IUP will host the 2007 Pennsylvania State Athletic
Conference Field Hockey Championship tournament on
Friday, Oct. 26th and Saturday, Oct. 27th.
Action starts at 1:30 p.m. on Friday as No. 3 seed
Kutztown takes on No. 2 seed Bloomsburg.
Fourth-seeded Shippensburg will battle host and
top-seeded IUP at 4 p.m. The winners square
off in the championship game at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Tickets
for the events are $7 for adults and $2 for
students. Students from PSAC institutions are
admitted free with a valid ID.
IUP finished the regular season with a 12-2 league
record, 15-3 overall. Kutztown defeated the
Crimson Hawks 1-0 while Shippensburg upset IUP 3-2
in overtime in the regular season finale. The
squad's lone non-conference loss came at the hands
of UMass-Lowell, 2-1. IUP is ranked No. 1 in
the current National Field Hockey Coaches
Association poll and are seeking their first ever
PSAC title.
The Crimson Hawks have earned three straight berths
in the NCAA tournament and are led by two-time
All-America selection Liz Martini. The senior
finished the season tied for fifth in the PSAC in
points (38) and tied for sixth in goals (15).
Teaming with Martini is freshman forward Jessica
Frantz. The rookie is second on the team
behind Martini with 10 goals and two assists as she
started all 18 games for the Crimson Hawks.
Sophomore goalie Lydia Dolly has started every
minute for IUP and will anchor a defense that has
allowed just 12 goals all season. Dolly has
posted 10 shutouts on the year, seven more than the
next PSAC goalie.
Bloomsburg is the second seed and the coaches
pre-season favorite to
win the crown after posting a perfect 24-0 record en
route to the program's 13th national championship in
2006. The Huskies finished the regular season
with a 11-3 league record, 17-3 overall.
Bloomsburg fell to IUP twice and were also upset by
the Lady Raiders of Shippensburg.
The Huskies will try for its 15th conference title,
the most of any schools. Bloomsburg is led by
the dymanic duo of junior Jamie Vanartsdalen and
senior Ashley Heckard. Vanartsdalen set the
Huskies single-season points total (79) and also
tied the single-season record for goals (31) while
establishing a new career-best at Bloomsburg
with 184 points to date. Her season points
total also set a new Division II mark. Heckard owns 22 goals
and four assists. Without graduated
All-American goalie Tracey Hudak, the Huskies have
looked to Alison Ziants to fill the void.
Kutztown (17-3, 11-3 PSAC) is making its first
appearance in the PSAC playoffs since 2005.
Earlier in the year the Golden Bears made history as
they became Kutztown's first women's squad to be
ranked No. 1 when they picked up top honors from the
National Field Hockey Coaches Association.
Kutztown will again hope to make history as they
look for their first PSAC title. But first,
the Golden Bears must go through Bloomsburg, a squad
they have not defeated since 1983.
Scoring threats for Kutztown include Kelley Healey
and Lyndsay Butler. Healey leads the team with
17 goals and 14 assists while Butler is second in
points with 10 goals and eight assists.
Defensively, goalie Sam Flowers has tallied three
shutouts and owns a 1.44 GAA.
Fourth-seeded Shippensburg (13-7, 8-7 PSAC) is on a
three-game winning-streak and looks to continue a
trend that saw the Lady Raiders upset three of the
nation's top five teams last week, including
Bloomsburg and IUP. Shippensburg is making its
seventh-straight trip to the conference tournament
and hopes to add another championship trophy after
winning its first ever in 2005.
Kim Davies and Kristen Miller provide a powerful
one-two punch for the Lady Raiders as they have
combined for 33 of Ship's 60 goals and 14 assists.
Danielle Haas also has contributed nine goals while
Megan Keener is second on the squad with seven
assists. Goalie Allie Rutland owns a 1.43 GAA
while Shippensburg's defense ranks second in the
league with a 1.23 GAA and six shutouts (3rd - PSAC).