NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships Preview

BLOOMSBURG-- Bloomsburg University will be the site of the 2008 NCAA Division II Field Hockey National Championship tournament on Friday, Nov. 14 and Sunday, Nov. 16. The four teams participating in the finals are Bloomsburg and Shippensburg from the South Region and Bentley and UMass-Lowell from the North Region.

In the first semi-final game on Friday at 3 p.m. Bloomsburg (21-1), the top seed from the South Region, will face Shippensburg (18-4), the number three seed from the South Region. The other semifinal game at 5:30 p.m. will pit Bentley (17-5), the top seed from the North Region, against UMass-Lowell (19-4), the second seed from the North Region. The winners will meet on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Bloomsburg for the national championship.

Bloomsburg is the two-time defending NCAA champions and winners of five of the last six titles. The Huskies won the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference title and will be aiming for their 15th national championship in school history (1-AIAW; 2-NCAA D-III; 11-NCAAD-II) under head coach Jan Hutchinson.

Jamie Vanartsdalen

Leading the Huskies on offense this season has been a pair of seniors Jamie Vanartsdalen and Samantha Kropa. Vanartsdalen, with 37 goals and 20 assists this season, has set nearly every NCAA Division II scoring record and is among the all-time greats regardless of division. In her career she has scored an NCAA D-II record 117 goals and scored an NCAA D-II record 290 points. She also has 56 career assists, number two all-time in NCAA history, and is just three shy of tying the D-II record in that category. Her 290 points are also the fifth highest total in NCAA history regardless of division.

While Vanartsdalen has attracted a lot of attention, her teammate Samantha Kropa has quietly put together a very good season with 21 goals and 11 assists. All total the pair has combined for 58 goals this season.

Bloomsburg has won 13 straight to end the season after being handed a 3-2 loss by Shippensburg back on Sept. 20.

Shippensburg is making its fifth appearance at the NCAA championships this decade. The Lady Raiders reached the semifinals with a 2-1, overtime victory against IUP last Saturday. Kristina Taylor scored a breakaway goal with 9:13 remaining in the second overtime period to give Shippensburg the win. The win over IUP was the first in NCAA championship play for the Lady Raiders and coach Bertie Landis.

On offense Shippensburg is led by the combination of Kim Davies and Kristina Taylor. Davies has scored 27 goals and assisted on seven others, including six game-winning goals. Taylor has added 14 goals, including the game winner against IUP, to go with six assists. Combined the duo has scored 41 goals this season for the Lady Raiders.

Shippensburg won seven of its last eight games to end the season with its only loss coming to Bloomsburg in the PSAC semifinals.

Bentley College is no stranger to NCAA championship play with the Falcons making their 11th trip to the NCAA playoffs having won the national championship in 2001. Bentley has also been runner-up six times, including in 2006 when it lost to Bloomsburg 1-0 in Florida.

The Falcons, and first-year coach Jessica King, come into the national semifinals on a roll having won 16 straight games after starting the season by dropping four of their first five games. Among the wins are four in overtime, including two in triple overtime. In the Northeast-10 conference playoffs Bentley posted a 1-0 win in overtime to beat UMass-Lowell (UML).

Bentley has a pair of 11-goal scorers in juniors Nicole Murphy and Courtney Bartlett. Both players have four game winning goals with Bartlett scoring the only goal in the conference championships over UML Defensively the Falcons finished the year with four straight wins by shutout by goalie Alyssa Sliney.

UMass-Lowell (UML) is in the NCAA tournament for the sixth time in school history and is one of just five teams in Division II to win a championship after beating Bloomsburg, 2-1 in overtime in 2005. UML and coach Shannon Hlebichuk also were national runners-up a year ago losing to the Huskies, 5-2.

The River Hawks ended the season winning eight of their last nine games with the only loss coming to Bentley in the Northeast-10 conference tournament. Led by Northeast-10 Player of the Year Michelle Harrington, who scored 26 goals and assisted on eight others, and Jaci Moulton, who scored 14 goals and had seven assists, the River Hawks as a team scored 93 goals. In addition to Harrington being the Player of the Year in the conference, Missy Seeley was also named the Northeast-10 Defensive Player of the Year.

Tickets for the NCAA Division II championships are $10 for adults; $5 for seniors and students and $2 for children. Bloomsburg University students are free with valid ID courtesy of the Community Government Association. An all-session pass will be available for $15.