INDIANA, Pa. – The IUP field hockey team heads into a pivotal week as they look to make a playoff push in the final two games of their regular season. The Crimson Hawks will play at Mercyhurst Wednesday at 3 p.m. and will host No. 6 Kutztown Saturday night.
The Crimson Hawks start the week with a 9-5 record and is in a three-way tie for the sixth and final PSAC playoff spot with a 3-4 league record. Joining IUP in that tie is Mansfield and Slippery Rock.
Mercyhurst enters this week at 1-14 overall and tied for ninth with a 1-7 conference record. The sixth-ranked Golden Bears are 11-4 overall and 5-3 in the league.
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Last time out
>> The Crimson Hawks split their two games last week, defeating non-conference foe Frostburg State 4-1 on the road before losing to No. 1 Shippensburg 5-0 at home on Sunday.
>> The program celebrated Senior Day prior to their game against the Raiders, with five current seniors and one 2020 senior recognized.
>>
Carly Fordham scored two goals against Frostburg State while
Rory Cahill and
Blaise Cugini each had a goal and an assist.
Notes
>> Mansfield is on the road at Bloomsburg (7-9, 1-7) and at West Chester (11-3, 5-2) this week while Slippery Rock will host Seton Hill (1-14, 0-7) and play at Shippensburg (14-0, 9-0) to end the season.
>> The Hawks own a head-to-head tiebreaker with The Rock having defeated them 2-1 on September 29. Mansfield has the tiebreaker with IUP after a 2-0 win on Oct. 13.
>> If all three teams remained tied in the standings after this weekend, the order of tiebreakers are: record against PSAC opponents not involved in the tie from highest in standings to lowest; weighted win against PSAC opponents (regulation vs. OT wins); weighted wins between tied teams; road wins in PSAC mandated schedule; win/loss percentage against mutual opponents outside of mandated schedule; highest ranked team based on NCAA regional ranking system.
>> The PSAC tournament will begin with the quarterfinals on Tuesday, November 2. The semifinals will be Friday, November 5 and the championship on Sunday, November 7.
>> IUP is looking for the program's ninth PSAC tournament appearance and first since 2016. IUP has been a tournament finalist three times (2000, 2004, 2008) in addition to winning the PSAC title in 2007.
>> Mercyhurst is a familiar opponent for the Hawks this year as they defeated the Lakers 4-0 at home on September 22.
Blaise Cugini scored two goals while
Georgiana Chiavacci had a goal and two assists.
>> IUP and Kutztown have split the last six meetings with five of those one-score differences. KU has 10 goals over that time while IUP has nine.
>> IUP's duo of
Georgiana Chiavacci and
Blaise Cugini continue to rank in the top-10 in the PSAC in points this year. Cugini is tied for seventh with 1.50 points per game (21 total) while Chiavacci is 10th with 1.36 points per game (19).
