Lebanon Valley wins ECAC Division III Mid-Atlantic Field Hockey Championship
(Courtesy of Lebanon Valley Sports Information)
READING, Pa. - Tournament Most Outstanding
Played Jocelyn Novak scored twice in the second half, setting the
new national record for points and leading Lebanon Valley past
Alvernia, 4-1, for the ECAC Mid-Atlantic title.
The Dutchmen (16-5) avenged their loss to the Crusaders (15-8) from
the Commonwealth Conference semifinals, outshooting the home team
25-12 and scoring three times in the second half to win their first
ECAC title since 2004, when they also beat Alvernia.
Novak had two goals and an assist, breaking the NCAA Division III
points record of 297 with her second-half goal, and her second goal
made her the first player in Division III history to reach 300
points. She finishes as NCAA Division III's undisputed greatest
scorer, with the career records for goals (141) and points (300).
Both of her totals are third all-time across all NCAA
divisions.
Lauren Brumbach scored the lone goal of the first half,
finishing a broken penalty corner on Novak's cross with 54 seconds
left in the half, finishing a period of sustained pressure by the
Dutchmen.
Novak struck quickly in the second half to go up 2-0, dribbling
around a defender and shooting from space to beat the goalkeeper
3:55 into the half. Alvernia cut the lead in half less than two
minutes later, however, running on the counter as Katy Eby slotted
it home at 40:42.
Both teams had chances to change the game but it was Novak that
sealed it, taking a cross from Kirsten Martzall on the
hour for her 300th point and her 35th of the season. Cate
Cusack put the
exclamation mark on the championship, redirecting Martzall's cross
from the right at 63:08 to score her third of the tournament and
give LVC the late insurance goal.
Christine
Poletti made five saves to earn the win, and Erin Wunsch kept her
side in it with 12 stops, including two big point-blank saves in
the first half. LVC led 8-7 on penalty corners.
Mid-Atlantic Release | Bracket
Schedule:
Quarterfinal
Round – Wednesday, November 9
No. 1 Lebanon Valley def. No. 8 McDaniel,
1-0
No. 2 Alvernia def. No. 7 FDU-Florham, 2-1
No. 3 Juniata def. No. 6 Ramapo, 1-0
No. 4 Stevens Inst. of Tech def. No. 5 Wesley, 3-2
Semifinals
– Saturday, November 12 (at
Alvernia)
No. 2 Alvernia def. No. 3 Juniata, 3-0 boxscore | recap
No. 1 Lebanon Valley def. No. 4 Stevens, 4-3 boxscore | recap
Championship -
Sunday, November 13 (at Alvernia)
No. 1 Lebanon Valley def. No. 2 Alvernia, 4-1 boxscore l recap
