IUP Earns Fourth Consecutive Trip to NCAA Field Hockey Tournament, Receives First Round Bye

The IUP field hockey team has earned its fourth consecutive bid to the NCAA Division II tournament and will travel to Lowell, Mass., for the Final Four.

IUP (17-3) is seeded first in the South Region.  The Crimson Hawks received a bye in the quarterfinal round on November 3 and will play the winner of the game between Bloomsburg (18-4) and Kutztown (17-4) in the semifinals on November 9 at 4 p.m. in Lowell.

In the North Region, host UMass-Lowell (18-2) is the No. 1 seed and will await the winner of the quarterfinal game between Bentley (14-6) and C.W. Post (16-3) in the second semifinal at 7 p.m.

The championship game will be played on November 11 at 1 p.m.

IUP earned its lofty seed on the strength of its first ever PSAC championship, including a 4-3 overtime victory over Bloomsburg in the championship game. 

The Crimson Hawks went 3-0 against the defending national champion Huskies this season, split two games against Kutztown and defeated Bentley 4-0 and lost to UMass-Lowell 2-1 on an August trip to New England.

IUP has a record of 2-4 in its previous four NCAA tournament appearances.  Last year, the Crimson Hawks defeated Shippensburg 2-1 in the quarterfinals before dropping a 2-0 decision to Bloomsburg in the semifinals. 

In 2005, IUP lost 2-1 in overtime to Bloomsburg.  The previous season IUP posted a 2-0 win over Shippensburg at Miller Stadium before losing to Bloomsburg 3-1 in the semifinals, also in 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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