Adina Zepfel (L), Charlotte Schou (R)

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Charlotte Schou (Sr., Miami, Fla./Miami Country Day) made nine saves, including three in the fourth period, but it was not enough as George Washington University fell by a 10-8 final to Bucknell University in the seventh place game of the 2011 CWPA Women's Eastern Championship at Indiana University.

Tied 7-7 at the end of the third period, the Bison put the game away with three consecutive strikes to open the fourth period and build a lead the Colonials could not overcome. 

Player of the Game Amanda Skonezney (Jr., Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) accounted for 66% of the rally as she scored at 4:29 and 2:36 to tally the tiebreaker and the eventual game-winner.  Krystle Morgan (So., Rowland Heights, Calif./Rosary) cushioned the margin with a marker at 1:04 to make it 10-7 before GW's Allison Peotter (Jr., Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar) completed a hat-trick with the Colonials' final score of the afternoon with 42 seconds left on the clock.

The victory avenges a pair of regular season losses by the Bison to George Washington as the Colonials handled Bucknell by 10-8 and 11-9 finals during the regular season.

With Bucknell leading 2-1 at the end of the first period George Washington ripped off a natural goal by Peotter and a man-up strike by Rachael Bentley (Fr., Riverside, Calif./Riverside Poly) to the game (6:22) and take a 3-2 lead (4:37).  The Bison responded nearly two minutes later when Kandis Canonica (Sr., Burlingame, Calif./St. Ignatius Prep) scored to knot the game up at 3-to-3 before Katherine Berry (Fr., Riverside, Calif./Riverside Poly) returned the Colonials to the lead at 4-3 with a five-meter penalty shot.

The game then became odd as George Washington called a full time-out that lasted nearly 15 minutes as the fire alarm in Indiana's Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center sounded before the scoreboard horn to send the teams to the rainy exterior of the building in Bloomington, Ind. rather than their respective benches.  With play suspended at 10:56 a.m., action was put on hold until an "all-clear" was declared in the building to allow competition to resume at 11:10 a.m.

The "timeout" did not impact GW's momentum as Megan Walker (Jr., San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente) converted on a man-up chance with 59 seconds remaining in the half to make it 5-3 in favor of the Blue & Gold at the break.

GW's lead lasted less than three minutes into the third period as Tara Murao (So., Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) cashed in a man-up chance and Julianne Valdes (Fr., Miami, Fla./Gulliver) tacked on a natural goal at 6:07 and 5:06, respectively, to even the score at  5-to-5.

The pattern of GW building a lead and Bucknell dismantling the deficit continued once more as Peotter (natural) and Megan Brolley (Fr., Delray Beach, Fla./Saint Andrew's School) (man-up) found the back of the cage at 4:41 and 3:42 to give the Colonials a 7-5 lead.  However, Morgan and Canonica responded at 3:23 and 2:39 to erase a George Washington lead for the final time and send the contest into the fourth period tied at seven-all.

For Bucknell, Brittany Connell (Jr., Montebello, Calif./Montebello) notched two saves in the first half before giving way to Rena Heim (Fr., Mohnton, Pa./Governor Mifflin) who turned aside pairs of Colonials' shots in the third and fourth period to pick up the victory.

The victory is the fourth time since 2004 that the Bison have finished seventh at the Eastern Championship as the Bison previously placed ninth (2000), 11th (2002), eighth (2003), seventh (2004, 2005, 2007, sixth (2008), fifth (2010) and fourth (2006), while failing to qualify for the championship in 1999 and 2001.

The loss marks the fifth time GW has finished eighth at the Eastern Championship and as the team falls one place off the program's all-time best mark of seventh set in 2003.  In previous six previous trips to the championship, the Colonials placed 10th (2000), eighth (2001, 2002, 2004, 2005) and seventh (2003).

Bucknell Goals: Kandis Canonica (3); Krystle Morgan (2); Amanda Skonezney (2); Haley Prickett; Tara Murao; Julianne Valdes

GW Goals: Allison Peottter (3); Megan Brolley; Megan Walker; Monica Hanson; Katherine Berry; Rachael Bentley

Saves: Bucknell - Brittany Connell (2, 16 minutes), Rena Heim (4, 16 minutes) ; GW - Charlotte Schou (9)

Exclusions: Bucknell - 8 ; GW - 8

Advantage Opportunities:  Bucknell - X-for-8 ; GW - X-for-8

Sprints: Bucknell - 0-for-4 ; GW - 4-for-4

Cards: YC - Scott Reed (GW)

Officials: Alex Stankevitch, Mark Koganov 

Tara Murao