(Courtesy Bloomsburg Athletics)

BLOOMSBURG- The #1 Bloomsburg University field hockey team made a winner of new head coach Nikki Rhoads in their 2010 season opener against #4 Stonehill College, with a 4-2 win on Saturday afternoon in Easton, MA.

The Huskies (1-0), four time defending national champions, opened up the scoring 15:20 into the first half when sophomore Lauren McGinley (Wilkes-Barre, Coughlin) knocked in a rebound from sophomore Amber Aulenbach (Fleetwood, Oley Valley). A little over four minutes of play, Bloomsburg made it 2-0 when senior Aime Sgarlat (Dallas, Lake Lehman)tapped in her own rebound after an initial shot from the right side. Stonehill fired back within four minutes of the Huskies second goal when sophomore Teresa McGinley blasted a shot from the upper left arc.

Read More: Bloomsburg Athletics

Bloomsburg 7, Franklin Pierce 1

EASTON, MA—Amanda Riley (Tannersville, Pocono Mountain East) scored one goal and added two assisted to lead the Bloomsburg University field hockey team to a 7-1 win over Franklin Pierce College in a game played at Stonehill University in Easton, MA on Sunday afternoon.

Riley, who led all of Division II in scoring last season, got the Huskies off to an early 1-0 lead with a goal 9:12 into the game with Aimi Sgarlat getting the assist. Bloomsburg would add to its lead with a four with just under four minutes to play before halftime when Brieann Wolfe (Perkasie, Pennridge) scored unassisted.

Franklin Pierce then cut the lead in half about two minutes later when Tia Levin banged home off a shot after an initial save from BU goalie Meghan Hollenbach (Blandon, Fleetwood) to make it 2-1 at the break.

The Huskies wasted little time in stretching their lead to 3-1 needing just 25 seconds of the second half to have Amber Aulenbach(Fleetwood, Oley Valley) score unassisted. Bloomsburg continued to add to its lead getting a goal from Jenna DiSabatino(Mountain Top, Crestwood) at the 51 minute mark, while Lauren McGinley (Wilkes-Barre, Coughlin)scored off an assist from Riley at the 53 minute mark for a 5-1 lead.

With less than 10 minutes to play Alexis Weber (Bear, DE, William Penn) scored off Riley’s second assist, while Brittany Mathews(Reedsville, Indian Valley) scored in the 63rd minute with Wolfe getting the assist.

In all the Huskies out shot Franklin Pierce, 25-5, and held the edge in penalty corners 10-3.

Bloomsburg, 2-0, will open its home season on Saturday at noon against #10 Adelphi University.

Courtesy BU Athletics

The 2009 Huskies could only blame themselves for getting bumped from the playoff field via the Earned Access Rule.  Fayetteville State from the CIAA was ranked #7 in the Super Regional 1 Rankings and took BU’s place in the tournament.  However, this was after three consecutive losses by Bloomsburg.  The regular-season ending loss to Gannon made what was a perfect season just three week prior a season completed.

BU came out strong last year with wins against Ashland from the GLIAC and eventual national semi-finalist and fellow PSAC rival California (PA) before the disappointing outcome.  That will only fuel the fire of the returning players and should prove to be the catalyst for what will be another winning season of Huskies Football.  They return several key and All-PSAC players on offense including junior running back Derrick Price (two-time first team All-PSAC), senior linemen Pat Casey and Justin Walker along with senior tight end, Ben Weaber.  The defense will be led by first-team All-PSAC secondary player, Oscar Rivera and anchored by returning senior captains Todd Givler, Mike Varanavage, and Alex Landis.  The Husky defense was third in the division for points allowed giving up just 13.4 per game.

Bloomsburg will begin the season traveling to Ashland in a game that will serve as a good barometer for the rest of the season.  One large advantage is they won’t face California (PA) in the regular season.  They also won’t have the chance to avenge the loss against Gannon, but do face Shippensburg and West Chester in back-to-back weeks.

D2 Sports Network predicts the Huskies will place second in the PSAC (losing in the championship game) and will finish the season 10-3 in the NCAA Quarter-finals.

(Our site will feature a team each week as we countdown to the NCAA Division II 2010 Football Season.)

The Huskies (22-1) were able to get on the board first at the 4:38 mark of the first half when Riley, the nation’s leading scorer, knocked in a shot from five yards out. The shot came off of a deflected pass right in front of the net and was her 26th goal of the season.

“Coming out, the players seemed really loose but intense,” head coach Jan Hutchinson said of her team. “After that quick opening goal, we kind of breathed a sigh of relief but knew we had to stay focused and keep up the intensity.”

UML would get a chance to tie the score at one less than two minutes later. Off of a penalty corner, a shot by the River Hawks Liz Day was deflected by senior Aubrey Carman but Jaci Moulton was able to get the rebound and tip in a goal to knot the score at 1-1 6:01 into the first half.

Shots were difficult to come by, as both teams turned up the heat on defense and didn’t allow any good looks at the net throughout most of the contest.

UML would get a chance to go up by a score when Sammy Macy would try a shot at the 13:12 mark but was turned away with a nice save by senior Caitlin Koczynski. The Huskies would work their way down the field and take a one-goal lead when junior Ashley Miller (Shermans Dale/West Perry) dumped a pass down to freshman Alexis Weber from the top of the arc where she would tip it in past the River Hawks goalkeeper Amy Carbon at the 17:16 mark in the first half. It was Weber’s seventh goal of the season and Miller’s fourth assist.

Bloomsburg would try to add to their lead 10 minutes later, but a shot by senior Breanne Tobin would sail wide left of the net. UML would get their last good look at the net in the first half when a shot by Moulton off of a penalty corner was saved again by Koczynski.

Defense would continue to dominate the game in the second half, as neither team was able to get a good look at the net until over 15 minutes in. The Huskies would look to extend their lead when junior Amanda Deloy took a shot off of a penalty corner but was turned away when the ball was blocked by the tight River Hawks defense. UML would get its own good look at the cage less than two minutes later with a penalty corner. This time it was the Bloomsburg defense that would step up as Day’s shot was deflected away from the net, preserving the 2-1 lead.

The Huskies would work the ball down inside the arc seven minutes later but saw good shot by Miller saved by Carbon. Continuing their strong work on defense, the Huskies would regain control of the ball with junior Julia Rush breaking away from the pack from the top of the arc. She would drop it off to Riley, who found the back of the net for the second time in the game, putting the Huskies up 3-1 with just over five minutes to play in the game. It was Riley’s 27th goal and Rush’s third assist of the season.

The River Hawks would fight back, however, scoring off of a penalty corner from Moulton to Macy to bring UML back within one goal with 4:36 left to play. They continued to turn on the heat, attempting to even the score by pulling their goalie with two minutes remaining. The extra attacker would prove to be futile as the Huskies defense would turn away all attempts at a good look at the net.

“We took a timeout right after they scored and the players were really fired up and determined not to let this slip away,” said Hutchinson. “They pulled their goalie and added an extra attacker and that’s when we really turned it up a notch. These players were not going to lose this game.”

The championship also brings a successful era to an end as this was Hutchinson’s last game on the Bloomsburg sideline, announcing her retirement a few weeks ago. She goes out on top, however, with 16 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) titles and 16 national championships.

“I’m excited and very happy that it ended this way,” said Hutchinson. “But I’m mostly happy for the seniors, because they’ll leave here with four championships. This season was a story book ending, and for these kids to come back and win it all…it’s incredible.”

–Courtesy Bloomsburg Athletics

UMass-Lowell Advances

Maggey Bloskey scored once and had one assist to lead the Bloomsburg University field hockey to a 4-2 win over Shippensburg in the semi-final game of the NCAA Division II field hockey championships in Easton, MA on the campus of Stonehill College.

The Huskies, 21-1, will play for the 16th national championship in school history on Sunday at 1 p.m. against last year’s title game opponent, UMass-Lowell. Bloomsburg will be attempting to win its fourth straight NCAA title for the second time in school history and for the seventh time in the last eight years.

Bloskey has been a Shippensburg killer in the last several meetings between the teams. In last year’s national semi-final game she scored three times in a 3-2, overtime win to send Bloomsburg to the national title game. Then two weeks ago she scored the game-winning goal against the Lady Raiders in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) title game.

FULL STORY

–Courtesy Bloomsburg Sports Information

Junior forward and Northeast-10 Player of the Year Sammy Macy shot a rocket from the middle of the circle to break a 1-1 tie with 1:46 remaining in regulation to lift the #3 seed UMass Lowell River Hawks to victory in the North Region Semifinal of the NCAA Division II Field Hockey Tournament, in front of a crowd of 1,143.

With the victory, the River Hawks will advance to the National Title game for the third consecutive year, fifth overall, and are looking for their first National Championship since 2005.

UMass Lowell takes on top overall seed, back-to-back, defending National Champion, Bloomsburg University out of the South Region, on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. The title game will be played at Stonehill’s W.B. Mason Stadium in Easton.

FULL STORY

–Courtesy UML Athletics

Bloomsburg (20-1) and Stonehill (17-4) will receive first-round byes in the six-team field.  In the North region, Massachusetts-Lowell (16-5) will travel to Bentley (16-4) for a first-round contest at 1 p.m. Eastern time, Saturday, November 7.  The winner will meet Stonehill in a semifinal matchup.  Shippensburg (19-2) will host East Stroudsburg (14-6) in the South region first-round contest at 1 p.m. Eastern time, Saturday, November 7.  The winner will meet Bloomsburg in a semifinal matchup.

Semifinals will be played at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., Friday, November 13, with the championship final at 1 p.m., Sunday, November 15.  These games will be played at WB Mason Stadium on the campus of Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts.

The final rankings, with results through November 1, are listed below:

North Region Overall record    In-region record
1.    Stonehill                      17-4                 17-2
2.    Bentley                        16-4                 15-3
3.    Mass-Lowell             16-5                 14-5
4.    Merrimack                 13-8                 13-6
5.    Adelphi                       12-8                 12-8
6.    Franklin Pierce           9-9                   9-8

South Region Overall record    In-region record
1.    Bloomsburg                  20-1                18-1
2.    Shippensburg               19-2                17-2
3.    East Stroudsburg         14-6                12-6
4.    Kutztown                       12-8                11-8
5.    Mercyhurst                    10-8                9-8