NOVEMBER 1, 2012
TOP-SEEDED KING'S FIELD HOCKEY TEAM HOSING DEL-VAL FRIDAY IN FREEDOM SEMI'S
WILKES-BARRE -- the King's College field hockey team looks to take its next step towards an NCAA Division III National Tournament berth when the top-seeded Lady Monarchs host fourth-seeded Delaware Valley College Friday at 2:30 p.m. at McCarthy Stadium in the Betzler Athletic Complex.
The game was originally slated for Wednesday but was pushed to Thursday due to Hurricane Sandy. Due to some competing schools losing power and the ability to practice, along with transporation issues, the Middle Atlantic Conferences Office moved all semi-final rounds to Friday. The championships game have also been moved from Saturday to Sunday.
Fans unable to attend can follow the action on LiveStats at the following link:
http://www.sidearmstats.com/kings/fhockey/scoreboard.aspx
King's finished the regular-season with a 12-6 overall record while standing 6-1 in Freedom Conference play The Lady Monarchs' lone league loss, however, came October 6 at the hands of Delaware Valley which rallied for a 2-1 home victory on its natural grass field in Doylestown. The loss snapped a eight-year win streak for King's wihch had not lost to the Aggies since the 2003 campaign.
King's will be hoping the confines of its synthetic turf field at McCarthy Stadium is as generous as it has been for much of the season. The Lady Monarchs have won six of their last seven home games with its last home loss coming to Alvernia on October 4.
The Lady Monarchs run to the top-seed was a bit of a surprise to many due to the graduation of three top seniors from last year, including All-Region selections Jenera Quinones and Holly Mannucci. But the Lady Monarchs managed to surpass expectations, evidenced by the Freedom Conference Pre-Season Poll which predicted King's to finish in third-place at the start of the season.
Delaware Valley also managed to shatter its pre-season expectations by earning fourth-place after being predicted to finish seventh out of eight teams in the Freedom Conference. The Aggies were 7-11 overall but forged a 4-3 conference record to earn the final league playoff berth.
King's is making its eighth straight Freedom Conference Tournament appearance, beginning with the 2005 campaign. The Lady Monarchs won Freedom Conference championships in 2006 and 2007 while finishing second in 2003, 2005, 2009, and 2010. The Lady Monarchs have been one of the most consistent programs throughout the Middle Atlantic Conferences, winning at least 10 games every season since 1999.
The Lady Monarchs have been led by the play of senior forwards Calli Berryman (Wilkes-Barre/Holy Redeemer) and Jackie Sikora (Trenton/Robbinsville).
Berryman, who tops the squad with 39 points on 17 goals and five assists, enters her final playoff season with 118 points on 49 goals and 20 assists. Sikora, meanwhile, is third on the team with 17 points, scoring six goals with five assists. She has tallied 55 career points on 21 goals and 12 assists.
Also aiding the King's attack is freshman forward Alyssa Monaghan (Wilkes-Barre/Coughlin) who has totaled 22 points on seven goals and eight assists. Junior Kim Howanitz adds 14 points on four goals and six assists while sophomore Abby McManus contributes 11 points on five goals and one assist.
In the midfield, senior Meghan Wernimont has tallied nine points on four goals and one assist. She is joined in the midfield by fellow senior Megan Mundy, and junior Trudi Konopki. Defensively, King's is paced by senior Stephanie Wingerter, junior Shelby Madden, and junior Nicolette Pizzo.
In goal, junior Megan Withrow has 1.40 goals against average with 123 saves and two shut-outs.
Delaware Valley is led by junior forward Leah Hawthorn and sophomore midfielder Kelsey Zook who pace the Aggies in scoring with 17 points apiece. Hawthorn has seven goals and three assists to her credit while Zook, has six goals and five assists.
Freshman forward Taylor Prichett and senior midfielder Rony Jacober follow with 12 and 10 points respectively. Jacober has scored two goals and assisted on two others while Prichett has notched four goals and a team-best seven assists. Two of Prichett's four goals have been game-winners, including the decisive tally against King's in the previous meeting between the teams
Senior Sara Culver and junior Lydia Spakosky lead a Delaware Valley defense that has allowed averages of 2.2 goals and 14.7 shots per game this season. Culver is second in the conference in defensive saves with 13 while Spakosky has also added two goals and three assists for seven points.
Junior Sandra Edwards is in her first year as a starter in goal for the Aggies. She has two of the team's three shutouts, including 124 saves and a 2.29 goals against average.
The winner of the game will face the survivor of the other semi--final pairing between second-seeded Eastern (13-5/6-1) and third-seeded FDU-Florham (10-9/5-2), also taking place on Thursday. Eastern, the three-time defending Freedom Conference champion, defeated King's in last season's semi-finals before downing FDU in the league championship game.
Should King's defeat Delaware Valley, the Lady Monarchs will host the title game Sunday at a time to be announced.
