Huskies Shut Down Rival Shippensburg

BLOOMSBURG- In a match up of the nations top two teams, the top-ranked Bloomsburg University Field Hockey team shutout second-ranked Shippensburg, 4-0, at the Sports Stadium on Saturday. Maribeth Brozena (Larksville/ Wyoming Valley West) scored a goal and dominated defensively, while Jamie Vanartsdalen (Huntington Valley/ Lower Moreland) had a goal and an assist to lead Bloomsburg.

The game was tight early on, with neither team having many scoring opportunities. However, the Huskies got on the board first at the 19:55 mark when Ashley Heckard (Millerstown/ Greenwood) setup Brozena off a penalty corner to give Bloomsburg a 1-0 lead. Just eight minutes later, Vanartsdalen setup Erin Hench (Loysville/ West Perry) with a wide-open shot to make the score 2-0. The Huskies took the 2-0 lead into the half.

Shortly into the second half, Brozena came up with a defensive save off a shot from Shippensburg's Kimberly Davies to keep the score at 2-0. Then in the 40th minute, freshman Aubrey Carman (Dallastown/ Dallastown) scored off an assist form Chelsea Due (Pen Argyl/ Pen Argyl) to make it 3-0. The goal was the first of Carman's collegiate career. With the game already in hand, Bloomsburg added a fourth goal with just 2:43 remaining when Samantha Kropa (Tunkhannock/ Lackawanna Trail) set up Vanartsdalen for her 14th goal of the season.

Goalie Tracey Hudak (Sweet Valley/ Lake-Lehman) had four saves to earn the shutout.

Bloomsburg improves to 11-0, 7-0 in the PSAC, while Shippensburg falls to 10-1, 7-1 in the PSAC. The Huskies will travel to Mansfield on Tuesday at 4 p.m.