Bloomsburg Championship Page

BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - The Lady Raider field hockey squad will be traveling to Bloomsburg University, the site of the 2008 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) field hockey championship tournament on Friday, Oct. 31 and Saturday, Nov. 1. Ship will take on Bloomsburg on Friday at 2:30 p.m.

The games will be played at Bloomsburg's Sports Stadium. Ticket prices are $7 for adults and $2 for students. Students from PSAC schools will be admitted free with valid ID. No passes, other than ones issued by the PSAC, will be accepted.

On Friday the semifinals will be held at noon and 2:30 p.m. with IUP, the top seed in the west, facing Kutztown, the number two seed in the east.

At 2:30 p.m. Bloomsburg, the top seed in the east, will face Shippensburg, the number two seed in the west. The winners will meet on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. for the PSAC championship.

Shippensburg (17-3, 6-2 PSAC West) finished its best regular season since 2005 with its seventh consecutive victory but in doing so had to withstand a severe test from Mercyhurst (9-9, 4-4 PSAC West). The Lady Raiders came from two goals down to force overtime and ultimately beat the Lakers, 4-3, clinching their spot in the PSAC Semifinals.

The Lady Raiders are making their eighth consecutive appearance in the PSAC Tournament and ninth in 10 seasons under head coach Bertie Landes. Since 1999, Shippensburg has reached three tournament finals, won one PSAC Championship and posted an overall record of 4-7 in 11 games.

Senior forward Kim Davies finished the regular season with the second-most goals in a single season in school history, having totaled 26 through 20 games. She is just the third different player in SU history to total at least 20 goals in a season. Ashley Watt holds the school record with 30 goals in the 2005 season and also scored 22 goals in 2004 and 20 goals in 2006. Carli Bordner scored 20 goals for Shippensburg in 2003.

Shippensburg scored 81 goals this season while allowing just 23. Junior goalkeeper Amanda Houser was rock-solid in the goal, starting all 20 games while making 80 saves and posting a 1.16 goals-against average. She played in all but 23 minutes during the regular season and recorded eight shutouts - just two short of the school record.

The Lady Raiders have a seasoned crew of defenders. Senior Jenna Blain and juniors Chelsea Zook and Lauren Hollingsworth anchor the back lines along with senior Dani Haas, who takes a majority of the shots for the team on its penalty corners. Haas finished third on the team with nine goals while also making a defensive save, and the trio has not missed a start this season. 

Freshman Kristina Taylor set a school record for most goals by a freshman with 13, finishing the season with 32 points and three game-winning goals. Complementing her offensively will be junior Laura Wylde (nine goals) and senior Natalie Faith (six goals).