EAST STROUDSBURG – The NFHCA released its latest Division II national coaches' poll on Tuesday, with East Stroudsburg University returning to the No. 1 position for a second time this season.
The Warriors (12-2, 7-0 PSAC) move back into the top spot following a 3-2 overtime win at then-No. 7 Millersville last Tuesday. They jump ahead of West Chester (13-2, 7-1 PSAC), which suffered its first conference loss in a 2-0 setback at No. 6 Kutztown last Wednesday.
ESU received 183 points and seven first-place votes, while West Chester slides to No. 2 with 176 points and nine first-place votes. The two teams will square off at West Chester at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, with the Warriors playing in their sixth-ever No. 1 vs. No. 2 contest. ESU has won four of the previous five matchups, all of which have occurred in the past four seasons.
Merrimack, Pace and Shippensburg round out the remainder of the top five. ESU has been ranked in the top three in every national poll released dating back to Oct. 11, 2016.
Senior
Karisa Turner provided the overtime winner for the Warriors in last week's win at Millersville, helping the team improve to 7-2 against nationally-ranked opponents on the year. ESU has outscored opponents 49-9 overall, with senior
Bailey Quinn (9 G, 2 A), junior
Karly Conway (7 G, 3 A), freshman
Celeste Veenstra (7 G) and senior
Kelli Shapiro (4 G, 5 A) leading the way offensively.
In goal, junior
Maddie Richie leads the PSAC and ranks second in Division II with a 0.66 goals-against average. The Warriors are first nationally in GAA (0.63) and shutouts per game (0.64). They are also second in scoring margin (+2.81) and third in goals per game (3.50).
ESU enters tomorrow afternoon on an eight-game winning streak, which is tied for the third-longest in single-season program history. The last setback was a 2-1 overtime defeat to West Chester in the teams' non-conference meeting at Whitenight Field on Sept. 27.
Penn Monto/NFHCA DII National Poll – Oct. 30, 2018
| Rank |
School (Record) |
Pts (First-Place Votes) |
Previous Ranking |
| 1 |
ESU (12-2) |
183 (7) |
2 |
| 2 |
West Chester (13-2) |
176 (9) |
1 |
| 3 |
Merrimack (13-1) |
149 (1) |
3 |
| 4 |
Pace (14-1) |
134 (3) |
5 |
| 5 |
Shippensburg (11-3) |
121 |
4 |
| 6 |
Kutztown (12-4) |
83 |
7 |
| 7 |
Stonehill (10-4) |
78 |
6 |
| 8 |
LIU Post (10-4) |
51 |
9 |
| 9 |
Millersville (10-5) |
46 |
7 |
| 10 |
Limestone (10-3) |
32 |
NR |
