Tara Murao

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- Facing its third ranked opponent in its last four games, Bucknell University lost by a 10-7 score at University of California-Santa Barbara. The Bison outscored the Gauchos 5-1 in the fourth quarter, but fell to 8-8 on the season and 3-3 on their weeklong trip to California.

Julianne Valdes (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) and Hallie Kennan (Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) led Bucknell with two goals apiece, but the Bison netted just one first-half goal as UC-Santa Barbara (14-8) led by a 5-1 margin at halftime.

Amanda Skonezney (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley), Tara Murao (Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) and Kandis Canonica (Burlingame, Calif./St. Ignatius Prep) chipped in a goal apiece to the Bucknell scoring tally. Murao also added two ejections drawn, one steal and one assist off the bench.

Bucknell’s goalie tandem of Brittany Connell (Montebello, Calif./Montebello) and Rena Heim (Mohnton, Pa./Governor Mifflin) totaled nine saves with Heim registering five of them while playing the second half.

UC-Santa Barbara had nine six-on-five opportunities and a pair of penalty shots, while the Bison were limited to just seven man-up chances and no penalty attempts. Valdes accounted for nearly half of Bucknell’s six-on-fives with three ejections drawn.

Release courtesy Bucknell Athletic Communications