EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. – The No. 3-seeded East Stroudsburg University field hockey team will face No. 7-seeded Saint Anselm in the semifinal round of the NCAA Tournament. The match is scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 22, at Saints Field.
How to Follow:
- The match will be broadcast on NCAA.com.
- Live stats will be available at GoLimestoneSaints.com.
- Tickets will be available at NCAA.com.
- Follow @ESUWarriors on Twitter for live updates.
How We Got Here: The No. 3-seeded Warriors come in with a 17-4 record, fresh off a 3-2 double-overtime victory over PSAC rival Bloomsburg. ESU trailed by one goal twice in the game but managed to tie it twice thanks to goals by
Emma Friend in the second period and
Kerry Kaufman in the fourth.
Minke Klijn scored the game-winner in the second overtime. The No. 7-seeded Hawks enter with a 16-6 record and just beat No. 2-seeded Assumption 3-2 in overtime. Six days prior, Saint Anselm fell to Assumption in the Northeast-10 Championship, 3-0.
The Series: Since 2019, the Warriors lead the series 3-1, having won the last three meetings. In 2021, ESU won 2-1; in 2022, 2-0; and earlier this year at Whitenight Field, they won 6-0 in September.
Scouting ESU: Five Warriors were named All-PSAC with
Jady van Gils winning her second Athlete of the Year award. Juniors
Kerry Kaufman and
Charlotte Simon were selected to the second team. Sophomore
Minke Klijn and junior
Bella Viruet earned third-team honors. Van Gils' second Athlete of the Year award makes her the only Warrior in program history to earn the honor twice. She is also one of only five individuals in the nation with more than 10 assists. Simon, who splits time at back, and Viruet, who starts at back, have been crucial in limiting opponents to just seven shots per game. This has helped goalkeepers
Sydney Pope and
Jet Vermeulen record eight regulation shutouts.
Scouting St. Anselm: For the Hawks, they had six members on the Northeast-10 All-Conference Team. Maddie Davis, Amanda Lewandowski, and Grace Michael were all first-team members. Millie Foster was named second-team, while Ruby Reid and Maggie McCready were all-rookie. Lewandowski and Davis have both scored over 20 points this season, with 29 and 25, respectively. Ava Rayfield and Meghan Smith have scored 18 points for the Hawks. Sidney Falterer is the lead goalie, starting all 21 games and being involved in seven shutouts. As a team they have out shot opponents 20.3 to 7.7 per game and led their conference in corners with 238, the next closest was Assumption who drew 202 corners.
The Coaches: Coach
Sandy Miller, a three-time PSAC champion and two-time NCAA champion, is in her 40th season as head coach of the Warriors. With 514 career wins, she ranks third all-time in Division II. Miller and the Warriors are aiming for their third national title, which would be their second in three years.
Coach Carolyn King-Robitaille is in her 13th season with Saint Anselm, winning 167 games in her tenure, which includes the program's first national championship game appearance in 2019. The Hawks will look to make it back and try to win their first championship in program history.
A Look Ahead: The winner of Friday's semifinal game will face the winner of the Shippensburg/Kutztown game in the championship game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
