GAME OVERVIEW
• Millersville field hockey is making its unprecedented fifth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. Even with a strong resume and 14-5 record, the Marauders got a scare last weekend as their fate fell from their own hands when East Stroudsburg (now the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament) eliminated Millersville in the PSAC Tournament Semifinal. West Chester went on to win the PSAC Tournament with wins over Bloomsburg, No. 1 Shippensburg and No. 3 ESU, potentially threatening the Marauders NCAA chances. But the Marauders, who held a head-to-head win over West Chester, as well as wins over NCAA Tournament teams East Stroudsburg and Stonehill scored the third and final spot from the region. M
• Millersville, listed as the No. 5 seed out of six tournament teams, draws No. 4 seed Saint Anselm with No. 1 overall seed LIU Post waiting in the semifinals. The winner of the Millersville-Saint Anselm match-up will head to Louisville, Ky., to take on LIU Post on Friday, Nov. 17. The NCAA Championship will be played Louisville's Trager Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 19. That is the site at which Millersville won its 2014 NCAA Championship.
• The Marauders head into the tournament with a 1-2 mark in their last three outings. But in the last three, Millersville has taken on the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country at the time in Shippensburg and ESU. Before losing to Shippensburg (2-1), the Marauders had won 10 in a row. That run came on the heels of a 3-3 start.
• Millersville landed four players on the All-PSAC team with senior midfielder
Courtney Weaver and freshman
Meredith Fagan landing first team honors.
Aliza Mizak picked up her third career honor with a second team nod. She is one of only two Marauders ever to be named All-PSAC in each of their first three seasons. Sophomore forward and team's leading scorer
Erica Tarsi was named to the third team. Coach
Shelly Behrens has produced at least three All-PSAC performers since her arrival in 2008.
• 2017 has been a break out season for Tarsi. Her 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. Mizak has been on a hot streak as of late, scoring five of her goals in the last seven games. 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.
• The key for Millersville is its defense. The Marauders are 12-1 when allowing fewer than two goals per game and 2-4 when allowing two or more.
• In its four prior trips to the NCAA Division II Tournament, the Marauders have yet to play a true road game. Millersville hosted quarterfinal games in 2013, 2014 and 2015 and went to the semifinal with a bye in 2016.
ABOUT THE SERIES
• Although each team has played Division II field hockey for years (Millersville started in its program in 1945; Saint Anselm started play in 2001), this will be the first game between the Hawks and Marauders. Millersville has seen plenty of NE-10 competition over the years, though. Millersville's only postseason meeting against a NE-10 program came in the 2014 national championship game against LIU Post with the Marauders winning 1-0. Coach Behrens is 7-4 against NE-10 programs since her arrival at Millersville in 2008. Three of the losses came to UMass Lowell, which is no longer a member of the conference having made the leap to the Division I ranks.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
• St. Anselm has the best winning percentage in Division II field hockey, going 17-2. Even after having the best record in the league, St. Anselm is seeded lower than three teams. However, the Hawks from St. Anselm have impressive wins over LIU Post, Stonehill and Pace, which ended the season ranked No. 8 in Division II. The team's two losses came from No. 5 LIU Post and Merrimack. They are 3-1 versus ranked teams and 14-1 against unranked opponents.
• Saturday's semifinal will feature contrasting styles. Millersville is third in the country in goals against average (1.03), so the Marauders specialize in defense. St. Anselm specializes in offense. It ranks second in Division II in goals per game with an average of 4.08. The Hawks have won games by outrageous margins, such as a 9-0 win over American International and a 10-0 win over New Haven. The offense is explosive. Hannah Friend has 13 goals this season, Emma Kincaid has 11, Jackie Guillemette has 10 and several others have added to the production.
• St. Anselm's program has surged in recent seasons. After going from 2001-2014 without a winning record, Carolyn King has turned around the program. She took over in 2012 and has improved the team's winning percentage each season. The Hawks made their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2016, falling in the semifinals to LIU Post 1-0 in overtime. The Hawks won their quarterfinal game 3-1 over Stonehill. It is the second year in a row that the Hawks have hosted a quarterfinal game.
NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
•The Marauders have found themselves in the NCAA tournament in all five seasons since 2013. Over the course of those seasons, Millersville were able to win one NCAA title – in 2014. In 2013 and 2016, the Marauders made it to the national semifinal. Millersville earned a bye in 2016 after landing the top seed in its region, but besides that the Marauders have had to play in the NCAA quarterfinals in every other appearance, as they will be doing this Saturday. In those three quarterfinals, Millersville has gone 2-1. Millersville has been knocked out in its first game in each of the last two seasons. The five recent NCAA Tournament appearances are the only Division II tournament bids that Millersville has earned. From 1984 to 1990, Millersville made the Division III tournament on six occasions. Millersville is 8-9 in 10 all-time NCAA berths. In 1985, Millersville lost in the national championship game to Trenton State.
