The Stonehill College field hockey team earned its first-ever berth in the NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships earlier today, as the Skyhawks, seeded second in the North Region, will host third-seeded Bentley College in a national quarterfinal round match on Saturday, November 5th at W.B. Mason Stadium beginning at Noon EST.
Stonehill enters the NCAA Championships fresh off of earning its first-ever Northeast-10 Conference tournament title on Sunday afternoon with a 2-1 overtime victory over UMass Lowell, as Head Coach Pam Arpes Skyhawks are enjoying the best campaign in school history with an overall mark of 18-2 and bring a school-record 14-match winning streak into Saturdays national quarterfinal round. Sophomore forward Aly Boulis (Lincoln, R.I./Lincoln) netted the game-winning goal 13:08 into the overtime period in Sundays title match triumph to earn conference tournament Most Valuable Player honors for Stonehill, which finished second in the final regular season league standings with a 14-2 mark after being picked to finish fifth in the leagues pre-season coaches poll.
Saturdays national quarterfinal round opponent is no stranger to the Skyhawks, as Stonehill has already met Bentley on three occasions during the course of 2005 season and has come away victorious against the Falcons in those three match-ups. The two squads first met on September 8th at W.B. Mason Stadium where Stonehill notched a 2-0 triumph, and the Skyhawks posted their first-ever victory on Bentleys home turf back on October 6th with a 2-1 victory in Waltham, Mass. The Skyhawks and Falcons met for the third time this past Saturday in the Northeast-10 semi-finals played at UMass Lowell, as sophomore Caitlin Gleasons (New Boston, N.H./Goffstown) second half goal held up for a 1-0 Stonehill victory.
Gleason leads the Skyhawk scoring parade with 13 goals and six assists for 32 points, while junior All-America Kelly Latendresse (Sidney, Maine/Messalonskee), who assisted on all three Stonehill goals during the Northeast-10 tournament title run, follows with nine goals and a team-high 13 assists for 31 points. Boulis is next with 10 goals and five assists for 25 points, while senior co-captain Julie Michalos (Norwood, Mass./Norwood) follows with seven goals and five assists for 19 points. Junior Courtney Campbell (Reading, Mass./Reading) is a threat on both sides of the field after notching four goals and eight assists for 16 points to date, while 2005 Northeast-10 Freshman of the Year Kerri Sullivan (Goffstown, N.H./Goffstown) has recorded six goals and three assists for 15 points during her rookie campaign.
Defense has been a staple for Stonehills success this season, as the Skyhawks have more victories (18) than goals allowed (16) to date. Senior co-captain Lindsay Breen (North Andover, Mass./North Andover) leads Arpes defensive unit, as the Skyhawks have held opponents to one or fewer goals in 18 of their 20 matches to date. Sophomore Dani Ryder (Gloucester, Mass./Tantasqua) has been a solid last line of defense for Stonehill as well, as she has recorded a school-record 18 victories to go with a league-leading 0.82 goals against average this fall, making 69 saves for an .812 saves percentage and nine shutouts. Ryder made nine saves in Sundays conference championship win at UMass Lowell.
Though Stonehill has won the first three match-ups of the season between the two teams, Head Coach Kelly McGowans Bentley squad is no stranger to NCAA tournament play, as the Falcons have earned their sixth trip to the Division II championships in the last seven years, having won the 2001 national crown and advancing to last years title match before falling to Bloomsburg. Bentley enters Saturdays national quarterfinal round match with a 16-5 overall mark, as the Falcons are led by 2005 Northeast-10 Co-Player of the Year Mary Rogers, who has amassed 23 goals and 10 assists for 56 points to date.
The winner of Saturdays Stonehill-Bentley national quarterfinal contest advances to face North Region top seed UMass Lowell (18-3) in the 2005 NCAA Division II national semi-finals on Friday, November 11th at the Robb Sports Complex on the campus of Shippensburg University in Shippensburg, Pa. beginning at 2:00 p.m. EST.
Saturdays South Region national quarterfinal pits third-seeded Indiana (Pa.) (14-6) against second-seeded and defending national champion Bloomsburg (17-4) in a match to be played in Bloomsburg, Pa. at Noon EST. The winner of the IUP-Bloomsburg match advances to face South Region top seed and host Shippensburg (20-2) in the other national semi-final round on Friday, November 11th beginning at 5:00 p.m. EST. The two national semi-final winners meet for the 2005 NCAA Division II national championship on Sunday, November 13th at Shippensburgs Robb Sports Complex beginning at 1:00 p.m. EST.
For more information on the 2005 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships, log-on to www.ncaachampionships.com.
SKYHAWK TALK: Field Hockey becomes the ninth program in Stonehill history to earn an NCAA tournament berthGleason, Latendresse, Michalos, Campbell and Breen all earned a spot on this years Northeast-10 all-conference squad, while Latendresse and Michalos were also honored with spots on the Northeast-10 Academic All-Conference teamIn six seasons at Stonehill, Arpe has become the winningest coach in the programs 10-year history with 79 triumphs to date. She is assisted by her daughter Amanda, a former standout at Hobart & William SmithStonehill leads the Northeast-10 in both goals scored (66) and goals allowed (16)The Skyhawks have been ranked in the STX/NFHCA Division II national poll in 39 of the last 45 rankings periods dating back to 2001Stonehill has won four of its last seven match-ups with Bentley dating back to 2003. The Skyhawks are 4-1 against the North Region tournament field this season.
2005 NCAA DIVISION II FIELD HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIPS
National Quarterfinals Saturday, November 5th
North Region:#3 Bentley (16-5) at #2 STONEHILL (18-2)Noon
South Region:#3 Indiana (Pa.) (14-6) at #2 Bloomsburg (17-4)Noon