#6 Field Hockey Earns Eighth NCAA Bid

Third-seeded Skyhawks will visit second-seeded Saint Anselm for first round matchup on Saturday at 1 p.m.

NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships Announcement

NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships Interactive Bracket

EASTON, Mass. (November 7, 2016) – The Stonehill College field hockey team, ranked No. 6 in the most recent Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II poll, has earned its eighth trip to the NCAA Division II Field Hockey Tournament after receiving the No. 3 seed in the East Region when the selections were announced by the national committee this afternoon.

Stonehill (14-5, 9-3 NE-10) will travel to Manchester, New Hampshire, this weekend to face second-seeded and No. 3-ranked Saint Anselm College (16-4, 10-2 NE-10), the Northeast-10 Conference's regular season champions, in a first round matchup on Saturday at 1 p.m. The winner of that game will advance to the NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships, being hosted by Stonehill at W.B. Mason Stadium, to battle No. 5 LIU Post (15-3, 9-3 NE-10), the East Region's top-seed and NE-10 Tournament Champions, on Friday, November 18.

Stonehill earns an NCAA bid for the fourth straight year – its second under second-year head coach Susan Ciufo after earning the top seed in the region a year ago. The Skyhawks will play a first round matchup for the fifth time in program history, its first since dropping a 4-3 overtime decision to Merrimack College at W.B. Mason Stadium in 2013. The Skyhawks have also earned NCAA Tournament bids in 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2015 reaching the national semifinals in 2005, 2009, 2010, 2014 and 2015. Saint Anselm has earned its first NCAA Tournament bid in program history.

No. 4-ranked Millersville University (17-4, 7-3 PSAC) earned the top-seed in the Atlantic Region after winning the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament over the weekend. The Marauders await the winner of Saturday's other first round matchup between third-seeded and No. 2-ranked Shippensburg University (17-3, 9-1 PSAC), the PSAC regular season champions, and second-seeded and No. 1-ranked East Stroudsburg University (15-4, 9-1 PSAC), the reigning national champions.

Stonehill is the predetermined host of the 2016 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships, which will be played at W.B. Mason Stadium, November 18-20. The four semifinalists will hold closed practice sessions at W.B. Mason Stadium on Thursday, November 17, with the pre-championship banquet at Gillette Stadium that evening, with guest speaker Heather Abbott, Stonehill Class of 1996, a Boston Marathon bombing survivor. The two national semifinals will be played at W.B. Mason Stadium on Friday, November 18, at 2 and 5 p.m. The NFHCA Senior All-Star Game will follow Saturday's closed practices for the two national championship participants at W.B. Mason Stadium, with the national championship game taking place Sunday, November 20, at 1 p.m.     

For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Fans can also download the Stonehill Skyhawks "Front Row" mobile app, powered by PrestoSports, on iTunes and the Android Market.

2016 NCAA Division II
Field Hockey Championship 

First Round
Saturday, November 12
#6 Stonehill (14-5) at #3 Saint Anselm (16-4), 1 p.m.
#2 Shippensburg (17-3) at #1 East Stroudsburg (15-4), 1 p.m. 

Semifinals
Friday, November 18Hosted by Stonehill College
W.B. Mason Stadium, Easton, Mass.
Shippensburg/East Stroudsburg winner vs. #4 Millersville, 2 p.m.
Stonehill/Saint Anselm winner vs. #5 LIU Post, 5 p.m.

National Championship
Sunday, November 20Hosted by Stonehill College
W.B. Mason Stadium, Easton, Mass.
Semifinals winners, 1 p.m.