Kaitlyn Bucci is the first Pittston Area player ever to receive a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I field hockey scholarship.
Submitted photo
Kaitlyn Bucci helped her teammates make history, then made some for herself.
Bucci scored the game-winning goal when Pittston Area posted the first District 2 field hockey playoff victory in the program’s history.
The clutch goal was part of an impressive senior season that helped lead to Bucci becoming the first Pittston Area player ever to receive a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I field hockey scholarship.
Bucci committed this week to a scholarship from Longwood University in Farmville, Va.
There was a time when Bucci, who won a state girls wrestling championship, thought her athletic future might be in that sport.
“Up until 10th grade, I thought I wanted to wrestle in college,” Bucci said. “I didn’t get very serious about field hockey until after my 10th grade season.”
Bucci made up for lost time, joining the Electric Surge club team and increasing her time commitment to the sport throughout the year.
By the time her senior season arrived, Bucci was a Division I prospect with an offer from Hofstra University and was ready to lead Pittston Area to a breakthrough season in which it tied for first place in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 regular season.
“It was a really special season this year, especially for it being my senior year,” Bucci said. “Everything we worked on these past few years clicked.
“ … We functioned as a team this year where I feel sometimes in earlier years, we played more as individuals and got very frustrated.”
Bucci led the team with 12 assists and finished second in goals to fellow senior Jianna Eike with eight.
Before the COVID-19 outbreak changed recruiting rules, Bucci had made a recruiting visit and attended clinics at Hofstra. She visited Longwood on her own in August during what has now become an extended dead period for in-person NCAA Division I recruiting.
“It was a lot different from a normal recruiting visit because the coaches couldn’t speak to me due to the rules,” Bucci said. “I was able to go on a campus tour through the academic side and did get to see the campus. It’s beautiful down there. The college is so pretty.”
Longwood turned out to be an ideal fit for Bucci’s academic needs.
“They have a good pre-law program,” she said. “Most schools don’t have an actual minor in pre-law as an undergraduate program. They were one of the few that did.”
Bucci plans to major in pre-law on a history track with a minor in either sports medicine or criminal justice.
Longwood competes in the Mid-American Conference in field hockey. It did not have a 2020 season because of the coronavirus. The Lancers were 3-3 in the conference and 9-10 overall in 2019.
