LEWISBURG, Pa. – Despite terrific six-point performances from Bonnie Buechel (South Orange, N.J./Columbia) and Carol Donohue (West Babylon, N.Y./West Babylon), the Bucknell women's lacrosse team came up one goal short in its 2009 season finale, falling to Columbia 15-14 on a toasty 88-degree day at Graham Field.

The Bison finish a successful campaign with a 9-9 record. The nine wins were the team's most in 11 years, and at 4-2 in the Patriot League they tied for second place in the standings and made it back to the postseason for the first time since 2006.

Both teams were wrapping up their seasons in this one, but both played with a playoff-like intensity in the sweltering conditions. Bucknell rallied back from both a four-goal deficit and a three-goal deficit in the second half, and they came within a fraction of yet another comeback but Donohue's would-be tying shot from close range with 20 seconds left caught the post and ricocheted away.

In her final collegiate contest, Buechel was nothing short of brilliant. She repeated her four-goal, two-assist performance from the Patriot League Tournament over the weekend, with three of those goals plus an assist coming during the wild second half. After drawing a double team in the final half-minute, she made a slick feed to Donohue on the doorstep, but she was robbed by an unlucky bounce.

Donohue finished with three goals and three assists, while Michelle Milot (Basking Ridge, N.J./Ridge) and Julia Braun (Tomkins Cove, N.Y./North Rockland) added three goals apiece. For Columbia, Brittany Shannon logged four goals and two assists, while Holly Glynn had four goals and Lauren Olsen three.

The Lions used an 8-2 run to take a 9-5 lead with just a minute remaining in the first half. Bucknell got one back when Buechel fed Donohue with 30 seconds left before intermission. Then the Bison came out of the locker room on fire, scoring three times in the first 2:59 of the half. Milot got it started with a shot from a tough angle on the left side. Donohue came from behind the cage to make it 9-8, then Buechel passed to Braun just 32 seconds later to knot the game back up at 9-9.

But the Bison's momentum was short-lived. On the ensuing draw two Bucknell players got their sticks on the ball but could not gain possession, and just 41 seconds after Braun tied it, Olsen put the Lions right back ahead. Olsen scored again after goalie Emma Mintz made a tough save and then started a fastbreak with a long outlet pass, then Lizzie Lee ran through the defense for a third straight score to make it a 12-9 lead for the visitors.

The Bison were hardly done, however. Much like the second half of the Colgate game on Friday when she scored four second-half goals, Buechel tried to will her team back to victory. At the 24:26 mark she scored on a free-position shot. Just over a minute later the Bison turned the ball over, and Buechel chased down a Columbia player from behind at midfield and literally trail-checked the stick right out of her hands. She grabbed the ground ball, changed directions and ran all the way back to the crease for a spectacular goal that brought Bucknell within 12-11.

Gabrielle Geronimos answered for Columbia, but Braun and Buechel scored consecutive goals, the latter with 7:52 remaining, to tie it up again at 13-all.

But Bucknell's defensive struggles continued, as Holly Glynn took the ensuing draw deep into the box. She had the ball checked away momentarily, but picked up the ground ball right at the crease and popped it in just 41 seconds after the Buechel tally. Columbia needed only 44 more seconds to score again, with Frances Callaghan feeding Glynn on the doorstep for a 15-13 lead with 6:27 to play.

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2009-04-28