GAME OVERVIEW• The first-ever Division II field hockey game broadcast on ESPN3 takes place on Millersville University's campus on Wednesday at 6 p.m. The match-up could not be any better as Millersville and West Chester are two of the last three undefeated teams left in Division II. Millersville opened the season at No. 1 in the NFHCA Poll but was jumped by West Chester on Sept. 15. The two programs have been at the top of the Division II field hockey world for the last few seasons. In 2014, Millersville and West Chester were ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in eight of the nine weeks. The Marauders and Golden Rams have also met in two of the last three PSAC Championship games with West Chester winning in 2012 and 2014 and Millersville winning a semifinal match-up in 2013. Millersville has the upper hand in NCAA Tournament games, though, as the Marauders won the 2013 and 2014 semifinal games--both by 1-0 scores. Millersville went on to win the first Division II championship by a women's sport at Millersville. West Chester won back-to-back national titles in 2011 and 2012.
• The Marauders may have lost five All-Americans and eight seniors from last year's roster, but they have picked up right where they left off, opening 2015 with a 5-0 record--the third consecutive season they have done so. Millersville ranks second in Division II in penalty corners per game with 16.2 and has out-shot its opponents 114-18 through five games. Millersville has placed 77 shots on goal while opponents have managed just six. Millersville has allowed just four goals--a PSAC best total--but goalkeeper Kylee Bair has been relatively untested. She has two shutouts but has made just two saves all season. Millersville's last two opponents have not managed a shot on goal. It is the first time on record that the Marauders have held two consecutive opponents without a shot on goal.
• Bair will certainly be tested against West Chester. The Golden Rams rank second in Division II in goals per game (4.17) and are coming off a six-goal outburst against Seton Hill. West Chester has scored at least three goals in five of the six games and averaging 23.7 shots and 95 of the 142 shots have been placed on goal. ABOUT THE SERIES•
Millersville and West Chester first met in 1948 but met only two other times over the next 63 years as the Golden Rams played at the Division I level for the majority of those years. West Chester joined the Division II ranks in 2011 and won the first five meetings between the teams. Since 2013, Millersville has won six of eight games, including all four meetings in 2013. The clubs split the four meetings in 2014. Each team won at home during the regular season, West Chester won the PSAC Championship on its home field (3-0) and Millersville won a 2-1 overtime thriller in the NCAA Semifinal in Louisville. Five of the last six meetings have been decided by one goal and four of the six have reached overtime. • Only one player on Millersville's current roster has a goal scored against West Chester. That is
Courtney Weaver, who scored her first collegiate goal in the first half of the Sept. 23, 2014 game at Millersville.
THE LAST MEETING (MILLERSVILLE 2, WCU 1 (OT) - Dec. 6, 2014)•
Champayne Hess, who brought the Marauders to the NCAA Semifinals on an overtime game-winner, struck again to defeat West Chester 2-1 at Trager Stadium in the NCAA Semifinals. Hess scored her third overtime game-winner of the season and the second against West Chester, which represented the Golden Rams' only two losses against Division II opponents all season. The win exacted revenge for Millersville's 3-0 loss in the PSAC Championship game two weeks earlier and put the Marauders in the Division II title game for the first time in school history. After trailing 13-6 in shots in regulation, the Marauders needed only one shot in overtime. Using her speed, Hess broke away from the pack and found a diving Zapp, who was running alongside her. Zapp's deflection found its way through Krause and the West Chester defense to Hess, who hustled to the rebound and buried the ball in the cage for the winner.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT• West Chester is arguably the best offensive club in Division II, averaging nearly 4.2 goals per game and registering assists on 19 of the 25 goals scored. Dayle Paustian is tied for the PSAC lead with 5.5 shots per game and is fifth in points per game. Four West Chester players rank in the PSAC's top 10 for points per game. Rachel Toppi and Marnie Kusakavitch are tied for second in the PSAC in goals with seven.
• While West Chester's offensive production is well-known, goalkeeper Sarah Krause is among the most underrated players in Division II. A product of nearby Conestoga Valley High School, Krause posted a 0.95 goals against average and .752 save percentage in 2014. She owns a .833 save percentage and has a PSAC-best three shutouts so far in 2014.
• Since joining the Division II ranks in 2011, West Chester owns a 75-15 record (.833). Every loss has come from four schools--Millersville (6), Shippensburg (5), Bloomsburg (3) and LIU Post (1).
CLOSING IN ON HISTORY•
Shelly Behrens came to Millersville in 2008, taking over a program that had endured nine conseuctive losing seasons. Following a 7-11 record in 2011, Millersville has gone 58-13 since the start of 2012. Now with a 90-56 (.616) career record, Behrens ranks second at Millersville in career coaching wins. Hall of famer Sandy Peters went 98-68-30 (.577) over 17 seasons from 1968-84. Behrens recently passed Carol Miller (86-51-18), who coached Millersville from 1985-92 and went on to coach at Delaware and Lebanon Valley College. Behrens has won three consecutive PSAC Coach of the Year awards.
• Behrens is also looking to give Millersville's its fourth conecutive winning season--a feat that hasn't been accomplished since 1992-98.
FAST STARTER• Freshman
Aliza Mizak has quickly adapted to the collegiate game, totaling three goals and an assist through the first five games of her career. Mizak tallied an assist on the game-winning goal in the opener vs. Pace and has since scored three goals in the last four games. She has been efficient, needing just 10 shots and six shots on goal for those three scores.
• While Mizak is well on her way to an impressive freshman season, she isn't the first Marauder rookie to excel under Behrens. Behrens has coached three PSAC Freshman of the Year Award winners, one of which is current junior
Arianna Grays, who was also named the Synapse Sports Division II Rookie of the Year in 2013. Seven of Behrens' players have been named to the Synapse Sports All-Rookie Squad including current Marauders Grays,
Megan Donlan, Oliva Hershey and
Courtney Weaver.
MAKING THE JUMP•
Kathleen Bishop scored one goal in 11 games as a reserve in 2014, but she has quickly turned into one of Millersville's top offensive players in 2015. The sophomore is tied with Mizak and Grays for the team-lead in goals with three and is also tied with Mizak for the lead in points with seven. Bishop scored goal goals in the opener and added another against Mercyhurst.
THE VETERANS• Compared to the 2013 and 2014 teams, Millersville features an inexperienced roster as only three starters returned in 2015. Of those three, only
Megan Donlan and
Lauren Gerhart have spent all four years with the Marauders. Both have been keys to the Marauders' success since 2012 with Donlan starting 56 games and Gerhart starting 39 of the 71 games she's played. Donlan was a Synapse Sports All-America Second Team pick in 2014, and Gerhart led the team with 10 assists, which was one shy of the school record. Gerhart picked up her first assist of 2015 in the last game against Mansfield. She followed the same trend a season ago when she had just three points through eight games. She then recorded three goals and nine assists over the final 14 games.
PROTECT THE HOUSE• Millersville has won 23 of the last 24 games played at home, with the lone loss coming against Shippensburg on Oct. 14, 2014. The Raiders scored a goal following four consecutive untimed penalty corners at the end of regulation. The 2013 Marauders allowed only one goal at home the entire season and the 2014 club allowed only six goals in 12 home games. Millersville shutout East Stroudsburg in its last home game on Sept. 15, extending a streak of 138 scoreless minutes on home turf.
Â
