SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The sixth-seeded Millersville field hockey team will travel to No. 3 seed Shippensburg on Tuesday, Nov. 5 for the first round of the PSAC Tournament. The game is slated for a 4 p.m. start.
 
The Marauders earned their spot in the tournament for the eighth-straight season following a 7-0 win over Seton Hill on Nov. 2 at home. Millersville enters the contest with a 12-6 record overall and 4-6 in the conference. The Raiders are 12-5 overall and 8-2 in the PSAC.
 
The meeting marks the third between the Marauders and the Raiders in 2019. Millersville handed then-No. 1 Shippensburg its first loss of the season back on Sept. 11 on the Raiders home turf. Shippensburg answered back at Chryst Field taking the second contest 2-1 in overtime on Oct. 8.
 
ABOUT THE MARAUDERS
• The Millersville roster hosts 18 goal scorers this season with as many as six Marauders scoring in a single game.
• Erica Tarsi leads the Marauders with 10 goals and five assists this season. She has tallied 115 shots in 18 games averaging 6.39 per game, the third most in the PSAC.
• Emma Boutcher is the second-leading goal scorer on the team with eight total. She earned her first-career hat trick in the game against Seton Hill. Hannah Brown, Kyra Brakefield and Asia Weaver hold six goals each while Kate Strickland, Annabelle Tierney and Georgia Werkiser have also scored multiple goals this season.
• Millersville has totaled 52 goals, 354 shots with 220 on goal and 216 penalty corners this season. The team has held its opponents to just 13 goals, 132 shots with 67 on goal and 99 penalty corners.
• Jordan Goddard has recorded 1,059 minutes of playing time in 18 games, the most on the team.
• The Marauders' goalkeeping unit has tallied 55 saves off 132 shots faced this season. Autumn Peters has recorded the most time in the cage starting in all 18 contests. Peters has made 47 saves in 18 games, including a season and career-high 11 saves in the game against East Stroudsburg (Oct. 30).
 
SERIES HISTORY
• Series vs. Shippensburg: 35-50-8
• Series Streak: Shippensburg, 1
• First Meeting: 1945 (W, 5-0)
• Last Meeting: 2019 (L, 2-1)
• Shelly Behrens vs. Shippensburg: 9-17
 
THE LAST MEETING: Millersville 1, Shippensburg 2 (Oct. 8, 2019)
• Shippensburg opened the scoring to take an early lead five minutes into the second half. Emily Stauffer scored the Raiders' goal to give them the 1-0 advantage.
• Millersville answered back with just under seven minutes left in regulation to send the game into overtime. Tarsi fired the ball to the cage popping it in the air. Brakefield swatted the airborne ball into the cage to tie the game 1-1.
• After five minutes of back and forth in overtime a yellow card on Millersville gave Shippensburg the man-up advantage. The Raiders forced back-to-back corners to set up their final attack. Jazmin Petrantonio recovered the ball after a blocked shot and scrambled in the circle before crossing in low into the cage for the decision-maker.
 
SCOUTING THE RAIDERS
• Shippensburg has recorded 53 goals, 333 shots with 220 on goal and 186 penalty corners this season. The team has held its opponents to 19 goals, 152 shots with 99 on goal and 89 penalty corners.
• The Raiders goalkeeping unit has made 87 saves this season. Megan Lay leads the goalkeepers with 73 saves in 17 games.
• Petrantonio leads the team with 29 goals in 17 games, the most in the PSAC. She leads the PSAC in shots with 111 and shots on goal with 79.
• Jenna Sluymer, Valen Alonso, Rosalia Cappadora and Staffuer have all recorded multiple goals for the Raiders this season.
 
COACH SHELLY BEHRENS QUOTES
• "We just want to continue to build where we are. They're a great opponent. It's different when it's playoff time. Exciting to make the PSAC's for the eighth year in a row. I'm very proud of our players for gritting it out all season with some adversity and turning things into a positive for them to make the playoffs. We're excited to be a part of it and it's win and advance time to be honest. There's no more games on the schedule, you get to extend your season. So, regardless of the opponent, our perspective and our outlook is to go in and do the things we need to do and find the back of the net."
• "It being a playoff game isn't a factor. It's more a factor for others. For us, it's another business day. It's another day at the office, but it's not another day and the kids are used to that. It's been their whole season to be quite honest. Very high highs and very low lows. It's not getting too high and not getting too low, but just doing our part and staying where we want to stay and performing at the level we want to compete."
• "A game like Saturday is a great energizer especially for someone like Peyton Thompson who's been injured most of her career. She said she's going to score. That was energizing for the kids because of the respect and the love they have for Peyton. She's a big part of our team. You may not see 16 on the field as much, but she's a big part of our team. For Emma Boutcher to be able to do some of the things she did and play hard. Erica Tarsi plays hard. Our strikers play hard; our midfielders did their part. You just want to continue to build off that. The kids had fun, but they competed. We did the same last Wednesday at ESU, but we just weren't able to find the back of the net in regulation or extra time. For us, it's all about getting better and another day we get to be together.