[Kutztown Press Release] KU FIELD HOCKEY EARNS NCAA TOURNAMENT BERTH

[Josh Leiboff]

Oct. 29, 2007

 

KU FIELD HOCKEY EARNS NCAA TOURNAMENT BERTH

 

KUTZTOWN, Pa. - The Kutztown University field hockey team, for the first
time since 1997, will compete in the NCAA Division II Championship
Tournament.

KU (17-4), the No. 3 seed from the south region, will play Bloomsburg
(18-4), the No 2 seed from the south region, in a first-round contest at
Bloomsburg on Saturday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m.  

The winner advances to the final four, Nov. 9 and 11 at UMass-Lowell.  The
winner of the KU/BU game will face south region No. 1 seed Indiana (Pa.),
while UMass-Lowell (18-2), the north region's No. 1 seed, will take on the
winner of the C.W. Post (No. 2, 16-3) and Bentley (No. 3, 14-6) game.  The
remaining teams will play for the NCAA title on Nov. 11.

The Golden Bears are led by Kelley Healey (jr. Toms River, N.J./Toms River
North), who has 17 goals and 14 assists. Anne Waapu (r-fr. Hastings, NEW
ZEALAND) is second on the team in goals, with 12. She has scored six goals
in the Golden Bears last five games. She also has two assists.

Lyndsay Butler (jr. Annandale, N.J./Summit) is second on the team in points,
with 10 goals and eight assists.

Abbey Sheeler (fr. Fleetwood/Brandywine Heights), Alyssa Maltese (so.
Hackettstown, N.J./Hackettstown) and Carrie Healey (so. Toms River,
N.J./Toms River North) also have posted double-digit point seasons. Maltese
has 21 points, with six goals and nine assists, and Healey has 20, with
eight goals and four assists. Sheeler has four goals and two assists.

Sam Flowers (sr. Harleysville/Souderton) is 16-4 in net for the Golden Bears
with a 1.47 goals against average. She has recorded three shutouts and 100
saves. Back Courtney Geibel (jr. Mifflintown/Juniata) anchors the defense in
front of Flowers with a team-high five defensive saves.

The Golden Bears average 3.29 goals per game and the defense is holding the
opposition to 1.36 goals per game.

Bloomsburg, the defending NCAA champion, has defeated KU three times this
season, including a 2-1 victory on Friday in the PSAC semifinals.  

IUP defeated Bloomsburg for the PSAC Championship on Saturday.  KU is 1-1
against the Crimson Hawks this season, and has not faced any of the north
region teams.  

The Golden Bears lost to Bloomsburg in the NCAA Championship game in 1997,
the first time that KU had reached the Division II title game. KU finished
the 1997 season 15-6 as Golden Bears coach Betty Wesner was named the NFHCA
Division II Coach of the Year.  KU is making its fourth appearance in the
NCAA Division II playoffs (1982, '83, '97, 2007).  KU also appeared in the
Division III tournament in 1988.

 

 

 

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Josh Leiboff

Kutztown University Sports Information

Phone: (610) 683-4182

Fax: (610) 683-4676

Email: leiboff at kutztown.edu

Website: http://www.kubears.com

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