Box Score

INDIANA, PA – The IUP field hockey team lost a heartbreaker on Tuesday, falling to sixth-ranked Bloomsburg 2-1 in overtime at Miller Stadium.

The loss drops the Crimson Hawks to 7-10 overall and 4-5 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC). Bloomsburg clinched a PSAC postseason berth with the win, improving to 11-6 and 6-3.

It was a defensive struggle for most of the contest, with the first shot coming from Bloomsburg nearly 20 minutes into the game.

The Huskies got on the board just a little bit later, taking a 1-0 lead in the 21st minute when Sam Peters snuck one past Darian Shuker (Reading, Pa./Exeter ) in front of the cage.

IUP knotted it up six minutes later when Kate Bruce (Clarks Summit/Lackawanna Trail), the reigning PSAC Field Hockey Athlete of the Week, scored her third goal in as many games on a pass from Kendra Blantz (Lancaster/Conestoga Valley).

Shots were hard to come by in the second half, with both teams continuing the strong defensive effort. Multiple passes were deflected and turned away by both teams as they combined for just three shots despite a total of nine corners. Shuker played well throughout, totaling five saves, including two each in the second half and overtime.

Bloomsburg clinched the win 9:14 into the overtime period when Laura Gerhard scored off of a penalty corner.

IUP remains in a three-way tie with Mercyhurst and East Stroudsburg for fifth in the PSAC. Both of those schools also lost on Tuesday. The top six schools advance to the postseason, with two of the above mentioned group joining the other four in the PSAC championships next week.

IUP will play host to Millersville (16-1, 8-1) on Saturday while East Stroudsburg goes to Kutztown (7-9, 3-6) and Mercyhurst hosts Bloomsburg.