INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The Shippensburg University field hockey team has been selected as the No. 2 seed from the South Region in the 2009 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships. The Lady Raiders will host No. 3 seed East Stroudsburg at 1 p.m. this Saturday from Robb Sports Complex.
Shippensburg (19-2) will be making its sixth appearance in the NCAA Division II Tournament, all under head coach Bertie Landes. The Lady Raiders advanced to four consecutive national tournaments from 2003-2006 and also reached the Division III national tournament in 1985.
Tickets for Saturday's game will be $5 for adults, $3 for students/senior citizens and $1 for children. The first 200 students to arrive at the game will receive free admission.
The Lady Raiders won their first-ever NCAA tournament game last season at IUP and will be looking to build off a strong performance in the PSAC Championship game. Senior
Amanda Houser continues to lead Division II in goals-against average (0.95) and save percentage (.868) while sophomore
Kristina Taylor is among the nation's elite goal scorers with 23 goals in 20 games played.
East Stroudsburg is making just its second Division II national tournament appearance in school history. The only other time the Warriors qualified was in 2001, when ESU was defeated by Bentley in the national championship game after the Warriors had beaten Lock Haven in the semifinals. ESU also competed nationally in 1987, 1988 and 1990 in the Division III tournament.
In the North Region, Massachusetts-Lowell will travel to Bentley to take on the Falcons this Saturday at 1 p.m. The winner of that matchup will join top-seed Stonehill in the national semifinals.
Stonehill College will host the national semifinals on Friday, November 13, at 2 p.m. (South Region game) and 5 p.m. (North Region game) along with the national championship game on Sunday, November 15, at 1 p.m. All matches will be held at W.B. Mason Stadium and will be broadcast live at
www.ncaa.com.
Admission for the games at W.B. Mason Stadium will be $7 for adults, $4 for students and senior citizens and $1 for children ages 2-12. All-session passes will also be available at $12 for adults, $6 for students and senior citizens and $1 for children 2-12. All calls regarding tickets should be made to (508) 565-1384.
North Region
1. Stonehill (17-4) *
2. Bentley (16-4)
3. Massachusetts-Lowell (16-5)
South Region
1. Bloomsburg (19-1) *
2. Shippensburg (18-2)
3. East Stroudsburg (14-6)
* First-round byes
** Semifinal ticket information courtesy of Stonehill College