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EAST STROUDSBURG - Junior midfielder Sydney McCarthy pulled East Stroudsburg University within a goal with just under 18 minutes left, but Shippensburg held off the Warriors, 2-1, in the first round of the NCAA Division II field hockey tournament on Saturday afternoon at Whitenight Field.

Shippensburg (18-3), the No. 3 seed in the Atlantic Region, advances to play No. 1 seed Millersville (17-4) in a semifinal game next Friday, November 18, at Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts.

ESU (15-5), the No. 2 seed, was the defending NCAA DII champion after winning its first-ever national title last fall.

Shippensburg got goals from Cassie Rawa with 12:48 left in the first half, and Katelyn Grazan 57 seconds into the second half, to take a 2-0 lead.

McCarthy got the Warriors within 2-1 with a goal on a penalty corner, assisted by sophomore forward Kelli Shapiro, with 17:19 remaining in regulation - just moments after senior back Emily Howell's penalty corner shot was denied on a defensive save by Ship's Taylor Fisher.

ESU held advantages in shots (13-7) and penalty corners (11-5) in the contest, including 8-3 in shots and 5-3 in corners in the second half.

Shippensburg goalkeeper Ally Mooney made seven saves, including a stop of Howell's shot in the final half-minute.

Senior goalkeeper Danielle Ard made two saves for ESU.

The Warriors won both regular season meetings with Shippensburg, 1-0 (OT) on the road on September 17 and 2-1 (2OT) at home on October 22. Those were Ship's only two setbacks until dropping the PSAC championship game vs. Millersville, 2-1, last Sunday.

Shippensburg entered ranked No. 1 in this week's NFHCA DII coaches poll but were the No. 3 seed in the Atlantic Region, due to Millersville's PSAC title and two regular season losses to ESU. The Warriors are No. 3 in the most recent NFHCA DII poll.

ESU played in the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time overall and the second straight season, and hosted an NCAA postseason field hockey game for the first time in school history.

The Warriors posted a 15-3 regular season record, led by four first team All-PSAC selections in Howell, the PSAC Defensive Athlete of the Year, senior midfielder Desiraye Mack, senior forward Robin Stevenson and senior back Morgan Firestine.

After a 3-2 start, the Warriors won 12 of their final 13 regular season games, including an eight-game winning streak from October 1-29, before a 1-0 setback to Millersville in the PSAC semifinals last Friday at Whitenight Field.

ESU lost six seniors from last year's PSAC and NCAA DII championship game, including three-time All-America forward and Atlantic Region Athlete of the Year Ally Roth, but still posted the sixth 15-win season in program history.

Ard finishes her career ranked third at ESU in career shutouts (21) while making 63 starts.  She had nine shutouts and a 0.80 goals against average in 20 starts this season.

The Warriors finish with a goal differential of 51-16, led by Stevenson (11 goals, 1 assist), sophomore forward Bailey Quinn (8G, 2A), Mack (7G, 2A), Howell (6G, 4A) and McCarthy (5G, 3A).