GAME OVERVIEW
· Millersville and Shippensburg meet again with national and PSAC implications on the line. The Marauders, ranked No. 1 in Division II, are the only unbeaten team remaining in the country and can set a school record for consecutive victories with 10th win on Tuesday. Millersville opened the 2013 season with nine wins but Shippensburg ended the run by a 1-0 score in overtime.
· Shippensburg, the defending national champion, closed last week as the No. 2-ranked team in Division II but suffered a 2-1 loss against West Chester on Saturday. This is the second meeting this season between the Marauders and Raiders. Millersville ended Shippensburg's streak of 49 consecutive home wins on Sept. 9 on
Katelyn Zapp's goal in the 42nd minute. Millersville currently holds a slim one-game lead over West Chester in the PSAC standings with Shippensburg lurking two games back with seven regular season conference games remaining.
SERIES HISTORY
· Millersville's recent resurgence has made this one of the premier rivalries in collegiate field hockey. Millersville won last season's PSAC Championship with a 1-0 win over the Raiders, but Shippensburg retaliated with a 3-1 win in the NCAA Semifinals. The last eight meetings have been evenly split at 4-4 with six of those games being decided by one goal. The last six meetings have all been played at Shippensburg or at a neutral site. The last time Millersville and Ship met at Biemesderfer Stadium was on Sept. 6, 2012 with the Raiders earning a 2-1 win. Millersville's last home win over Shippensburg came on Sept. 10, 2011.
THE LAST MEETING (9/9/2014, MILLERSVILLE 1, SHIPPENSBURG 0)
· After a scoreless first half of play in which both teams managed just one shot on goal, Millersville broke through in the second. The Marauders totaled five shots to Shippensburg's two and forced Ally Mooney to make three saves in the period. The lone goal and game-winner came 6:33 into the second period when senior
Alicia Youtz pushed a pass from the far right side of the circle through traffic to Zapp, who swept the ball into the back of the cage. It was Zapp's second goal of the season and Youtz's second assist.
AWESOME IN OVERTIME· Millersville needed double overtime to dispatch Mercyhurst in its last game. The Marauders improved to 3-0 this season in overtime games and have won five consecutive extra-session games. Since 2012, Millersville is 9-2 in overtime games and 9-0 when scoring at least one goal in an overtime game.
HERE COMES RACHEL· After not tallying a single point in the first three games of the season,
Rachel Dickinson has since scored four goals and four assists in the last six games. Dickinson scored the game-winner against Mercyhurst. She has also put at least three shots on goal in four of the last six games. Dickinson is now just one of two players in Millersville history with 20 career helpers. Dena Gockley set the school record with 27 from 1993-95.
GOALS AT A PREMIUM· The first team to one goal might win Tuesday's game. Millersville and Shippensburg rank first and second in Division II in goals against average. Millersville has surrendered just four goals (0.42 per game) and Shippensburg has allowed only five (0.50 per game). The teams have both posted six shutouts to date. Individually, Millersville's
Lauren Sotzin ranks first in Division II in goals against average (0.44) while Ship's Ally Mooney ranks second (0.57). Sotzin is also the national leader in saves percentage with an .879 mark while Mooney ranks third at .839.
SCOUTING THE RAIDERS· Shippensburg does not possess the high-powered offense it has in recent years, but it is staunch defensively, ranking just behind the Marauders as the No. 2 defense in the nation. The Raiders have limited opponents to just 65 shots (6.5 per game) and 53 penalty corners. The offense ranks seventh in the 11-team PSAC with 23 goals. Tori Ricker leads the team with eight goals and four game-winners. Emily Barnard ranks second with five goals. Lucy Kauffman is tops in assists with four.
