1999 NCAA Division III Tournament
SELINSGROVE, (Pa.) — Ranked 12th in the latest STX/National Field Hockey Coaches Association national poll, the 14-3 Susquehanna University field hockey team has made the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament for just the second time in school history. Just like their other visit to “The Big Dance” in 1993, the Crusaders will play a home game as they host Pennsylvania Athletic Conference champion and 15-4 Gwynedd-Mercy College Wednesday, November 3, at 3 p.m.
The NCAA Tournament game requires paid admission, with adult tickets being $4 and students $2.
Susquehanna dropped a 2-1 decision to Ithaca on November 6, 1993, as it hosted the regional in its only other trip to the NCAA Tournament. Eventual national champion Cortland State was supposed to host the regional that year, but snow forced the event to be moved south to Susquehanna.
Under 25th-year head coach Connie Harnum (163-136-22, .542), the Crusaders were runners-up in the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth Conference this season with a 6-1 record. They will have their third attempt to break the school record for wins in a season (Record: 14-5, 1993), dropping their first two as they lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. The team lost its regular-season finale at York, Pa. (2-4), and then dropped a MAC semifinal game at Wilkes in overtime (1-2) last Wednesday.
Fourth-year head coach Joanne Stanton (32-28, .533) leads Gwynedd-Mercy into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. The Griffins have already broken their school record for wins in a season, also winning the PAC championship and their first playoff games of any kind for the first time in the program’s 51-year history. Gwynedd-Mercy has been on quite a wild ride through the PAC playoffs — beating Beaver, 3-1, in the quarterfinals; scoring a 1-0 win over Eastern in strokes in the semis; and topping Wesley 2-1 in overtime in the championship game.The Griffins will bring a six-game winning streak into their first NCAA game.
The winner of Wednesday’s game will advance to this weekend’s regional and play host Skidmore College (16-1) on Saturday, November 6. Skidmore is champion of the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association. Saturday’s other regional game will pit New England Small College Athletic Conference champion Amherst (12-2) against Centennial Conference champ Gettysburg (17-3). The winners of those two games will play in the regional final on Sunday, November 7, at Skidmore.
The winners of the four regionals will advance to the national semifinals on Saturday, November 13, at the site of one of the four competing teams. The national championship game will be played on Sunday, November 14.
The NCAA Tournament has an 18-team field. Third-ranked Lebanon Valley (16-2) was winner of the MAC Commonwealth Conference and received one of the eight automatic NCAA bids from winning that title. Susquehanna got one of the 10 remaining at-large bids.
SCOUTING SUSQUEHANNA
Head coach Connie Harnum has made her silver anniversary season her best thus far as her team has already broken the school record for consecutive wins (7, twice) and tied the record for wins in a season. The team also achieved its highest national ranking ever as it climbed to as high as eighth on September 21 in the NCAA Division III poll.
The best news for Harnum is she’s done it with a starting lineup which features just two seniors, with four freshmen, three sophomores and two juniors.
“We’re really excited about this young team having this terrific opportunity,” said Harnum. “I feel a little pressure right now because of this game being on top of us so fast, but it’s nice to have it on our home field where we’re undefeated (6-0) this season. I’m sure with some good practice both today and tomorrow, we’ll be ready to go.”
Offensively, all four starters along the front line have been effective. 1998 all-state selection and freshman left inner Leah Bailor (Richfield/Middleburg H.S.) leads the team and the MAC Commonwealth Conference in scoring, now with 11 goals and seven assists for 29 points (1.71 ppg). She also tops the conference in assists per game (now 0.41) and is second in goals (now 0.65 per game). She had the lone goal in the playoff loss at Wilkes last Wednesday.
Fellow freshman Katie McKeever (Worcester/Methacton H.S.) has nine goals and three assists for 21 points and is third in both conference scoring (now 1.24 points per game) and goals per game (now 0.53).
Junior tri-captain and right wing Ali Hughes (Reading/Muhlenberg H.S.) is a returning MAC Commonwealth League All-Star who is the school record holder in career assists with 14. Also a returning member of the MAC Field Hockey All-Academic Team, Hughes has two goals and six assists for 10 points this season (0.63 ppg).
Sophomore inner Jeannie Yarrow (West Amwell, N.J./South Hunderton Regional H.S.) is the playmaker and has scored seven goals and four assists for 18 points (1.06 ppg). Yarrow was the scoring leader in the final week of the regular season with three goals and two assists for eight points, and has had many of the team’s biggest goals this season.
Junior tri-captain Danielle Wenger (Hamburg/Hamburg H.S.) is the center midfielder and has provided the perfect link between offense and defense. Wenger is just behind Hughes for the school record for career assists with 13, and has scored a goal and five assists for seven points (0.41 ppg) this season. Wenger has also been a key to the team’s 0.85 goals-against average.
She is flanked by a pair of freshmen at the other two midfielder positions in Lindsay Barr (Emmaus/Emmaus H.S.) and Megan Patrono (West Milford, N.J./West Milford Twp. H.S.). Of the two, Barr has two goals this season.
The team’s only two senior starters have been the leaders back deep in tri-captain Amanda Reigle (Middleburg/Middleburg H.S.) and Taryn Moser (Lewistown/Lewistown H.S.).
Reigle has started all 69 games of her collegiate career and scored her first goal in her final regular-season home game off a penalty stroke in a 2-1 win over Muhlenberg on October 21.
Moser didn’t play field hockey her first two seasons, but has started all 33 games over the last two seasons she has played.
Sophomore Sara Fuller (Mountaintop/Crestwood H.S.) is also a returning starter who rounds out the backs.
Sophomore goalkeeper Kylie Cook (Huntingdon/Huntingdon Area H.S.) is the MAC Commonwealth Conference leader in both goals-against average (now 0.89), and save percentage (now .859). Cook, who was never a goalkeeper before last season, has made 79 saves and surrendered just 13 goals this season, also being the primary keeper in seven of the squad’s eight shutouts this season. She has a career 1.01 goals-against average and .865 save percentage.
SCOUTING GWYNEDD-MERCY
Stanton has made steady progress with her program, taking it from 8-7 a year ago to 15-4 this season.
The Griffins share some common opponents with Susquehanna this season — beating MAC Commonwealth Conference foe Moravian (3-2) as well as PAC team Cedar Crest (1-0), but losing at King’s (1-2). Susquehanna won all three games against those teams — scoring a 3-1 decision over Moravian, 1-0 victory at King’s, and 2-1 win at Cedar Crest in the season-opener.
Gwynedd-Mercy has been led by the hot goalkeeping of junior Becky Souders, who has given up just 16 goals while making 150 saves for a goals-against average of 0.84 and save percentage of .904.
Offensively, the leader is junior forward Erin Forster, who has six goals and four goals for 16 points. Forster had a goal and an assist in the team’s PAC quarterfinal win over Beaver.
Freshman forward Rachel Szybowski tops a group of three players with four goals apiece, also scoring four assists for 12 points. Junior midfielder Megan McCloskey has four goals and two assists for 10 points, while sophomore forward Stacy Bytheway has four goals and an assist for nine points.
While junior midfielder Nicole Wineburg leads the team with six assists, scoring no goals for six points, sophomore forward Christine Johnson is third on the team in scoring with three goals and five assists for 11 points.
1999 NCAA Division III Tournament
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