Montclair, NJ – The Montclair State field hockey team is going back to the NCAA Division III Field Hockey Championship and this year it begins at home.
The Red Hawks (15-3) earned one of the five at-large bids to the field of 24 teams and will host a first-round contest at Sprague Field on Wednesday, November 7 against Smith College (14-7). Game time will be at 6pm. The winner advances to the second round against Tufts University (16-2) at 2pm on Saturday, November 10 at Salisbury University in Maryland.
Montclair State was ranked No. 3 in the regional rankings heading into last Wednesday's semifinals of the NJAC Tournament. The Red Hawks fell to The College of New Jersey in a shootout which left MSU playing the waiting game for the next four days. That all ended with the announcement of the field as Montclair will make its third straight appearance.
It will also be Montclair State's eighth overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament which includes a run to the national title game in 2012. MSU made its first trip in 2003 and again in 2005 before going three consecutive years beginning in 2011. The first three appearances all began with home game wins against Western New England (2003), Washington & Lee (2005) and Rhodes College (2011). Each time, Montclair fell in the second round.
In 2012, the Red Hawks entered the NCAAs as one of the top seeds and defeated Christopher Newport and Rochester to advance to the Final Four in Geneva, NY at William Smith College. Montclair defeated Mary Washington in the national semifinals before falling to Tufts 2-1 in the title contest. The next year, Montclair hosted the second and third rounds at Sprague Field. MSU beat Mount Holyoke and fell one game short of a second Final Four berth in a 1-0 loss to eventual national champion Bowdoin.
Montclair made it back to the NCAA Tournament in 2016 but lost to St. Joseph's (ME) in the first round, at home 1-0. Last season, the Red Hawks were upended by Franklin & Marshall in the second round at Christopher Newport, 2-1.
The Pioneers are making their third NCAA Tournament appearance and first in a quarter century after claiming their first NEWMAC Championship on Saturday. Smith's Alex Larosee scored the game-winner with 2:38 remaining as the third-seeded Pioneers edged MIT, 2-1 at home. All three of Smith's NEWMAC Tournament wins were decided by that 2-1 margin as the Pioneers defeated sixth-sseded Mount Holyoke in the first round and No. 2 seed Springfield in semifinals.
Smith heads into the game with a balanced offensive attack led by Sammie Pavlov who leads the team with 11 goals and 26 points. Anna Ballou is next at six goals and a team-best seven assists (19 points) while Morgan Handwerger and Larosse was at 18 and 16 points respectively. Bryan Murray is the fifth player with a double-digit scoring total. She has 10 points including four goals.
The Pioneers are averaging 2.76 goals per game while giving up 1.61 per contest. Goalkeeper Channy Cornell has 76 saves on the season and three of Smith's four shutouts on the year. Beatrice Chaudoin has been solid on the defensive end with five defensive saves this season. Chaudoin was named the Most Valuable Player of the NEWMAC Tournament.
Montclair State is similar in their attack with five players reaching double digits in scoring. Leading that group is NJAC Midfielder of the Year
AMBER HASLETT wo leads the team in goals (9), assists (8) and points (26). Senior
VICTORIA ROSSI, an All-NJAC selection is next with eight goals while senior
KAILEY DALGAUER is third with five goals and four assists (14 points). Sophomore
ELIZABETH CIMILLUCA, an All-NJAC pick and junior
KELLY WATSON round out the group at 14 and 11 points respectively.
The Red Hawks are averaging 2.00 poer game and give up half that (1.06). All-Conference selections
MARISSA SICONOLFI and
NICOLE ANDRIANI anchor the defensive unit. Siconolfi has two defensive saves, both coming against TCNJ in the NJAC Tournament semifinals. Andriani leads the NJAC in save percentage (.825) and shutouts (6) while posting a 0.98 goals against average and 85 saves.
Wednesday's game will mark the first time Montclair State and Smith will square off. The two share one common opponent this season in Cortland. The Red Hawks recorded a 2-0 victory at home against the Red Dragons on September 8 with the Pioneers falling 4-1 at home the previous week.
