WILKES FIELD HOCKEY TO FACE URSINUS IN NCAA FIRST ROUND

11/11/2013 2:23:00 PM

WILKES FIELD HOCKEY TO FACE URSINUS IN NCAA FIRST ROUND

WILKES-BARRE, PA – Fresh off its 2013 Freedom Conference Championship, The Wilkes University field hockey team will look to continue its postseason run as the Lady Colonels travel to Ursinus College on Wednesday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. for the first round of the Division III NCAA Field Hockey Tournament in Collegeville, Pa..

Ticket prices for the game are as follows:
Adults: $5
Students: $3

The NCAA is now producing virtual programs for the Division III Championships. The game program for Wednesday's game can be downloaded here. For those with Smartphones, you will be able to download at the game site. There will be no programs for sale at the venue.

Live Stats and Live Video will be available for the game courtesy of the Ursinus Athletic Communications department.

Live Stats

Live Video

The Lady Colonels won a thrilling 2-1 Freedom Conference championship game this past Saturday evening defeating Misericordia University. Freedom Conference Tournament MVP Ashley Ream (Manheim, PA/Manheim Central) converted a late second half penalty stroke to tie the score at 1-1, and fellow senior Ashley Hahn (Bangor, PA/Bangor) sealed the win with a penalty stroke of her own in overtime. The Freedom Championship is the first in Wilkes field hockey history with the last MAC title coming in 1999.

Wilkes is led by a trio of players on the offensive end in Aliya Frankel (Ventnor, NJ/Holy Spirit), Hahn and Ream. Frankel leads the squad with 27 points (12 goals and three assists). Hahn and Ream are tied for second on the team with 23 points each. Hahn adds nine goals and five helpers, while Ream contributes seven goals and nine assists. Freshman Taylor Ryan (Spotsylvania, VA/Courtland) and Devon Kriebel (Pennsburg, PA/Upper Perkiomen) have both contributed good numbers statistically for the Lady Colonels. Ryan has 12 points on five goals and two assists, while Kriebel chips in 11 points on five goals and one helper.

Defensively, goalkeeper Alexis Reed (Greenport, NY/Greenport) has allowed just seven goals in her past five games including several keep stops late in the Freedom championship game. Reed has allowed 56 goals this year (2.93 goals per-game) while making 161 saves (.742 save percentage). Kerryn Redcay (Reading, PA/Wilson), Emily Saliba (Scotrun, PA/Pocono Mountain East), Christina Harrison (Coplay, PA/Whitehall), Amber Dietrich (Bernville, PA/Hamburg) and Stephanie Hahn (Bangor, PA/Bangor) have all stepped up down the stretch in helping to solidify the team's strong defensive play. Saliba leads the team with five defensive saves.

Ursinus(14-5), the Centennial Conference champions, bring a lot of offensive fire power as they have scored 83 goals (4.61 goals per-game) on the season. Five players have scored at least 20 points on the year for the Bears.

Megan Keenan leads the squad with a team-high 59 points on 24 goals and 11 assists. Devin Brakel is second on the team with 31 points, scoring 14 goals and three assists, while Stephanie Cooper follows with 27 points on 12 goals and three assists.

In the cage Danielle DeSpirito has started 18 games allowing 32 goals (1.79 goals per-game). She posts 85 saves on the year (.726 save percentage) and has four shutouts.

The winner of Wednesday's match will advance to the regional semifinals to be held at Salisbury University on Saturday and Sunday, November 16 and 17. The winner of Wednesday's game will take on Wellesley, who received a bye in the first round, at 2:00 p.m.

Print Friendly Version