Shippensburg Eliminates IUP With Goal In Double-OT

Kristina Taylor scored a breakaway goal with 9:13 remaining in the second overtime period to give Shippensburg a 2-1 win over IUP in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II field hockey tournament Saturday at Miller Stadium.

The loss eliminated IUP (15-3) from the tournament and once again denied the Crimson Hawks a chance to win a national championship despite qualifying for the NCAA field in each of the past five seasons.

Shippensburg (18-4) will travel to Bloomsburg for a semifinal contest with the Huskies Friday at 3:00. In the other semifinal, UMass Lowell will play Bentley following its 6-3 win over Southern Connecticut.

Taylor took a long pass from Kim Tully and redirected the ball past IUP goalkeeper Lydia Dolly to end the 90:47 marathon. The game had been tied since Irma Bakker tipped in a shot by Leike de Ridder for her eight goal of the season with just 7:45 left in regulation to put the Crimson Hawks on the board.

After a scoreless first half, Jamie Doughty gave the Raiders a 1-0 lead with 28:20 left in the game, with the assist going to Natalie Faith. It appeared that that goal would stand up until the late goal by Bakker forced overtime.

IUP held a 19-12 advantage in shots but were consistently thwarted by Amanda Houser, who recorded 18 saves. Dolly made nine saves for the Crimson Hawks. Shippensburg took 12 penalty corners to eight for IUP.

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No. 2 Seed Lowell Downs No. 3 SCSU, 6-3

LOWELL (Nov. 8, 2008) - Sophomore F Sammy Macy (Tewksbury, MA) and senior F Jill Tierney (Newburyport, MA) spearheaded a five-goal outburst midway through the second half as No. 2 UMass Lowell defeated No. 3 Southern Connecticut, 6-3, Saturday afternoon in the NCAA Division II Field Hockey Tournament first round at Cushing Field.

With the victory, the River Hawks advance to the Tournament semifinal Friday in Bloomsburg, PA, where they will face Northeast-10 Conference nemesis Bentley at 5:30.

No. 1 Bloomsburg will host the No. 2 Indiana (PA)-No. 3 Shippensburg winner Friday at 3:00. Indiana hosts Shippensburg Saturday night at 7:00.

Southern Connecticut, making its second appearance in the NCAA Tournament in five years, ends its season with a 13-9 record.

"I think the way our forwards responded was fantastic," said UMass Lowell Head Coach Shannon Hlebichuk. "We had six players play forward today. We had diversity in scoring, which was nice."

Adding to the triumph was the two goals and one assist by Macy, who set a school record for goals in season with her 26th, edging the previous mark of 25 set by Sara Hohenberger in 2005. With 26 goals and eight assists (60 points), Macy is also eyeing Hohenberger's mark for points in a season (63).

The Owls jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the first half and added another goal just 45 seconds into the second half. Sophomore M Ann Berry (Belfast, ME) opened the scoring in the fourth minute and Macy leveled in the 17th with help from sophomore D Jaime Hadley (Chelmsford, MA).

Berry then set up a goal by senior M Grace Martha (Cheshire, CT) in the 27th minute for a 2-1 lead which the Owls carried into the half.

"I wasn't too concerned at that point," Hlebichuk noted. "Our defense was caught flat a couple of times and our offense had opportunities that it just didn't put away. We made some physical adjustments and talked about coming out in the second half and scoring early."

It was the Owls who scored just 45 seconds into the second half, however, as sophomore F Sara Winterbottom (Burlington, CT) deflected a pass from freshman F Inga Stonga (East London, South Africa) for a 3-1 cushion.

"I just thought we had hit a wall," Hlebichuk said. "But they knew they had it in them to come back. No one hung their heads in frustration. We had 34 minutes left and we were capable of scoring goals."

Ten minutes later, the River Hawks responded with three goals in under three minutes to take a 4-3 lead.

Sophomore F Liz Day (North Andover, MA) tipped in a shot by Macy in the 45th minute and Macy converted an unassisted backhand a two minutes after to knot the score at 3-3.

Fifty-five seconds later, junior F Jaci Moulton (Baldwinville, MA) scored the clinching goal off a feed from freshman D Annie Hansbury (Plaistow, NH) to complete the flurry.

"We just needed one, and then it was like a freight train coming down," Hlebichuk noted. "Our forwards possessed and finished."

Tierney and senior M Missy Seeley (East Hampstead, NH) then combined on two more goals, the first in the 56th minute when Tierney converted the rebound off a saved shot by Seeley.

Three minutes later, Tierney redirected Seeley's attempt to cap the scoring.

UMass Lowell outshot Southern Connecticut, 32-7 overall and 15-6 on target. Sophomore G Amy Carbon (Bellingham, MA) stopped two shots before senior Danielle Dodier (Kensington, NH) came on the final 10 minute and made one save.

Sophomore Lauren Zarrella (Morris, CT) had nine saves for the Owls.


NCAA Tournament First Round

UMass Lowell 6, Southern Connecticut 3

At Lowell, MA

 
Team         Goal                                    Assist(s)                                                                      Time

SCSU         Ann Berry                           --                                                                                     3:51

UML            Sammy Macy                    Jaime Hadley                                                             16:44

SCSU         Grace Martha                    Ann Berry                                                                    26:20

SCSU         Sara Winterbottom          Inga Stonga                                                                35:45

UML            Liz Day                               Sammy Macy                                                              44:22

UML            Sammy Macy                    --                                                                                   46:23

UML            Jaci Moulton                     Annie Hansbury                                                         47:18

UML            Jill Tierney                         Missy Seeley                                                              55:14

UML            Jill Tierney                         Missy Seeley                                                              58:04

 

Goalkeepers

Amy Carbon (UML): 2 saves, 60:00

Danielle Dodier (UML): 1 saves, 10:00

Lauren Zarrella (SCSU): 9 saves, 70:00

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Nov. 7, 2008

Bloomsburg Plays Host To D-II Semis And Finals

BLOOMSBURG--Bloomsburg University will serve as the host of the 2008 NCAA Division II field hockey championship final four on Friday, November 14 and Sunday, Nov. 16.

The Huskies, 21-1, will face Shippensburg, who beat IUP in double overtime on Saturday, in the semifinals. 

Bentley University, 17-5, is the top seed in the North Region and will also receive a first round bye. Second seeded University of Massachusetts at Lowell (18-4) defeated third seeded Southern Connecticut State University (13-9) on Saturday to advance to play Bentley next weekend.

Semifinals will be played Friday, November 14, at 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., with the championship final Sunday, November 16, at 1 p.m. All games will be played at Bloomsburg University Sports Stadium on the campus of Bloomsburg.

Bloomsburg has won back-to-back NCAA championships, five of the last six and nine of the last 12. The Huskies will be hosting the NCAA Division II championships for the first time since the 1999 season when it beat Bentley, 2-0.