Bloomsburg Wins PSAC Field Hockey Title

BLOOMSBURG—Bloomsburg University won its third straight and 13th overall Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) field hockey championship with a 1-0 win over Indiana (PA) on Saturday afternoon.

Tracey Hudak

The Huskies were on the attack in the early going of with a shot by freshman Ashley Heckard (Millerstown/Greenwood) two and half minutes into the game going just wide. IUP came back and controlled the field of play over a six minute stretch of time with the Indians' Fleur Tjong taking a shot that was knocked out on a kick save by Bloomsburg goalie Tracey Hudak (Sweet Valley/Lake-Lehman).

Bloomsburg came back with field control and had seven penalty corner plays in an eight minute stretch, but were denied each time. The Huskies finally broke through on their eighth corner of the half when Alison Poff (Dallastown/Dallastown) crossed a pass to Heckard, who beat IUP goalie Jamie Parell with a shot to the right corner of the goal. For Heckard it was her 12th goal of the season and her second of the post-season.

In the second half, IUP controlled the flow of play for much of the first 15 minutes of action. Just two and a half minutes into the second half, Hudak came up with a kick save on a shot off an Indian corner play to keep the Indians scoreless. Then later, Hudak made three saves in a two minute stretch on direct shots by IUP's Liz Martini off of penalty corners. Those saves would prove to be the last good looks at the goal for the game.

Bloomsburg tried to get a insurance goal with just over two minutes left to play, but the Huskies' Kristy Kropa (Tunkhannock/Lackawanna Trail) had her shot blocked by the IUP's Parell to keep the Indians in the game.

However, in the final two minutes, the ball remained in the IUP end of the field and the Huskies were able to celebrate another championship.

“I thought we played a great first half,” said Bloomsburg coach Jan Hutchinson. “We were moving well and passing the ball well. In the second half, I think we got a little defensive and weren't as aggressive as we should have been. We'll need to play a full game when we get to the NCAA playoffs.”

Bloomsburg goalie Tracey Hudak was named the game's MVP after coming with 10 saves for the game against one of the PSAC's top scoring teams.

The Huskies, now 19-3, will await word on Monday about where they will go for the NCAA playoffs. IUP, 17-4, should also receive a bid to the NCAA playoffs, which start Nov. 6th with the quarterfinal games.

   Field Hockey Game Summary (Final)
                      2004 Bloomsburg Univer. Field Hockey
       Indiana (PA) vs Bloomsburg Univ. (Oct 30, 2004 at Bloomsburg, PA)


 Indiana (PA) (17-4) vs. Bloomsburg Univ. (19-3)
 Date: Oct 30, 2004  Attendance: 175
 Weather: Cloudy, Warm

 Goals by period       1  2  Tot
 -------------------------------
 Indiana (PA)........  0  0 -  0
 Bloomsburg Univ.....  1  0 -  1

 SCORING SUMMARY:
  1.  28:58 BLOOM-FH Ashley Heckard (12) (Alison Poff) - Cross passing from Alison Poff

 Shots: Indiana (PA) 10, Bloomsburg Univ. 13
 Saves: Indiana (PA) 6 (Jamie Parell 6), Bloomsburg Univ. 10 (Tracey
 Hudak 10)

2004 PSAC FH Champs