D-II Files: Eagles Flying High into NCAAs
by Paul Ohanian | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff
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Thirty years ago, Lock Haven won its only women's lacrosse
national championship. The Eagles claimed the 1979 title sponsored
by the USWLA, prior to the NCAA era. To commemorate the 30th
anniversary of that achievement, the school sponsored a banquet
earlier this spring.
"We had all the players from the '79 team return and tell their
stories," said Kristen Selvage, now in her eighth season as head
coach at Lock Haven. "Then [sophomore] Katie McConnell got up and
told everyone that it would be nice to come back 30 years from now
and have our own stories to share. That's when it hit our team that
this could be something special."
Motivated in part by that thought, Lock Haven has now done
something that it hadn't done in 28 years. The Eagles captured
their first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) women's
championship since 1981 by defeating West Chester 13-10 last
weekend.
Lock Haven, 16-3 overall and up to No. 3 in this week's IWLCA
Division II poll, benefitted from five goals by senior Amber Hoch
and another goal and five assists from junior All-American Leigh
Titus to defeat five-time defending PSAC champion and defending
NCAA champion West Chester. The Eagles had finished as the
runner-up to WC in each of the past three seasons.
"Something just clicked for us," said Selvage. "We've always had a
difficult time against West Chester, but in this case, we almost
played the perfect game."
Selvage attributes Lock Haven's strong schedule, which included
non-league tests against Limestone and C.W. Post as well as the
normally challenging PSAC lineup, as another contributing factor to
winning the championship.
"We try to play the strongest schedule we can, because we learn
how to play hard for the full 60 minutes," Selvage said. "We learn
something from each game and get stronger."
Strength of schedule notwithstanding, the NCAA committee may still
hand the South Region's No. 1 seed and accompanying first-round bye
to Limestone (17-1), which has one important factor in its favor
despite playing a softer overall schedule.
The Saints, champions of the Conference Carolinas for the second
straight season, beat Lock Haven head-to-head back on March 6.
"I'm expecting that Limestone will get that number one seed," said
Selvage. "We expect that we'll see either West Chester or
Mercyhurst again in the quarterfinal game."
The NCAA tournament, which expands to six teams for the first time
this year, begins on May 9 on campus sites, with three teams
selected from the North and three from the South. The two No. 1
seeds receive byes into the national semifinals.
Both NCAA Division II tournament fields (men and women) will be
released Sunday at 10 p.m. on CBS College Sports.
Adelphi, C.W. Post meet in ECC showdown
It couldn't be scripted any better: No. 1 versus No. 2 on the
last weekend of the season with the league championship and top
seed for the NCAA tournament on the line.
That's the scenario that faces Adelphi (15-0) and C.W. Post (15-1)
when they draw Saturday in Brookville, N.Y. The winner clinches the
East Coast Conference women's championship and likely receives the
NCAA's No. 1 seed and the North Region's bye into the national
semifinal round. The loser would fall to the No. 2 seed and be
forced to win a game to reach the final four.
No. 8 New Haven or No. 9 Stonehill will claim the third spot in
the North, depending on what transpires in the NE-10 championship
this weekend.
Sizing Up the Men
Regardless of the outcome of games this weekend, it's likely
that No. 1 Le Moyne (North Region) and No. 2 C.W. Post (Central
Region) have already claimed berths for the four-team NCAA
tournament. Likewise, No. 6 Limestone (10-3) is the choice from the
South Region.
The real mystery comes in the fourth and final spot, which can
come from any of the three regions.
Defending national champion NYIT (10-1) is the probable
frontrunner, based on its strength of schedule. But the Bears must
get by Mercyhurst on Saturday to solidify that position. If Hurst
pulls the upset over NYIT, and if Merrimack -- No. 2 seed in the
NE-10 - upsets Le Moyne, both could also make a case for the fourth
slot.
Merrimack (13-1) lost its only game of the year, 5-4, against Le
Moyne on April 11.
News & Notes
C.W. Post senior All-American Katie Hogan has been tabbed the East Coast Conference's Player of the Week for three straight weeks. The midfielder has 58 goals and 76 points heading into Saturday's showdown against Adelphi. Philadelphia University won the initial Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) women's tournament title last week by defeating Georgian Court 11-9 in the final. The Lady Rams had lost both regular season meetings against GC... The Dowling men have a season-best five-game winning streak heading into Saturday's game against C.W. Post. Dowling's John McClure leads the nation in scoring with 52 goals. The junior has more than doubled his 24-goal output from last year.
