Nov. 7, 2008
LOWELL - Saturday afternoon will be unchartered territory for the UMass Lowell field hockey team.
After five straight years of skirting into the NCAA Tournament semifinal, the No. 2 seed River Hawks will host No. 3 Southern Connecticut State Saturday (1:00) in the play-in match for the right to meet No. 1 Bentley in the semifinal.
Bloomsburg University, No. 1 seed in the South, will host the semifinal Friday (3:00 and 5:30) and final Sunday (1:00). No. 2 Indiana (PA) hosts No. 3 Shippensburg Saturday at 7:00 in the South Region opener.
But UMass Lowell Head Coach Shannon Hlebichuk said by winning Saturday's match, it could work to the River Hawks' favor as the No. 1 seeds remain idle the better part of two weeks.
"Of course we would rather be the No. 1 seed, but I definitely think there is an advantage to playing Saturday," Hlebichuk said. "If we can beat Southern Connecticut, we're not waiting around for almost two weeks. I think we'll be loose and focused.
"But we need to take care of business Saturday," she added.
UMass Lowell won both meetings against Southern Connecticut this season: 6-1 in New Haven, CT, on Sept. 20 and 5-2 in Lowell on Oct. 18. Sophomore F Sammy Macy (Tewksbury, MA) compiled four goals and two assists in the two matches, including a hat trick in the 5-2 victory.
"Southern Connecticut is one of the best match-ups we could have hoped for," Hlebichuk noted. "They play a very similar style of field hockey to us. That will make for a very exciting and fun game to watch. They use the entire field, have terrific ball skills and see passing lanes very well. They are very well coached and regardless of what happened in the regular season they are playing very well right now and I know they will have a new energy coming into the tournament."
Southern Connecticut has won three of its last four matches, the sole blemish a 1-0 loss to Bentley in the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament semifinal last Saturday at Cushing Field.
The Owls are making their second appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the last showing in 2004 when they suffered a 7-2 loss in Waltham, MA.
UMass Lowell is making its sixth successive trip to the NCAAs, winning the 2005 NCAA Championship and reaching the final three times (2003, 2005, 2007).
The River Hawks suffered a 1-0 loss in overtime last Saturday to Bentley in the NE-10 Tournament Championship, snapping a string of five consecutive NE-10 Tournament crowns. The loss also broke a string of seven straight victories.
