The American University field hockey team secured the No. 2 seed in the 2012 Patriot League Tournament with a 2-1 victory over Bucknell on Saturday afternoon at Jacobs Field.

"It was a tough game, both teams were very evenly matched and we were fortunate to come out with the win today," said Head Coach Steve Jennings. "It's a bit of a strange game because we knew we were going to play them next regardless of what happened today. I think both teams were working really hard to gain some advantages for next week but we were really happy to come out with a win."

Gina Hofmann gave American (9-9, 4-1) a 1-0 advantage in the 14th minute. Carly Atchison sent in the penalty corner and Julie Fosseprez trapped it at the top of the circle. Hofmann's first attempt was blocked but her second effort went straight into the center of the cage past the Bison goalkeeper for her fourth tally of the year.

Bucknell (9-9, 3-2) tried to add the equalizer to close out the half. A penalty corner attempt was saved by Ashley Dalisera. She also made stops on back-to-back efforts from Gabby Palumbo and Maggie Murphy in the final 30 seconds to send the Eagles into the break with the 1-0 lead.

The Bison were able to knot the match in the 57th minute. Amie Pritchard took the penalty corner and sent it in to Kelly Stefanowicz. Stefanowicz sent a quick pass to Kiersten Sydnor at the right post as she slipped it into the corner of the net for the 1-1 tie.

The Eagles responded three minutes later. Atchison split the Bucknell defense as she charged down the field from the midpoint and sent in the cross to Shelly Montgomery in front of the goal. The Bison goalkeeper tried to intercept the pass but Montgomery dove to gather the ball and tapped it over the goal line for the 2-1 lead for her fourth game-winning goal of the year.

Bucknell registered four shots in the final three minutes of the game, with back-to-back penalty corners in the last three seconds, but Dalisera and the Eagles' defense held off the Bison attack to preserve the victory and lock up the No. 2 seed.

The two teams each posted nine shots in the game with the Bison holding a 6-3 edge in shots on goal. Dalisera notched five saves for American.

American will be the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament, which will be played next weekend at Lafayette. Bucknell will be the No. 2 seed and the two teams will face each other in a semifinal on Friday.