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D2 Field Hockey – West Chester downs defending Champions UMass-Lowell

admin — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 19:32:22 +0000

(Courtesy West Chester Athletics)

BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – Seniors Nicole Fiorilla and Brynn Adams each scored in the first half to lift West Chester to a 2-1 victory over UMass-Lowell in the 2011 NCAA Division II Field Hockey National Championship Game at the Sports Stadium in Bloomsburg, Pa., Sunday afternoon.

“We are thrilled to win the national championship,” WCU first-year head coach Amy Cohen said. “I’m kinda at a loss for words. The team knew how unique an opportunity this was.”

Fiorilla got the Golden Rams on the board first when she finished off a cross from teammate Kayla Gluchowski seven minutes into the contest. It was her 13th goal of the season, but her first since Oct. 11.

D2 Women’s Lacrosse – Adelphi Repeats as Champs!

admin — Fri, 28 May 2010 03:12:56 +0000

The Adelphi University women’s lacrosse team captured its second consecutive NCAA Division II National Championship, defeating West Chester University, 17-7, this afternoon at Clark Field. The Panthers (19-1) become the first DII women’s program to repeat as champions and improve their tally to a NCAA record four titles.

Sophomore Erica Devito and junior Kaitlyn Carter each tallied five goals apiece to lead the Panthers.

Adelphi took a commanding 7-2 lead in the first half which began with Carter scoring on an assist from junior Elizabeth Fey at 28:39. The Golden Rams knotted the score at 24:18 as Erin Oczkowski found the back of the net on an assist from Shannon Hayes. Fey put the Panthers up again on a feed from sophomore Claire Petersen, but Lauren Glassey tied it on a free position goal, she had three in the game, at 17:47. But that would prove to be the last goal for WCU before the break, as stellar Panther defense teamed up with senior goalkeeper Caitlin Fitzpatrick, who tallied nine saves in the first half.

Adelphi did struggle in transition, only clearing 11 of 17 attempts in the first stanza, while committing 13 turnovers. But the offense remained strong, as the Panthers closed out the last 17:30 on a 4-0 run. Sophomore Marissa Mills netted the first of her three goals on a free position shot, followed by freshman Demmianne Cook adding her own 8-meter shot to make it 5-2. Fey scored her second goal on an assist from Petersen, while Carter had the last word on an unassisted shot following a fast break to give the Panthers a five-point cushion at intermission.

The rally continued in the second half as Carter paired up with Devito at 26:02 to make it 8-2. Devito added back to back goals, one on a free position and the second on a dish from Alison Incarnato at 23:32. Held scoreless for the last 30 minutes, the Golden Rams managed back to back free position goals to make it 10-4, at 18:14. Mills recorded her third goal at 17:43, but West Chester went on a 3-0 run, including two more free position goals to close the gap, 11-6, with 14:27 left to go. But that would be as close as they would get, as Adelphi closed on a 6-0 tear. Devito accounted for three of those goals, with Carter having the last word on an unassisted shot with 1:46 left in regulation.

The Golden Rams held an 11-4 draw control advantage in the second half, but it was strong defensive play by the Panthers that forced 12 turnovers. Cook led the way with three caused turnovers along with two ground balls in the contest, while graduate student Jackie Bogensberger and sophomore Courtney Acker scooped up three ground balls a piece while causing two turnovers. Adelphi also improved to clear 14 of 16 attempts in the second half.

Fitzpatrick, who was selected to the All-Tournament Team, finished with 14 saves. MacKenzie O’Keefe made four stops for West Chester.

Fey, who finished with three goals and one assist, was named Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament. Over the three-game tournament, she tallied seven goals, seven assists, three ground balls and three draw controls.

Joining Fitpatrick and Fey on the All-Tournament team, are Devito, Carter and senior Holly Burke.

The Panthers have defeated the Golden Rams in all three NCAA Championship meetings, including 2004 and 2006. They improve their overall NCAA record to 9-2 in six appearances.

– Courtesy Adelphi Athletics

West Chester takes Women’s Lacrosse

admin — Sun, 18 May 2008 03:24:00 +0000

Four years of frustration and watching somebody else take home the gold trophy are over for West Chester’s women’s lacrosse team.

For the second time in the last seven years, West Chester has claimed the NCAA Division II Women’s Lacrosse championship with a convincing 13-12 victory over C.W. Post at Memorial Park on Saturday afternoon.

The Golden Rams (20-1) ended four straight years of a “second-best” title with their first win over the Pioneers (17-2) in the NCAA Tournament. West Chester set a new school record for wins in a single season in the process.

For senior Steph Kienle, it was especially pleasing to end her illustrious career in such a fitting manner. The WCU graduate posted a hat trick and one assist, finishing the 2008 season with an NCAA-record 143 points, breaking her own single-season record set a year ago.

FULL STORY

–excerpt courtesy WCU Sports Information

Final Four set for Women’s Lacrosse

admin — Tue, 06 May 2008 02:51:00 +0000

The NCAA Division II Women’s Lacrosse Committee has selected the teams that will compete in the 2008 NCAA Division II Women’s Lacrosse Championship. The championship provides for a four-team tournament. Two teams from each region (North and South) will be paired together in the semifinals. The winners will advance to the final.

Semifinal games will be played May 15 and will feature C.W. Post Campus/Long Island University (16-1) versus Adelphi University (16-0) in the 11:30 a.m. game. Limestone College (17-1) and West Chester University of Pennsylvania (16-1) will compete in the 2 p.m. game at Memorial Park in Houston, Texas. The championship final will be contested at 1 p.m., May 17, and will be featured live on CBS College Sports Network. All times are Central.

In 2007, C.W. Post clinched the title with a 15-7 victory over West Chester.

–Courtesy of NCAASports.com

Drury Wins Fourth Straight Title

admin — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 03:49:00 +0000

Drury University won its fourth straight NCAA Division II national championship and sixth overall with a steady performance on the final day of the meet at the University of Missouri.

The Panthers got a national title from Mitch Snyder and added four more finishes among the top eight, including a runner-up finish from Alexander Protsenko in the 200-backstroke, then concluded the night with a relay title to finish with a total of 523.5 points.

Snyder won his second straight national title in the 1,650-yard freestyle as he pulled away in the latter stages of the race to win in a time of 15:19.58. Tampa’s Chris O’Linger finished second in 15:25.43. Drury’s 400-yard freestyle relay team of Protsenko, Kyle Kearbey, Yiwen Huang and Tomas Kusvard put the finishing touch on Drury’s title with a national record time of 2:58.84 in its win.

Dan Perdew of UC San Diego, named as the swimmer of the meet, claimed the national title in the 100-yard freestyle as he beat out Ouachita Baptist’s Radu Badalac and Indianapolis’ Alex Arestis in the finals in 44.23. Badalac and Arestis tied for second in 44.47 seconds.

Ouachita Baptist’s Nelson Silva completed an OBU sweep of the titles in the 200-backstroke, as he matched Sarah Watson’s win in the women’s race with one of his own in the men’s race in 1:47.31, edging three competitors that finished within a second of first.

Jakub Jiracek of Seattle, who had been denied twice earlier in the meet of winning a record 11th national title at the Division II level, got that elusive championship in the 200-yard breaststroke as he held off Missouri S&T freshman Zlatan Hamzic by 0.39 seconds to win in 1:58.55.

St. Cloud State’s Nate Jimerson took his second national title of the meet in the diving competition with a score of 546.15 in the three-meter event, besting the defending champion Brandon Birchek of Saint Rose.

Missouri S&T, the host institution for the NCAA Division II Championships, had a strong final day headed by Hamzic’s runner-up effort in the 200-breaststroke to climb to second in the team standings, its highest national finish in school history in any sport.

West Chester took third place, followed by Ouachita Baptist and North Dakota.

–Courtesy Missouri S&T

Metro State tops Women’s Soccer Pre-Season Poll

admin — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 06:01:00 +0000

DEFENDING DIVISION II CHAMPION Metro State has been ranked first in the Pre-Season poll sponsored by the NSCAA and adidas. The Roadrunners finished last year 24-2 and are predicted to win the RMAC again this season. They are returning All-American Rachel Zollner who was named the preseason RMAC Defensive Player of the Year. Zollner, defensive All-American Nicole Cito and Jessica Brown were named to the preseason all-RMAC team. Second in the poll is last year’s D2 runner-up Grand Valley State. The Lakers finished 19-2-1 losing a 1-0 heartbreaker in the Championship match. They will be led this season by junior All-American Katy Taflor who had a record-setting season being named GLIAC Player of the Year, to the All-Region team for the second consecutive year and the NCAA All-Tournament Team. Tafler led the nation and set school single-season records in scoring with 33 goals (1.50 per game) and points with 73 (3.32 per game). At the third position in the poll sits 2006 semi-finalist West Chester from the PSAC. The Golden Rams will have their third coach in three years as Kempf Townsley , former DI Seton Hall coach, replaces Gerry Lucey who returned to Tampa. WCU lost several key seniors but will be led by junior All-American goalkeeper Hilary Smart who made 54 saves and allowed only 13 goals last season. Smart recorded 5 shutouts in her 21 wins for the Golden Rams, and led the PSAC with a 0.61 goals against average.

Tampa is ranked fourth and returns All-Americans Shannon Aitken and Shelby Kuni. Aitken returns for her senior campaign after registering a 0.63 GAA with 11 shutouts as a junior. Kuni scored a UT record 26 goals last year, seven of which were game winners. The junior enters the season with 39 career goals and remains on pace to break the school’s career record in the category. The Top 5 is rounded out by UC San Diego. The Tritons are coming off a season in which they posted a 20-2-2 record and qualified for the national quarterfinals. Leading the way this year will be seniors Kathy Sepulveda and Ali Lai. The duo combined for 19 goals and six assists last year. Senior Caitlin Ryan will anchor the midfield while senior defender Alie Avina will help secure the back line. Junior goalkeeper Jessica McGovern returns after a season in which she allowed only 11 goals in over 2,100 minutes of action for a 0.47 goals-against average. The remainder of the Top 10 include Nebraska-Omaha, Franklin Pierce, Tusculum, Carson-Newman and St. Edward’s.

Perfect Season for CW Post Women’s Lacrosse

admin — Mon, 14 May 2007 20:47:00 +0000

THE C.W. POST CAMPUS of Long Island University has captured their second national title at the NCAA Division II Women’s Lacrosse Championships in Salem, Virginia. The top-ranked Pioneers finished undefeated (17-0) by defeating third-ranked West Chester, 15-7. C.W. Post is only the second team (Stonehill, 2005) to have a perfect season since DII competition started in 2001. It was that inaugural season that Coach Karen MacCrate Henning led her team to their first title. For the West Chester Golden Rams, it was their fourth consecutive year as runner-up. Pioneer All-American midfielder, Mallory Poole, was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament. Senior and All-Tournament team member Shannon Fabian ended her career third in D2 scoring and leader in career and single-season assists. West Chester star and the nation’s leading scorer this season was held without a goal for the first time in 43 games. Post is a member of the East Coast Conference and West Chester competes in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.