Bloomsburg Aiming for 15th PSAC Field Hockey Title

BLOOMSBURG-- The Bloomsburg University field hockey team will look to capture its second straight Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Field Hockey Championship beginning on Friday, October 26th at Indiana (Pa.). The Huskies come into the championships as the second seed and will face off with number three seed Kutztown at 1:30 p.m. on Friday. Top seeded IUP will take on number four seed Shippensburg in the other semifinal beginning at 4:00 p.m. The winners of both semifinals will the meet for the conference championship on Saturday.

Bloomsburg went 17-3 overall on the season, 11-3 in the PSAC, are looking to capture their fifth conference title in the last six years and 15th conference championship all-time. The Huskies are led by junior Jamie Vanartsdalen (Huntingdon Valley/Lower Moreland) who registered the most productive scoring season in Bloomsburg history this year. Her 79 point total (31 goals and 17 assists) is now the best in school history for a season, passing out the previous mark of 63. Vanartsdalen also leads the NCAA in all divisions in points and also became the school's career point's leader with 186 points scored. She was also named PSAC Field Hockey Player of the Week twice on the year as well.

Along with Vanartsdalen, senior Ashley Heckard (Millerstown/Greenwood) and junior Samantha Kropa (Tunkhannock/Lackawanna Trail) have been the teams other offensive forces up front. Heckard registered 22 goals and four assists on the year and her 48 point total was third best in the conference. Kropa scored 13 goals, recorded six assists and had two game winning goals on the year.

In goal, junior Allison Ziants (Winfield/Selinsgrove) has been the team's primary goalie making 16 starts. She has made 59 saves and has a goals against average of 1.34.

Third seeded Kutztown (17-3, 11-3 PSAC) returns to the conference playoffs for the first time since 2005 after going 10-10, 5-9 in the PSAC a year ago.

The Golden Bears are led by juniors Kelley Kealey, who was the second best scorer in the conference this season with 48 points (17 goals and 14 assists) and Lyndsay Butler who scored 10 goals and recorded eight assists. In goal,senior Sam Flowers has recorded 95 saves, has a goals against average of 1.44 and preserved five shutout victories. Top seed IUP (15-3, 12-2 PSAC) is looking to capture their first conference championship in school history and is coming into the playoffs winners of nine of their last ten games.

The Crimson Hawks are led by senior Liz Martini, who scored 15 goals and recorded eight assists on the year. Freshman Jess Frantz was the team's second leading goal scorer with ten, while freshman Barbara Hemmelaar and sophomore Brittany Owens each scored five goals and recorded ten assists. Sophomore goalie Lynda Dolly has been dominant on the year, as she leads the conference in shutouts with ten and goals against average at 0.65. Fourth-seed Shippensburg (13-7, 8-7 PSAC) looks to capture its second conference crown in three years and comes into the championships riding a wave of momentum. The Lady Raiders, whose playoff hopes appeared to be in jeopardy after a loss to Mansfield on October 9th, have reeled off four straight wins to end the regular season to clinch a playoff berth. Three of the four wins Shippensburg picked up to end the season came against teams who were ranked in the top-five nationally (C.W. Post, Indiana Pa. and Bloomsburg).

Shippensburg is lead by junior Kim Davies, who registered 42 points on the year (16 goals, 10 assists) which was fourth best in the conference. Freshman Kristen Miller was the team's leading goal scorer with 17 goals, while senior goalie Allie Rutland has made 39 saves and has a goals against average of 1.43.

Bloomsburg is 40-3-3 all-time against Kutztown and swept the season series this year with a 6-1 win on September 25th and a 5-2 victory on October 20th. They are 37-9-1 all-time against Shippensburg and 34-7-1 all-time against IUP. The Huskies split the season series with Shippensburg and were swept by IUP in conference play.