MILLERSVILLE VS. LIU POST
	#5 Millersville Marauders 2017 Record: 15-5   Last Game: 1-0 W vs. St. Anselm (3-1 SO) Coach: Shelly Behrens, 10th season (135-68) Roster | Schedule | Statistics
	#1 LIU POST 2017 Record: 18-3 Last Game: 4-1 W vs. Assumption Coach: Raenee Savin, 15th season (169-115) Roster | Schedule | Statistics
	Game Information NCAA Semifinals Date: Nov. 17, 2017 | Start Time: 1 p.m. Location: Owsley B. Frazier Stadium, Louisville, Ky. Live Stats | Live Video Twitter | Instagram | #HoistTheColors NCAA Tournament Bracket | Tickets Series Information Series Record: Ville leads, 13-4 Streak: Millersville, 3 First Meeting: 1997 (Ville 4, LIU Post 0) Last Meeting: 2014 (Ville 1, LIU Post 0) Behrens vs. LIU Post: 7-4 Last 10: Ville, 7-3 NCAA Tournament meetings: 1-0

 

SEASON IN REVIEW
• Millersville finds itself in a familiar place: the NCAA Division II Semifinals. The Marauders have been in this very position four times in the last five years. Millersville made the field as the No. 5 seed with a 15-5 overall record. The Marauders hold wins over NCAA Tournament teams Stonehill and East Stroudsburg. Of Millersville's five losses, four came at the hands of Shippensburg and East Stroudsburg. 
• After starting the season 3-3, Millersville ripped off a 10-game winning streak with eight consecutive shutouts (nine in 10 games). It was the second-longest shutout streak in program history. The Marauders received a bye to the PSAC Tournament semifinals after posting an 8-2 league record. The Marauders were knocked out of the tournament by East Stroudsburg in a 3-1 decision at Shippensburg. 
• Millersville reached the NCAA Semifinals after a 1-0 road win at St. Anselm, which the Marauders won in a shoot-out (3-1). St. Anselm recorded six shots in the first nine minutes--four of which were saved by Kylee Bair. But Millersville held the Hawks without another shot for the remaining 60 minutes of regulation and the first 14:55 of the first overtime. The Hawks were the No. 2-ranked scoring offense in Division II, but Millersville held them without a shot for 76:01. The Marauders won the shoot-out with goals from Kyra Brakefield, Annabelle Tierney and Aliza Mizak while Bair made two saves. 

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS
• Millersville was the first team all season to shut out St. Anselm, but it was nothing new to the Marauders, who continue to lead Division II with 11 shutouts in 20 games. The Marauders are also one of only three teams in the country holding opponents to under a goal per game (0.96). Millersville is tied with East Stroudsburg for second in that category. The Marauders have a chance to lead Division II in shutouts for the fourth time in five years. Defense is the key for Millersville. The Marauders won only two games this season in which gave up more than one goal. Since 2014, Millersville is just 4-10 in games in which it allows two or more goals. Bair, the team's starting keeper for 17 games (14-3) ranks 14th nationally in save percentage and fourth in goals against average. Close games, however, favor Millersville as it is 3-0 in overtime games this season and 16-3 in overtime games since 2012. 
• Millersville's leading scorer, Erica Tarsi, ranks 17th in Division II in points per game. Tarsi leads the team in both goals (12) and assists (7). Tarsi's 12 goals are the second-most by any Marauder since Dena Gockley set the single-season program record at 19 in 1994. Her 31 points are also the second-most by any Millersville player since 1994. Aliza Mizak's eight goals gives her 26 in her career, ranking her in a tie for ninth all time with a full season yet to play. Not to be discounted is the offensive contribution of Kathleen Bishop, who set career highs with nine goals and six assists, ranking second on the team in both categories.
• Millersville is a young team with seven freshmen and sophomores having started the majority of games. Millersville has just one junior on the roster three senior starters. It still has plenty of big-game experience. Senior Courtney Weaver played in the national championship game in 2014, and the senior class has been a part of three PSAC Championship games and six NCAA Tournament games. Of the four players who took part in last Saturday's shoot-out, two were sophomores (Kyra Brakefield and Erica Tarsi) and one was a freshman (Annabelle Tierney)
• Two underclassmen were named All-PSAC. Meredith Fagan, who started 18 games on defense, earned first team honors. Tarsi was voted to the third team. Mizak became the second player in program history to earned All-PSAC honors in each of her first three seasons. Weaver was named to the first team, giving her two career All-PSAC selections. 

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
• Millersville has now qualified for the NCAA Tournament in five consecutive seasons--the longest such stretch in program history. Prior to 2013, Millersville had never reached the Division II Tournament, having played in the Division III edition six times from 1984-1990. Millersville finished national runner-up in the Division III Tournament in 1985. The Marauders went 23 years without a NCAA bid. Millersville has reached the NCAA Semifinals four times since 2013. The team has advanced to the championship game once. That came in 2014 when the Marauders won the title in Louisville. Last season, Millersville earned the top seed in the Atlantic Region and a bye to the semis where it lost 1-0 to eventual national champ, Shippensburg. 

ABOUT THE SERIES
• There was a time when LIU Post and Millersville were PSAC rivals. But since clashing in the 2014 NCAA championship game, the two programs have not met. The Marauders won that championship (in Louisville) by a 1-0 final. Millersville owns a 13-4 record all-time against LIU Post, winning five of the last six. Each of the last three meetings--all Millersville wins--have come by 1-0 scores. Each of the last five match-ups have been decided by one goal. For Millersville, only Kathleen Bishop, Kylee Bair and Courtney Weaver were active members of the roster when the two teams last met. LIU Post boasts four seniors--all of whom were on the roster for the national championship clash. 

THE LAST MEETING (Millersville 1, LIU Post 0) - De. 6, 2014)
• Olivia Hershey's goal with 24 minutes left in the second half and an epic defensive stand in the final minutes propelled the Marauders to a 1-0 victory over LIU Post and to the NCAA Division II Championship. For the school-record 13th time, Millersville shut out its opponent, and the zero in the title game came against a Pioneer club that entered the game averaging better than four goals per game and ranked No. 1 in Division II in goals against average. It was only the second time this season LIU Post was shut out. Senior goalkeeper Lauren Sotzin withstood the LIU Post onslaught of 13 shots by making four saves, including three in the final 10 minutes when the Pioneers ramped up their attack. LIU Post totaled six shots off of three penalty corners as time slowly melted off the Trager Stadium clock. In one 17-second span with less than two minutes to play, LIU Post cracked three shots. The first was saved, the second was blocked by Rachel Dickinson, setting up another penalty corner. The third shot from 30-goal scorer Keliann Margiotta rocketed just wide left. Millersville's defense kept LIU Post from a clean look the rest of the way.

SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
• Friday's semifinal features teams with contrasting styles. While Millersville keeps games low-scoring, LIU Post averages 4.05 goals per game, ranking second in Division II. It also ranks second in scoring margin (St. Anselm is first). Emily Miller is as dangerous as any player in the country, totaling 37 goals and 81 points--ranking second in the nation in both categories. Four Pioneers have at least 10 goals. 
• LIU Post is no stranger to this stage. The Pioneers have been to the national title game three times in the previous four seasons, finishing as the national runner-up in 2013, 2014 and 2016 (twice to Shippensburg, once to Millersville).