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Bloomsburg Wins NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championship
LOWELL, MA —Bloomsburg University scored two goals in the first half and then held off a surge by UMass Lowell in the second en route to a 4-1 victory over the host River Hawks Sunday afternoon to claim the 2003 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championship at Cushing Field in Lowell, MA.
The NCAA title was the second straight for the Huskies, the sixth in the last eight years and the 11th overall in school history.
“It was a very exciting game," commented Bloomsburg head coach Jan Hutchinson. "I knew UMass Lowell would play better than when we played them only a few weeks ago at Bloomsburg, and they were very fast and very skilled.”
The Huskies opened the scoring at 12:13 when Steph Beck (Orefield, PA) redirected an Elyce Morring (York, PA) shot from the left side. Bloomsburg looked primed to put another goal on the scoreboard at 22:59 when the Huskies were awarded a penalty stroke, but River Hawk goaltender Patrice Mendoza (Wilmington, MA) turned aside a shot from Erin McConnell (Danville, PA).
Bloomsburg made it 2-0 just before the halftime break after Shanna Fritz (Benton, PA) banged home a rebound on the right side low at 33:19. Beck and Fritz each picked up their second goal of the weekend.
"I was glad to have the 1-0 lead, and then after we went up 2-0 they came back with a goal, at which point I thought the game could have gone either way," remarked Hutchinson on the flow of the game. "It was good to see that our kids didn't back away at that point, they came back and got the critical third goal for us.”
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| WG Sports Photos/Vince Guarino |  |
UMass Lowell rebounded in the second half, cutting the Bloomsburg lead to one at 36:50 with a marker from Martha Marsden (Hull, MA), her eighth goal of the season. The River Hawks continued to pressure for the equalizer, however the Huskies turned back the tide and added two more goals to their lead with tallies from Kristy Kropa (Tunkhannock, PA) at 51:29 and by Sheila Zilinski (Barto, PA) at 69:02.
“Bloomsburg is a perennial national power,” commented UMass Lowell second-year head coach Shannon Hlebichuk afterwards. “My team responded well to the pressure today put on them, but there is no question that the better team won today. Bloomsburg is the most skilled program that we've seen all year, and we're proud to have played as well as we did against them.”
The Huskies put River Hawk goaltender Mendoza to work Sunday afternoon, as she made 11 saves in the first period, with Bloomsburg out-shooting UMass Lowell 18-0 in the first frame. Mendoza made a total of 12 saves on the day, while Husky netminder Jamie Hartman (Boyertown, PA) stopped one shot and allowed one goal.
“Patrice is a great goaltender, we had some grade-A opportunities today, and she made some great saves,” said Hutchinson. "I knew that in order for us to score we'd have to move the ball and get second and third shots.”
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| WG Sports Photos/Vince Guarino | |
*** Tournament Notes ***
Bloomsburg successfully defended its 2002 crown, and the Huskies have won 8 of the 15 Division II Field Hockey Championships, including six out of the last eight… Bloomsburg is now 8-4 in the Championship game, while it was the first-ever appearance in the title tilt for UMass Lowell… Overall Bloomsburg has won 11 NCAA Field Hockey titles...The goal given up by Bloomsburg to UMass Lowell was a first in more ways than one. It was the first goal that the Huskies had given up in the national championship since a 4-3 overtime win over Lock Haven in 1998, after pitching a 2-0 and 5-0 shutout over Bentley in 1999 and 2002, respectively. It was also the first goal allowed by Bloomsburg goaltender Jamie Hartman in 306:10 minutes of play. And it was the first goal scored by UMass Lowell against Bloomsburg since September 14, 1996, when the Huskies beat the River Hawks 4-1. Bloomsburg had scored 25 unansered goals until the Marsden tally, and has outscored the River Hawks all-time 40-3, holding an 11-0 advantage over UMass Lowell all-time.
*** All-Tournament Team ***
Bloomsburg: Alison Poff (Dallastown, PA), Sheila Zilinski (Barto, PA), Erin McConnell (Danville, PA), Sharla Partlon (Langhorne, PA), Shanna Fritz (Benton, PA). UMass Lowell: Patrice Mendoza (Wilmington, MA), Josselyn Mroz (Salisbury, MA), Martha Marsden (Hull, MA), Joanna DaLuze (Harwich, MA). Bryant: Heidi Chirigotis (Westport, MA). Shippensburg: Kelly Stewart (Deale, MD).
