SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The No. 2 Shippensburg University field hockey team will travel to Renton Memorial Stadium in Renton, Washington, to play in the NCAA Division II Semifinals at 8 p.m. (EST) Thursday against No. 3 seed West Chester. The game is being hosted by Seattle Pacific University, the hosts of the 2022 NCAA Division II National Championships as part of the NCAA Division II Fall Festival. 

 Shippensburg (15-3) is the No. 2 seed in the Atlantic Region and the No. 2 overall seed in the 2022 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships.
 
West Chester (15-4) is the No. 3 seed in the Atlantic Region and the No. 3 overall seed in the 2022 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships.
 
Thursday's game is a rematch of the 2018 NCAA Championships Semifinals at Pittsburgh in which the Raiders defeated the Golden Rams, 4-0. It is the second time the two teams have met this season: Shippensburg won at then-No. 1 ranked West Chester, 2-1, with a goal from Mya Kemp with 1:02 left in the game.
 
Overall, Shippensburg leads the overall series 15-11. The Raiders are on a five-game winning streak. SU faced WCU four times last season, two of them were in tournament championship matches (PSAC and NCAA).
 
Shippensburg is 16-10 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and has won five NCAA Division II national titles: 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2022. SU has won 11 consecutive NCAA Tournament games dating back through 2016.
 
Thursday marks the fifth time that Shippensburg and West Chester have met in the NCAA Tournament, with each team having beaten the other twice.
 
The Raiders are making their 12th NCAA Semifinals appearance (2003, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022), having won the National Championship in each of their last five semifinals appearances.
 
West Chester is in the NCAA Tournament for the eight time overall since re-classifying to NCAA Division II in 2011. WCU is 12-5 all-time in the NCAA Division II Tournament and is seeking its fourth NCAA Division II National Championship (2011, 2012, 2019).
 
About the Matchup:
 
On offense, Shippensburg looks to have the 2022 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Freshman of the Year Agus Garibaldi to lead the Raiders in shooting along with 2021 NCAA All-Tournament Team sophomore Tess Jedeloo. They have combined for 30 goals and eight assists.
 
Last season, Jedeloo scored both goals in the national semifinals against East Stroudsburg to take the Raiders to the championship match against West Chester. In this season's victory at West Chester, Jedeloo helped with both goals, with the assist on a Garibaldi goal and intercepting a Golden Ram defender to pass to sophomore Valu Paul, who passed it across to sophomore Mya Kemp.
 
Leading the midfield are All-PSAC Second Team honorees, senior Paige Bond and sophomore Emilia Conners, who have helped produced five shutouts. Conners has added two goals and an assist.
 
SU's defense features 2021 All-PSAC Second Team sophomore goalkeeper Lindsay Tripodo. Tripodo is 33-3 with a 0.88 career goals-against average (GAA) and a 0.797 save percentage in her Raider career.
 
Key back-line players for the Raiders include All-PSAC honorees freshman Savannah Silvestre and senior Merel Hoekstra, as well as sophomore Jocelyn Branco. Silvestre is the only Raider who has started in all 17 games. She has even added three goals and is the primary penalty corner inserter that has her with four assists as well. Hoekstra earned Third Team honours after coming back from an injury at the start of the season. She has added three goals and two assists. Branco emerged as the starting defender halfway through the season and has helped produced five shutouts and held opponents to one goal or less in 12 games.
 
West Chester features the PSAC Athlete of the Year, Valerie van Kuijck and PSAC Defender of the Year, Dara Spavlik. Van Kuijck led the PSAC in scoring with 47 points with 16 goals and 15 assists. Van Kuijck's 15 assists were the second most in a single season by a West Chester player. Spavlik has been the main defensive anchor for the Golden Rams and added seven goals and eight assists.
 
Two more All-PSAC First Team honorees were Paige Wolfe and Claudia Jaszczak. Wolfe is one of the prominent forwards for the Golden Rams and who scored the lone goal for WCU during the 2-1 loss to the Raiders this season. Jasmine Miller, a transfer from Lock Haven, earned All-PSAC Second Team honours as a forward, as she has posted 11 goals and 24 points.
 
On the road to the semifinals, West Chester took on Adelphi on Sunday and defeated the Panthers, 10-1. The Golden Rams outshot the Panthers by a 37-5 margin and had an 11-0 penalty corner advantage.
 
NCAA Championships:
 
In the other NCAA Semifinals taking place on Thursday, No. 1 seed East Stroudsburg will face No. 4 seed Assumption at 5 p.m.

The winner of the Shippensburg-West Chester matchup will face the winner of the East Stroudsburg-Assumption matchup at 4 p.m. Saturday in the 2022 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championship Game.