calif./Dana Hills) collected a rebound off the post for a put-back score on a counter opportunity at 5:31, but Canonica returned the Bison to the lead 27 seconds later with an outside shot to make it 5-4.

However, the Crimson refused to go gently into the night as Ita Barton-Kettleborough (So., Manchester, England/St. Bede's College) fired home a penalty shot at 4:43 to retie the game.  Harvard took the lead for the second time on the day with 1:14 remaining in the first half on a put back off a rebound by Price to give the Crimson a 6-5 lead.  However, the Bison lowered their heads and plowed through the Harvard defense twice in the final 50 seconds of play receiving a man-up tally by Hallie Keenan (So., Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) with 46 seconds remaining on the clock and a half-tank "Hail Mary" lob by Skonezney as the period clock expired which eluded Harvard netminder Laurel McCarthy (So., Oak Hill, Ill./Fenwick) for a 7-6 Bucknell lead at the break.

Facing a deficit and needing a change of pace, Crimson head coach Erik Farrar turned to Shami Entenman (Jr., Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./Grosse Pointe South) off the bench as the new goalie for the second half.  The gamble paid off for Farrar and the Crimson as Entenman blocked a five-meter penalty shot 14 seconds into the second half.  The shot marked the first collegiate scoring attempt faced by Entenman and appeared to ignite the Harvard offensive effort.

Bucknell extinquished the offensive fire quickly, however, as Canonica buried a man-up goal at 7:25 to make it an 8-6 game.  The Crimson pulled back to within a goal a minute later when Zdrojewski connected on an outside shot at 6:22, but the Bison continued their pattern of countering each Harvard goal with one of their own as Canonica unleashed her fourth goal and yet another man-up marker to make it 9-7 with 5:48 left in the third period.

The Bison cushioned the lead prior to the end of the period with a rare even-strength score by Prickett to make if 10-7 with 1:06 left in the period and 9:06 left in the game.

Harvard and Bucknell continued to trade shots in the fourth period as Purcell put in a man-up goal at 6:42, Valentina Rozas (Sr., Pico Rivera, Calif./El Rancho) responded for the Bison with a five-meter penalty shot at 5:47 for the eventual game-winner and Zdrojewski countered with a natural goal off a counter at 4:52 to make it an 11-10 game.  Skonezney closed out the contest with an even-strength goal with 1:20 on the clock for the 12-10 final score.

In cage, Alison Carter (Sr., Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Harbor) earned Player of the Game honors for recording 12 saves to pick up the win, while McCarthy and Entenman combined for four stops for the Crimson.

The victory places Bucknell into the fifth place game at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, May 2versus the winner of a second round game between Brown University and the University of Maryland, while Harvard will meet the loser of the Brown-Maryland melee at 10:00 a.m. in the seventh place game.

Bucknell's victory over Harvard also gives the Bison the season series as the team previously record a 9-7 victory and a 13-12 loss in overtime against the Crimson.

Bucknell Goals: Kandis Canonica (4); Amanda Skonezney (4); Haley Prickett (2); Hallie Kennan; Valentina Rozas

Harvard Goals: Monica Zdrojewski (4); Shannon Purcell (2); Ita Barton-Kettleborough; Devan Kennifer; Elise Molnar; Aisha Price

Saves: Bucknell - Alison Carter (12) ; Harvard - Laurel McCarthy (2), Shami Entenman (2)

Exclusions: Bucknell - 6 ; Harvard - 12

Advantage Opportunities: Bucknell - 7-for-12 ; Harvard - 5-for-6

Sprints: Bucknell - 1-for-4 (4th) ; Harvard - 3-for-4 (1st, 2nd, 4th)

Monica Zdrjoewski shoots on Alison Cater in the first period