Bloomsburg Falls in NCAA D-II Field Hockey Title Game

SHIPPENSBURG — The three-year run as NCAA Division II national champions came to end for the Bloomsburg University field hockey team lost to UMass-Lowell (UML), 2-1, in overtime Sunday afternoon. The loss marks the first time since the 2002 season that Bloomsburg has not ended the season as national champions.

“We're disappointed, but mostly we're disappointed with the fact that we didn't have the same fire and

intensity as we had on Friday,” Bloomsburg coach Jan Hutchinson stated in reference to her team's 1-0 victory over Shippensburg in the semifinals. “We weren't thinking about a run. We were thinking about this year's players and this year's team.”

The game winner for the River Hawks came in the 92nd minute as Julie DaLuze scored after taking control of the ball and maneuvering into the middle of the circle to rifle a shot past Bloomsburg goalie Tracey Hudak (Sweet Valley/Lake-Lehman) that delivered the victory to UML.

Bloomsburg controlled play in the early portion of the game with Samantha Kropa (Tunkhannock/Lackawanna Trail) and Ashley Heckard (Millerstown/Greenwood) both getting off shots for the Huskies in the first four minutes of play. However, River Hawk goalie Nicole Staiti made saves on both hits to keep the game scoreless.

Lowell shifted play to the Bloomsburg defensive end with the River Hawks getting two corners in a 30-second span around the 28-minute mark. Then a minute later off a restart, UML's Sara Hohenberger took a pass from Courtney Hill and beat Hudak with her shot.

The Huskies countered and turn play back to its offensive end and generated four corners in three minute span. However, shots by Maribeth Brozena (Larksville/Wyoming Valley West) and Jamie Vanartsdalen (Philadelphia/Lower Moreland) were blocked.

Later, Vanartsdalen had a golden scoring chance off a corner play with 13:30 left in the half, but her shot was stopped by Staiti

In the second half, Bloomsburg had two corners in the first five minutes, with Samantha Kropa getting off a good shot on the second play, but again Staiti came up with the save.

The teams then went back and forth with the Huskies getting several corners from the 25-minute mark to the 20-minute mark. UML then controlled the action for the next five minutes coming up with three penalty corners. However, neither team was able to score.

Over the next nine minutes the team went back and forth in the middle of the field before the Huskies four corners over a two minute stretch. On the fourth of the corners, with 6:55 to play, Maribeth Brozena took a pass from Ashley Heckard and beat Staiti with a shot to the left half of the goal. For Brozena, it was her ninth goal of the season.

For the remainder of regulation, neither team was able to generate much offense and the game went into overtime.

Feverish offensive activity was applied by both teams in the first of two sudden-victory overtime periods, as Massachusetts Lowell fired three shots that were stopped by Hudak while Staiti made a crucial save for the River Hawks. Staiti made a diving save on a breakaway from Kropa two minutes into the second overtime and blocked two more shots with nine minutes remaining to continue the scoreless tie.

The All-Tournament Team is as follows: Kelly Latendresse (Stonehill), Julie Michalos (Stonehill), Ashley Watt (Shippensburg), Natalie Grazan (Shippensburg), Maribeth Brozena (Bloomsburg), Kristi Ney (Bloomsburg),

Jamie Vanartsdalen (Bloomsburg), Tracey Hudak (Bloomsburg), Courtney Hill (Massachusetts Lowell), Joanna Daluze (Massachusetts Lowell) and Sara Hohenberger (Massachusetts Lowell).

Bloomsburg ends its season with a record of 19-5.

BY PERIODS	1	2	OT	OT	Total
Bloomsburg	0	1	0	0	1
UMass-Lowell	1	0	0	1	2

SCORING
UML	1st	8:08	Sara Hohenberger (Courtney Hill)
BU	2nd	63:18	Maribeth Brozena (Ashley Heckard)
UML	2OT	92:01	Julie DaLuze

Goalie Stats
BU	Tracey Hudak	5 saves	92 minutes
UML	Nicole Staiti	14 saves	92 minutes

Shots	BU	26	UML	11
Corners	BU	20	UML	12