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NCAA Division II Quarterfinals
No. 3 IUP at No. 2 West Chester
Saturday, November 3, 2012 | 1:00 p.m.
Vonnie Gros Field | West Chester, PA

Live Stats

Admission: $7 for adults | $3 for seniors/students | $1 children

INDIANA, PA – For the first time since 2008, IUP heads into the national tournament as the Crimson Hawks travel to West Chester for the quarterfinals of the 2012 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships on Saturday.

IUP earned the third seed in the South Region while West Chester is the second seed. Shippensburg was named the No. 1 seed and advances straight to the semifinals with a bye. In the North Region, Merrimack is the second seed and will host third-seeded Bentley while top seed UMass-Lowell earns the bye.

The semifinals will take place on Friday, November 9 while the Division II championship game will be on Sunday, November 11. Both rounds will be hosted by UMass-Lowell.

This will be IUP's seventh trip to the NCAA tournament and first under head coach Gary Agard, who led the Crimson Hawks to a 14-5 overall record and a trip to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference semifinals this past weekend.

The Crimson Hawks advanced to the PSAC semifinals with a thrilling 1-0 win over Slippery Rock in the quarterfinals. The lone goal came off the stick of Alicia Straining (Harrisburg/Central Dauphin) on a penalty shot in the 51st minute. The Rock would have their chance to tie a penalty shot of their own with no time left, but IUP goalie Brittany Varacallo (New Britain/Central Bucks South) came up with a huge save for the win.

In the semifinals at West Chester, a goal by Kate Bruce (Clarks Summit/Lackawanna Trail) cut the Golden Rams lead to 2-1 in the first half but that would end the scoring as IUP's conference championship hopes ended.

This will be the third matchup between the two schools this season, as West Chester won 3-2 at home back in September. A former Division I school before dropping down in 2011, the Golden Rams own the all-time series lead 3-0. West Chester won the first ever meeting between the two schools last year 3-0.

The last time IUP advanced to the NCAA tournament was in 2008, also getting there in 2000 and 2004-07. The program advanced to the semifinals in 2004 and 2006-07 and owns a 3-6 mark all-time in the tournament.

The winner on Saturday will move onto the semifinals to play Shippensburg at UMass-Lowell.

Game time on Saturday is set for 1:00 p.m.