GAME OVERVIEW• Millersville hosts Indiana (Pa.) on Saturday at 1 p.m. for its regular season home finale. While the Marauders send off their eight seniors, it is unlikely that it will be the last game the group plays on its home turf. The Marauders are currently in the No. 2 position in both the PSAC standings and the NCAA Atlantic Region rankings and if that holds to form, the Marauders will host a NCAA Quarterfinal game. With a win on Saturday, the Marauders will solidify its No. 2 seed in the PSAC Tournament, giving them a bye into the semifinals hosted at West Chester. As the No. 2 seed, the Marauders would play the winner of the No. 3 vs. No. 6 match-up, which currently stands as Shippensburg and Slippery Rock. A Millersville loss on Saturday would drop it into the No. 3 seed, and the Marauders would then play the No. 6 seed at home in the quarterfinals.
• The Marauders are coming off one of their most dominant performances of the season. Millersville topped Kutztown 2-0 and did not allow a single shot or penalty corner to the Golden Bears. Millersville held an 18-0 advantage in shots and a 12-0 advantage in corners.
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Katelyn Zapp and
Rachel Dickinson scored Millersville's two goals against Kutztown. Zapp now has a team-leading 13 goals--the most by a Marauder since 1994. Zapp has three goals in the last two games. Dickinson, who tallied a goal and an assist against Kutztown, has at least one point in five of the last six games.
Lauren Gerhart has been active as well, totaling four points in the last two games and 13 points over the last nine games. Gerhart is tied with Dickinson for the team lead in assists with eight.
ABOUT THE SERIES• The series between Millersville and IUP has featured long runs of success for both teams. Millersville went 17-1-1 from 1979-1999 but has since gone 2-14 against the Crimson Hawks. And for all the success Millersville has seen since 2012, it has lost both of its match-ups with IUP. Expect a close game as the last four games have been decided by one goal. IUP's 2010 win was earned in overtime. Millersville scored a 3-2 win in 2011 but has lost by 2-1 and 1-0 scores since. IUP is the only team in the PSAC that the current junior class has not defeated.
THE LAST MEETING (IUP 1, MILLERSVILLE 0 - NOV. 2, 2013)• Chelsea Wanamaker scored a goal in the 22nd minute and that was IUP's only shot on goal for the entire game, but it was enough to top the Marauders by a 1-0 score. The win also clinched a PSAC playoff berth for IUP. Millersville totaled just seven shots on 11 penalty corners and mustered four shots on goal. IUP's chances were few, totaling three corners and four shots. Millersville drew two corners and recorded two shots on goal in the final three minutes but came up empty.
IN A CLASS OF ITS OWN• Millersville will recognize its eight seniors prior to Saturday's game. The class includes:
Sarah Bomberger,
Randi Boyd,
Rachel Dickinson,
Champayne Hess,
Lauren Sotzin,
Hannah Whitman,
Alicia Youtz and
Katelyn Zapp. The group has been at the forefront of the program's revival. As group's freshmen season produced a 7-11 overall record and 1-9 PSAC record, but it has since compiled a 48-12 record with two PSAC Championship game appearances, the program's first PSAC Championship since 1986, the program's first-ever NCAA Division II Tournament appearance and the program's first Division II No. 1 ranking. No other group in Millersville history has won as many games (55) over four years. It ranks second in among four-year classes in winning percentage, trailing only the class that played from 1970-1973, which went 26-5-6 for a .783 winning percentage. Four of the players (Bomberger, Dickinson, Sotzin and Hess) have already earned All-America recognition. Dickinson could potentially be Millersville's first three-time first team All-America selection. She is only the second player in school history to record 20 goals and 20 assists in a career. Zapp is tied for fifth in school history with 30 career goals, and Hess ranks eighth with 25 goals. Sotzin has already set career records for wins (49) and shutouts (29).
BALANCING ACT• Millersville embodies what it means to be a team. While Zapp leads the team with 13 goals, the Marauders are among the more balanced teams in Division II. Millersville ranks third in the PSAC in goals scored by only one player (Zapp) ranks in the top 10 in the individual standings. Ten different players have scored at least four three goals and seven players have at least three assists. Additionally,
Champayne Hess became the fourth different Marauder to win the PSAC Athlete of the Week Award on Monday. No other team in the league has had more than two players recognized. Millersville has assisted on 40 of its 57 goals. The Marauders are tied with West Chester for the most assists in the league, but no team has assisted on a higher percentage of its goals. West Chester's 40 assists have come on 70 goals.
SCOUTING THE CRIMSON HAWKS• The source of IUP's struggles are on the offensive end, where it has totaled just 17 goals in 16 games. The Crimson Hawks, meanwhile, have allowed 33 goals. IUP ranks 10th in the 11-team PSAC in total shots taken with 138. By comparison, Millersville has taken 338 shots. IUP has also drawn a PSAC-low 108 corners. Haley Fidler is the team leader with six goals and 13 points. Casey McGowan leads the team with 28 shots but all 14 she has placed on goal have been saved. Goalkeeper Darian Shuker ranks ninth in the PSAC with a .727 save percentage.
