IUP Earns Third Consecutive Trip to NCAA Field Hockey Tournament

The IUP field hockey team has earned its third consecutive bid and fourth overall to the NCAA Division II tournament and will travel to Shippensburg for a quarterfinal contest on Saturday at noon.

IUP (14-5) is seeded third in the South Region while Shippensburg (16-5) is the second seed.  The winner will meet top-seeded and undefeated Bloomsburg (22-0) in the national semifinals on November 16 in Pensacola, Fla.

In the North Region, the quarterfinals will pit Bentley at Stonehill, with the winner taking on defending national champion UMass-Lowell in the semifinals.  The survivors of the two regions will play in the championship game on November 18, also in Pensacola.

The IUP-Shippensburg game is a rematch of last Friday’s PSAC semifinal contest in which the Red Raiders claimed a 3-2 overtime victory.  The teams split their two regular season meetings, with Shippensburg winning 4-3 at home on September 9 and IUP taking a 3-2 verdict on October 3 at Miller Stadium.

IUP has a record of 1-3 in its previous NCAA tournament appearances.  Last year, IUP dropped a 2-1 overtime decision at Bloomsburg in the quarterfinals.  In 2004, IUP posted a 2-0 win over Shippensburg at Miller Stadium before losing to Bloomsburg, 3-1, in the semifinals at Lowell, Mass.

IUP’s first trip to the NCAA tournament came in 2000 when the team was eliminated by Lock Haven in the opening round.

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