Brunner & Princeton Break No. 19 Bucknell 10-8 in Eastern Championship First Round

Phoebe Champion

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Lauren Brunner (Jr., Sacramento, Calif./St. Francis) deposited three goals and Saranna Soroka (Fr., Redondo Beach, Calif./Chadwick School) added another hat-trick as Princeton University upset No. 19-ranked Bucknell University 10-8 in the opening round of the 2010 Eastern Championship at the University of Maryland. The win places Princeton into a semifinal match-up against No. 7 Michigan on May 1.

The victory evens the season series between the Bison and Tigers as Bucknell recorded  a 15-10 regular season win and an 11-9 victory in the Southern Division title game, while Princeton picked up a 4-3 win during the regular season.

Princeton took the early lead in the contest and never looked back opening up a 4-0 margin in the first period to hold an 8-4 advantage at halftime.

Brunner put the Tigers on the board early twice as she pounded home shots at 7:34 and 6:38 of the first period to make it 2-0 little more than 82 seconds into the contest.  Carolina Ardila (Sr., Coral Gables, Fla./Gulliver Prep) tacked on a man-up marker at 5:36 and Brittany Zwirner (Fr., Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) rattled the cage with a five-meter penalty shot blast at the 3:32 mark to put Princeton in front 4-0. 

Bucknell broke the ice with a man-up tally by Kandis Canonica (Jr., Burlingame, Calif./St. Ignatius Prep) with 2:49 left in the first period, but Brunner responded to complete a natural hat-trick 33 seconds into the second period.  The Bison received a successful five-meter penalty shot by Amanda Skonezney (So., Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) at 7:05 and a give-and-go even-strength score by Arilda with 3:54 showing on the clock in the first period to trim the deficit to 5-3.

However, the Tigers' claws came back out as Soroka and Helen Meigs (Sr., Solana Beach, Calif./The Bishop's School) slipped their defenders to unleash shot which eluded Bison netminder Alison Carter (Sr., Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Harbor) in less than 40-seconds (2:50, 2:09) to rebuild the margin to four at 7-3.  The period came to an end with Hallie Kennan (So., Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) racking up a man-up tally and Soroka ripping home her second score of the day a 35 seconds and eight seconds, repectively, for an 8-4 Princeton lead at intermission.

Bucknell appeared primed to rally and move to 3-1 on the year against the Tigers as Valentina Rozas (Sr., Pico Rivera, Calif./El Rancho), Kennan and Becca Shopiro (So., Buffalo Grove, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson) changed the scoreboard with a man-up (7:33), five-meter penalty shot (4:09) and even-strength score (2:59) to move Bucknell to within 8-7, but Soroka deposited the eventual game-winner at 2:29 to make it 9-7 after 24 minutes of play.

The Tigers cushioned the lead with a five-meter penalty shot tally by Phoebe Champion (Sr., Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) at the 6:43 mark of the fourth period to make it 10-7 before Kennan closed out the contest with her team high third score of the day for the 10-8 final.

In cage, Carter recorded five saves for Bucknell, while Kristen Ward (So., Sacramento, Calif./St. Francis) turned aside three shots in recording the victory for Princeton.

The win places Princeton into a 4:30 p.m. showdown on Saturday, May 1 against No. 7-nationally ranked the University of Michigan, while Bucknell will meet Harvard University at 1:30 p.m. with a berth in the fifth place game at stake.

Bucknell Goals: Hallie Keenan (3); Valentina Rozas (2); Becca Shopiro; Kandis Canonica; Amanda Skonezney

Princeton Goals: Lauren Brunner (3); Saranna Soroka (3); Brittany Zwirner; Phoebe Champion; Helen Meigs; Carolina Ardila

Saves: Bucknell - Alison Carter (5) ; Princeton - Kristen Ward (3)

Exclusions: Bucknell - 6 ; Princeton - 11

Advantage Opportunities: Bucknell - 5-for-11 ; Princeton - 3-for-6

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

Princeton talks strategy against Bucknell