NCAA FINAL FOUR: No. 7 Merrimack Battles No. 4 UMass-Lowell in National Semifinals Friday
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NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Looking to advance to the program's first-ever NCAA National Championship game, the No. 7 Merrimack field hockey team returns to the NCAA Final Four for the second straight season to take on nearby rival and familiar foe No. 4 UMass-Lowell in the NCAA Semifinals on Friday afternoon at the Cushing Complex on the campus of UMass-Lowell.
The Warriors and River Hawks have faced off twice already this season, with the most recent meeting coming in the NE-10 Championship Finals. The potent Merrimack offense was shut out for the only time this season, as the River Hawks came away with a 1-0 victory to claim the program's eighth NE-10 title.
In the other National Semifinal, defending national champion West Chester faces off against top-ranked Shippensburg, as the winner will represent the South Region and take on the winner of Merrimack and UMass-Lowell for the national title.
LAST TIME OUT: WARRIORS EDGE FALCONS, PUNCH RETURN TICKET TO FINAL FOUR
• The No. 7 Merrimack field hockey team exploded for two goals and 20 shots in the second half, and despite a late goal by the visitors, the Warriors would hold on to down eighth-ranked Bentley University, 3-2, in the NCAA First Round last Saturday night at Martone-Mejail Field, clinching the program's second consecutive trip to the Final Four next weekend.
• Bentley took the initial lead with a goal at 20:35, but the Warriors would reel off three uncontested strikes to move ahead, 3-1, between the end of the first half and the midway point of the second half. The visitors would cut the deficit to one with just less than five minutes to play, but Merrimack would hold on from there on out to punch their ticket back to the national semifinals.
• Senior April Daugherty (Wakefield, R.I.) and juniors Candace Waldie (North Andover, Mass.) and Jessica Otis (Pittsford, N.Y.) would light up the scoreboard for the home side, with Otis notching the game-winner with 13 minutes to go in regulation.
• Senior goalkeeper Kerri Bergquist (Mashpee, Mass.), meanwhile, was stellar in net despite giving up the two tough goals. She finished with five saves compared to seven for her counterpart Julia Powell.
SUMMING UP THE 2012 CAMPAIGN SO FAR
• The Merrimack field hockey team has already tied the program record for wins in a single season, using two separate unbeaten streaks of seven straight wins and nine straight wins over the course of the season to run their win total up to 17 to date.
• Fifth-year head coach Anne Rounce challenged the Warriors at the beginning of the season with trips to defending national champion and top-ranked West Chester, as well as No. 9 East Stroudsburg. The Warriors split both of those meetings before turning their sights to their NE-10 slate.
• Merrimack started 2-0 in league play before unranked Assumption stunned them with a 2-1 setback at home on Sept. 26. After that loss, the Warriors would not taste defeat for nine games, as the program used a huge road win at UMass-Lowell on Oct. 16 to clinch its second straight NE-10 regular season title.
• Granted the top seed in the NE-10 Championship, Merrimack cruised to a 6-0 victory over fifth-seeded Adelphi in the NE-10 Semifinals before bowing out to UMass-Lowell in the Finals. The River Hawks handed the Warriors their only shutout of the 2012 season and took home their third consecutive NE-10 crown with a 1-0 victory at Martone-Mejail Field on Oct. 28.
• Merrimack drew Bentley in the first round of the NCAA Tournament which took place on Saturday, Nov. 3, at Martone-Mejail Field. Merrimack had already defeated Bentley twice before in the regular season, and that trend continued last week, as the Warriors downed the Falcons, 3-2, to advance to the Final Four.
SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS
• A year removed from falling to West Chester in the National Championship, the River Hawks were granted the rights to host the NCAA Final Four from Nov. 9-11 after emerging as the top-ranked team in the North Region at the conclusion of the regular season.
• UMass-Lowell had been ranked in the top five nationally throughout the season before falling to Merrimack, 2-1, at home on Oct. 16. Coupled with a second conference loss to Bentley, the River Hawks were given the No. 3 seed in the NE-10 Championship and had to escape a quarterfinal matchup with sixth-seeded Stonehill to return to the NE-10 Semifinals.
• After blanking Bentley, 1-0, in the NE-10 Semifinals, the River Hawks clinched their eighth NE-10 crown with an identical shutout victory over Merrimack on Oct. 28, the last time they took to the turf, and will be playing their first game in 12 days when they face the Warriors on Friday.
• Defense has been the backbone of UML's success this season, led by goalkeeper Melanie Hopkins, who leads the country in goals against average. The junior netminder is only allowing 0.77 goals per game. The team's 0.52 shutouts per game average is also tops in the nation.
• The River Hawks are no slouches on offense either, ranking fourth in the country with a scoring average of 3.58 goals-per-game. NE-10 Player of the Year Rachel McCarthy averages 2.67 points per game (third nationally) and 1.19 goals per game (second), while NE-10 Defender of the Year Sarah Wilcox has contributed plenty of offense as well, as her 0.62 assists per game is second-most in the country.
WALDIE, DAUGHERTY RE-WRITING RECORD BOOKS
• One season after senior forward April Daugherty established a new single-season program record for points in a season (50), junior forward Candace Waldie has already shattered that mark with 61 points heading into the Final Four.
• Waldie leads the nation in both points per game (3.05) and assists per game (0.65), and is also second in the country in goals per outing with 1.20.
• The North Andover, Mass., native spent her freshman season playing softball at the University of Massachusetts, but transferred back to her hometown school and joined the program for her sophomore season last fall. She went off for an unbelievable (and school record) six goals in a victory over Saint Michael's back on Sept. 12, and ever since has been atop the national rankings in virtually every offensive category. She also leads the team with an astounding nine game-winning goals.
• Not to be outdone, the program's all-time leading scorer in Daugherty has also enjoyed one of the best single-season scoring outputs in program history as well, ranking second with 52 points (21g, 10a). She will graduate as arguably the best player in school history and currents boasts 61 career goals, 37 assists, and 159 points over a span of 76 career games.
BERGQUIST REPEATS AS NE-10 GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR
• For the second consecutive year, senior goalkeeper Kerri Bergquist (Mashpee, Mass.) has earned the enormous honor of being tabbed the league's best netminder, earning the Northeast-10 Conference Goalkeeper of the Year Award
• The Mashpee, Mass., native ranks sixth nationally with a 1.25 GAA and second nationally with a save percentage of .840.
• Bergquist has recorded 10 or more saves in a game on five different occasions this season, including a career-high 21 stops against defending national champion West Chester and 13 saves against then-No. 9 East Stroudsburg at the beginning of the season.
FOLLOW THE ACTION FROM HOME
• The NCAA will be providing a free webcast for each round of the Final Four. Head to www.ncaa.com on game day to access links to the webcast.
• Be sure to follow the Warriors on Twitter (MC_Athletics) for in-game updates throughout the Final Four. Links to live statistics can also be found online at www.merrimackathletics.com.
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For continuing coverage of Merrimack athletics, check back online at www.merrimackathletics.com, and follow the Warriors on Twitter @MC_Athletics.
