MILLERSVILLE VS. SHIPPENSBURG |
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| Millersville Marauders
2014 Record: 16-2
Last Game: 2-0 W vs. IUP
Coach: Shelly Behrens, 7th season
Roster | Schedule | Statistics |
| Shippensburg Raiders
2014 Record: 16-3
Last Game: 1-0 W vs. Slippery Rock
Coach: Bertie Landes, 16th season
Roster | Schedule | Statistics |
| Game Information
Date: November 14, 2014 | Start Time: 3:30 p.m.
Location: Vonnie Gross Field, West Chester, PA | Directions
Tickets: $7 adults, $2 students, Free for PSAC pass and PSAC students with ID
Live Stats
Twitter | Instagram | #HoistTheColors
PSAC Championship Central
Series Record: 30-44-8 (.415)
Streak: Ship, 1
First Meeting: 1945 (Ville 5, Ship 0)
Last Meeting: 2014 (Ship 2, Ville 1) |
GAME OVERVIEW• It is the PSAC Semifinals and Millersville and Shippensburg meet again. For the third consecutive season, the Marauders and Raiders tangle with a berth to the championship game on the line. Millersville won the 2012 meeting played at West Chester 1-0 on
Katelyn Zapp's early goal. The Marauders won by the same score at Shippensburg in 2013 on
Rachel Dickinson's second half penalty stroke. Millersville now sets its aim on a third consecutive trip to the PSAC Championship--a feat never accomplished before in program history. Millersville won back-to-back conference championships in 1985 and 1986. Millersville is making three consecutive PSAC Tournament appearances for the first time since 1992-94.
• Millersville's only two losses of the season came to West Chester in overtime and Shippensburg on a penalty corner goal with no time remaining in regulation. Millersville has also beaten both West Chester (in overtime) and Shippensburg. Since the Oct. 22 loss to West Chester, the Marauders have won five in a row by a combined score of 13-1 and have out-shot teams 47-8 with a 58-22 edge in penalty corners. The Marauders hold a 225-105 advantage in shots this season and are especially dominant in the first half with a 108-29 edge.
• Millersville leads Division II in shutouts (11) and goals per game (0.50). The team is on pace to set school records in both categories. The 2013 club, which set the school records, posted 12 shutouts on the season and only nine during the regular season. It also allowed 14 goals in 22 games. The 2014 Marauders have allowed a mere nine goals in 19 games. Millersville has shutout its opponent in four of its last five PSAC Tournament games and all five postseason wins over the last two seasons have come by shutout.
ABOUT THE SERIES• The rivalry between Millersville and Shippensburg has become among the most competitive in field hockey over the last three seasons. Shippensburg holds a 44-29-8 leads all-time, but that includes a stretch from 1999-2010 in which it won 20 consecutive games. Shippensburg holds a 5-4 edge since 2011, and the two teams have evenly split the last six games. Neither team has won consecutive games since 2012. The teams have also met three times in each of the last three seasons, and Friday's game will be the fourth postseason meeting since 2012. Millersville is 2-1 against Ship in postseason games since 2012.
• Eight of the last 10 games have been decided by one goal and two have gone to overtime. Ship won both of the overtime games (2009 and 2013 regular season).
THE LAST MEETING (SHIPPENSBURG 2, MILLERSVILLE 1 - OCT. 14, 2014)• With no time left on the clock, Shippensburg's Molly Stuart ripped a shot that glanced passed Millersville'
s Lauren Sotzin, giving the visiting Raiders a 2-1 win over the No. 1-ranked Marauders. Millersville dominated possession for nearly the entire game, holding a 20-8 advantage in shots and a 17-7 edge in penalty corners, but in the final 1:32 of regulation, Shippensburg forced four penalty corners and recorded five shots. The Marauders turned away the first three, but the final corner came with time expired. Stuart hit a rising shot from the right side of the circle that ricocheted into the back of the cage. The Marauders dictated play early and scored first at 12:10 when
Sarah Bomberger tallied her fourth goal of the season. She redirected a
Rachel Dickinson shot past Ally Mooney for a 1-0 Millersville lead. Mooney was forced to make nine saves in the first period while Shippensburg managed just one shot on goal. That one shot, however, resulted in a goal. Cassie Rawa tipped Suzanne Muller's shot off of a corner entry high over Sotzin into the top of the cage. Over the final 35 minutes, Millersville held an 8-1 advantage in penalty corners until Ship's rush in the final 1:32.
ZAPP ATTACK• Senior
Katelyn Zapp has totaled four goals and an assist in her last three games to boost her team-lead in goals to 14 and her point total to 32. She ranks sixth in the PSAC in points and fifth in goals scored. Her 14 are the most by a Marauder since Dena Gockley set the school record at 19 in 1994. Zapp has doubled her 2013 output in both goals (7) and assists (2). She also leads the team with five game-winning goals. Zapp's 31 career goals places her in a tie for fourth with Kim Ayton (1991-94).
RETURN OF THE MVP• The 2013 PSAC Championship MVP
Lauren Sotzin is back for another run at the trophy following a brilliant regular season in which she led the PSAC and Division II in goals against average and shutouts. Sotzin ranks second in the league in save percentage (.830) only to Shippensburg's Ally Mooney (.859). Sotzin's remarkable PSAC Tournament in 2013 included 19 saves and two shutouts. In five career PSAC Tournament games, Sotzin has 35 saves and four shutouts. The only goals she has allowed came in her sophomore season of 2012 in the title game against West Chester.
• Sotzin is the Division II active career leader in save percentage (.829) and goals against average (.77). No other player in the country has a better goals against average than 1.50. She ranks in a tie for fifth in save percentage among all NCAA players regardless of division and is second only to Bowdoin's Hannah Gartner in goals against average. Sotzin's 50 wins are 16 more than the No. 2 keeper in Millersville history.
JUST GET TWO• With the nation's top defense, Millersville doesn't need to score much to win. The Marauders have allowed more than one goal in just three games this season and are 1-2 in those games. Over the last three seasons, Millersville is 39-0 when it has scored at least two goals in a game. When Millersville allows two or more goals, however, it is 4-9 over that same span.
SCOUTING THE RAIDERS• Shippensburg posted a 14-3 overall record with all three losses coming against PSAC opponents. Shippensburg lost to Millersville by a 1-0 score on Sept. 9, fell to West Chester by a 2-1 score on Oct. 11 and fell by a 1-0 score at Mercyhurst on Oct. 25. The Raiders feature the second-ranked defense in the PSAC, holding teams to .53 goals per game (nine total goals allowed). Mooney leads Division II in save percentage and has made 11 more saves than Millersville's Sotzin.
• Shippensburg has scored just one goal in its three losses and ranks fifth in the PSAC in goals per game (2.41). It also ranks fourth in shots and eighth in corners. Nearly 35 percent of its goals for the season were scored in two games--wins over Seton Hill and Southern Connecticut State. Tory Ricker leads the team with 10 goals. Katelyn Grazan has scored three of her five goals in the last three games. Emily Barnard has scored three of her eight goals in the last three games as well.
