LOUISVILLE – Sophomore Sam Langone tipped in a second-half penalty corner shot by sophomore Taylor Jones on a chilly Thursday afternoon from Trager Stadium to propel Shippensburg to a 1-0 victory over rival Bloomsburg in the semifinals of the 2010 Division II Field Hockey Championships.

Shippensburg (21-1) advances to the Division II National Championship game on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. from Trager Stadium. The Lady Raider field hockey squad will seek the university's first NCAA team championship against the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, as the Riverhawks defeated Stonehill 5-1 in Thursday's first semifinal match.

“We just play one game at a time,” head coach Bertie Landes said after the game. “As the wins got going, [the team] did not get big heads. It was just time to get ready for the next game. They were focused on that. We'll be ready for UMass-Lowell. They are a great team – an excellent passing team – and we'll have to be at our best.”

SU won in the national semifinals for the first time in school history after losing all four of its previous semifinal matchups in 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2009 - all to Bloomsburg. The victory triggered a series of records and milestones – including a school-record for victories in one season with 21.

“Our game plan was to pass the ball and play as a team,” Landes said. “We got away from that a little bit in the first half, but in the second half we really came together as a team and it was great to watch us pass the ball and use each other effectively.”

Neither team scored in the first half but SU held the consistent edge in chances – totaling 10 penalty corners in the frame. The Lady Raiders entered the match averaging more penalty corners per game than any other Division II institution and tallied five of those corners came on a rush with just over 10 minutes before intermission.

Ironically, Langone's goal came on SU's only penalty corner of the second half, and all four players that possessed the ball during the play were sophomores. It began with an entry feed by sophomore Emily Kohlbus that rolled onto the stick of defender Ashley Taylor.

A touch pass by Taylor sent the ball over to Jones, who fired a shot toward the cage that was re-directed by Langone and whistled into the back of the net. The goal, tallied with just 10:56 to play in the second half, is the fourth latest to open a match in NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships history. It was also the only shot on goal of the entire second half.

“We needed to finish on corners, and we finally got one in,” Jones said of the decisive goal. “It was a great pass from [Taylor], and a great tip by Sam. We executed the corner, and that's how we needed to score.”

Bloomsburg (19-3) recorded two penalty corners in the final five minutes of play but finished the match without recording a shot on goal. After a solid scoring chance by Amber Aulenbach sailed wide of the net with 3:21 remaining, SU was able to maintain possession and trap the ball along the far sidelines to preserve its historic victory.

“Our goal from the beginning of the year was to prove it to everyone,” said Ashley Taylor of reaching the national championship game. “We're a young team; we lost seven starters from last year, we pulled together in the preseason and we decided we should do it for Coach [Landes]. If you have no other reason to do it, do it for her, because we are her children, she would do anything for us and she loves us so much.”

“Our team is good at keeping composed – we don't let down after one goal,” Jones said. “We know that we need to keep it up, and after we scored we knew that we had Bloom on their feet. We had to keep on going and to keep playing our game until the last second.”

For Landes, who celebrated her birthday on Thursday, it was her 200th victory at Shippensburg. Coach Landes has posted a 200-55-1 mark at the helm of the Lady Raiders and an overall coaching record of 384-111-17 including her time spent at Philadelphia Biblical.

“There's just something special about this team,” Landes said. “I can't put my finger on it, but it's there.”

Notes: The Lady Raiders won the 1979 Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (AIAW) Division III Field Hockey National Championship, SU's only national team title in any sport…the NCAA did not begin its sponsorship of a field hockey national championship until 1981…SU and Bloomsburg have met in the national semifinals each of the last three seasons…Shippensburg and Massachusetts-Lowell enter Saturday's final as the top-two scoring teams in Division II, averaging more than four goals per game…the two teams have never met during Coach Landes' tenure at Shippensburg…U-Mass Lowell has only won one national championship in history, attained ironically at Shippensburg in 2005 with an overtime win over Bloomsburg… Thursday's game was a unique setting for both teams, as it was played on the fast, thin-cut artificial turf surface of Trager Stadium…SU practiced three times at Messiah College to prepare for the surface…“I am just thankful to the Lord for bringing me players and to be a coach,” Landes said after the game. “It's just a great job, and to see the players play to their potential, and to see this team bond – it's been special.”