.jpg) No.
14 Delaware Field Hockey to Travel to No.
2 Maryland in Opening Round of NCAA
Tournament
COLLEGE
PARK, MD (November 8, 2004) -- The
No.14-ranked University of Delaware field
hockey team will make it's first NCAA
Tournament appearance since 1988 Saturday
when the Blue Hens travel to face No. 2
Maryland in the opening round at 11
a.m.
Delaware
enters the NCAA tournament after defeating
Old Dominion and Hofstra to win it's
first-ever Colonial Athletic Association
tournament title and will bring a record
of 15-6 overall into the game. The Blue
Hens have won their last seven games to
capture the automatic berth. Maryland will
bring a record 15-5 into the game after
winning an at large bid from the Atlantic
Coast Conference.
In
the other first round game Saturday at
College Park No. 7 American (18-2) will
face No. 11 Iowa (13-7) at 2 p.m.
Saturday's winners will advance to the
regional final Sunday at 2 p.m. with that
winner earning a spot in the semi-finals
November 19 in Winston-Salem, NC on the
campus of Wake Forest.
This
is the second time this season that the
Blue Hens will have faced the Terps, the
first meeting resulting in a 4-3 Maryland
win in which the Blue Hens allowed a
two-goal lead to slip away in the final 10
minutes of the game.
"Playing
Maryland is like playing Old Dominion
again," said head coach Carol Miller. "If
we hadn't let down in those 10 minutes, we
could have definitely been playing on the
same field as them. But some things have
changed since then and we've gotten
better. After we calmed down from the
Colonial Athletic Association Championship
our players said 'why stop here'. They
want to keep going and they won't stop at
Maryland."
"That
was a big confidence boost for us," said
CAA Defensive Player of the Year Amanda
Warrington (Lewes, DE/Cape Henlopen) of
the first meeting with the two-time NCAA
champions. "We were close in that game and
now we have a second chance at
them."
Senior
tri-captains Leah Geib (Schwenksville,
PA/Souderton - at left in photo above),
Erica LaBar (New Castle, DE/William Penn),
and Jessi Balmer (Telford, PA/Christopher
Dock) along with Warrington will lead a
Blue Hen defense that was top-ranked in
the conference in not only shutouts with
nine, but also goals allowed per game,
goals allowed overall, and goals against
average.
Megan
Allen (Virginia Beach, VA/Kempsville) also
led the league in save percentage with
.800 along with shutouts (9), shutouts per
game (.48), and goals against average
(1.15).
Lauren
Carr (West Chester, PA/Downingtown) leads
the team in goals (11) and points (28)
while Katie Evans (Newtown Square,
PA/Villa Maria Academy) leads the team in
assists with 11.
For
Maryland, Tiffany Marsh leads the
Terrapins in goals and points with 13 and
34 respectively while Lauren Powley leads
the team in assists with 12. Powley joined
teammates Sara Silvetti and Paula Infante
on the All-ACC team in 2004.
The
Terrapins have claimed the last six
meetings between the two squads with the
last Delaware win coming in 1998 by a 2-1
score. Maryland also leads the series
15-10-5.
In
the final STX/NFHCA Division I Coaches
Poll and Womensfieldhockey.com poll
announced Tuesday Delaware improved to No.
14 Geib was named as the
Womensfieldhockey.com Division I Player of
the Week.
THE
COMPLETE NCAA TOURNAMENT
PAIRINGS:
(rankings
based on STX/NFHCA Division I National
Coaches Poll)
At
Maryland: No. 2 Maryland vs. No. 14
Delaware, No. 7 American vs. No. 11
Iowa.
At
North Carolina: No. 1 North Carolina vs.
No. 10 Richmond, No. 4 Duke vs. No. 12 Old
Dominion
At
Michigan: No. 8 Michigan State vs. No. 9
Northeastern, No. 5 Michigan vs.
Pacific
At
Harvard: No. 16 Harvard vs. No. 3 Wake
Forest, No. 6 Connecticut vs. No. 13
Boston College.
.DDD.
Copyright,
© 2004, University of Delaware. All
rights reserved.
Please direct Athletics questions to the
Athletics
Media
Relations
office.
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