Reading,
PA (Nov. 7, 2005) – The Alvernia
College field hockey team, winners of the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference
Championship, will travel to Lynchburg College (15-6) for the first round of the
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Field Hockey
Championship Tournament Wednesday at 1:00 p.m.
The NCAA Tournament consists of 24 teams with eight receiving first round byes.
The Messiah College Falcons, winners of the Commonwealth Conference, will host
the winner of Wednesday’s Alvernia/Lynchburg game on Friday at 10:00 a.m.
The Crusaders (17-3) are making their first NCAA appearance following a 4-3
overtime win over
Eastern
University
in the PAC Championship this past Saturday. Alvernia ran through the
conference regular season with a 10-1 record to earn the top seed in the
six-team tournament. Following a first-round bye, the Crusaders topped #6
Neumann
College
, 4-0, in the semifinal.
The Hornets earned one of eight at-large bids into the tournament after falling
to Washington & Lee in the final of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC)
Championships.
Lynchburg
is making its seventh NCAA appearance having advanced to the quarterfinals in
2001 and the second round in 2002.
Lynchburg
senior Andrea Fleming (
Milford
,
DE
/
Milford
) leads the ODAC in goals (23) and points (52). Sophomore attack Samantha
Howard (
Fairfax
Station, VA/W.T. Woodson) has 11 goals and eight assists while Kara
Culkin (
Gloucester
,
VA
/
Gloucester
) and Dawn McGaha (
Wyoming
, DE/Caesar Rodney) are tied for the team lead with 10 assists each.
Alvernia is led by junior Becky Macchione (
Richland
,
PA
/Conrad Weiser) with a PAC best 22 goals and 50 points.
Classmate Megan Novogratz (
Allentown
,
PA
/Central Catholic) is right on her heels with 19 goals, 45 points,
and a team-high seven assists. Senior goalie Carey
Manzolillo (
Bernville
,
PA
/Governor Mifflin) has started all 20 games in net for the Crusaders
and has a 1.07 goals against average to go with a .868 save percentage and six
shutouts.
The Crusaders and the Hornets have one common opponent this season. Both
teams beat
Villa
Julie
College
with the Hornets taking a 4-2 decision in
Baltimore
, while the Crusaders enjoyed a 6-0 win at home on the final day of the regular
season.
The NCAA semifinals and finals will be played at Liberty Hall Field on the
campus of
Washington
and
Lee
University
in
Lexington
,
Virginia
. Semifinals will be played at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Friday, November 18, with
the championship game being played Saturday, November 19, at 1 p.m.
