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LEWISBURG -- Bucknell freshmen Sarah McFarland and Clare Nemsick combined to take home three of the Patriot League's weekly women's soccer honors on Monday. McFarland was named Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week and Rookie of the Week, and Nemsick was picked as the Defender of the Week after Bucknell's scoreless draw with No. 23 Villanova on Thursday.
The Wildcats entered that game with a 23-0 goal differential on the season, and their 4.5 goals per game ranked No. 2 nationally. A team that had already exploded for 11 and nine goals in a game earlier in the year was kept off the scoresheet by a determined Bison defensive unit.
McFarland backstopped the effort with eight saves, none bigger than her diving stop on a point-blank header in the 89th minute. She also made a key save on a breakaway just 90 seconds into the match, and her eight saves marked a season high. McFarland is now tied for the Patriot League lead with three shutouts, and the two weekly citations were the first two of her career.
Nemsick played all 90 minutes as an outside back and took on the responsibility of marking Villanova's leading scorer Avrie Nelson, who is the reigning Big East Rookie of the Year. The Bison back line helped limit Nelson to only two shot attempts in the game. Nemsick, a two-sport athlete who will also play lacrosse in the spring, has started all nine games for the soccer squad this fall.
Villanova was Bucknell's final non-conference opponent of the regular season. The Bison begin Patriot League play this Saturday at home against Lehigh at 1 p.m.