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Friday, November 17 (Louisville, Ky. - Bellarmine)
10 a.m. - ESU (17-4)  vs. Shippensburg (15-4)  (Watch) (Live Stats)
1 p.m. - LIU Post (18-3) vs. Millersville (15-5)  (Watch)

Sunday, November 19 (Louisville, Ky. - U of Louisville)
11 a.m. - NCAA DII Championship Game (Watch)


EAST STROUDSBURG - East Stroudsburg University will pursue its second NCAA Division II field hockey championship in three years as the Warriors travel to Louisville, Kentucky for a semifinal match-up with PSAC rival Shippensburg on Friday.

ESU (17-4), the No. 2 national seed, takes on Shippensburg (15-4), the No. 3 seed, in the first semifinal at 10 a.m. at Bellarmine University. No. 1 seed LIU Post (18-3) plays No. 5 seed Millersville (15-5) in the second semifinal at 1 p.m.

The championship game will be played Sunday at 11 a.m. at the University of Louisville.

Friday's semifinal will be a meeting of the last two national champions - ESU won its first national title in 2015, and Shippensburg won its second title in four years in 2016.

LIU Post, runner-up in three of the last four years and seeking its first championship, and Millersville will meet in a rematch of their 2014 title game won by Millersville, 1-0, also in Louisville.

The Warriors will look to reach the championship game for the third time, finishing as runner-up to Bentley in 2001 before winning their inaugural title two years ago, 1-0 (OT) vs. Merrimack - played about 75 miles from campus at Bloomsburg University.

ESU will travel almost 700 miles for its third match-up vs. Shippensburg this fall, winning 2-0 at home on September 6 in a non-conference game and falling 4-1 on the road three weeks later in a PSAC contest.

This will be the second straight meeting with Shippensburg in the NCAA Tournament and the third overall. Ship won a first-round game last fall at Whitenight Field, 2-1, and also won 3-0 in a 2009 first-round game played at Shippensburg.

The Warriors are 2-1 vs. Millersville this season, with the potential of a fourth meeting if the Marauders can get past LIU Post in the semifinals. LIU Post had a 3-1 home win vs. ESU on September 14 and is 8-1 vs. the Warriors since the 2011 season.

ESU, under 34th-year head coach Sandy Miller, is in the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season and the fifth time in the last nine years (2009-10, 2015-17). The Warriors are making their ninth NCAA trip overall, qualifying for the DIII Tournament three times (1987-88, 90) along with the 2001 DII runner-up season.

Miller enters the NCAA Tournament with a career record of 408-268-11, becoming the fourth coach in PSAC and DII history with 400 career wins earlier this year.

ESU is ranked No. 1 in the NFHCA DII poll entering the Final Four. The Warriors received a first-round bye with their No. 2 national seed.

Shippensburg advanced with a 6-1 thumping of Stonehill on Saturday, and Millersville went to penalty strokes for a 1-0 decision at Saint Anselm to give the PSAC three of the four semifinalists. This is the first year the committee has seeded the national qualifiers one through six - under the previous true regional setup, the conference could have a maximum of two teams in the semifinals.

The PSAC has won 22 of the last 25 DII championships since 1992 - falling only in 2001 (Bentley 4-2 vs. ESU), 2005 (UMass-Lowell 2-1 2OT vs. Bloomsburg) and 2010 (UMass-Lowell 1-0 vs. Shippensburg).

ESU's last action was just its fourth loss of the season - a 3-0 setback to West Chester in the PSAC championship game on November 5, ending a seven-game winning streak. ESU, Shippensburg (1-0 vs. West Chester) and Millersville (3-1 vs. ESU) all entered the NCAA Tournament coming off losses in the PSAC Tournament.

The Warriors have posted a 51-12 record over the last three years, and the senior class has a four-year record for wins with a 62-21 career mark. Two more wins this weekend would deliver a second national title.

Senior back Sydney McCarthy, the PSAC Defensive Athlete of the Year and the last remaining starter from the 2015 national championship team, leads a group that has posted a 65-21 goal differential.

ESU has started the same 11 players in all 21 games this season with McCarthy at center back, flanked by junior Ashley Ceschini and junior Amanda Crampton. The five starters in the midfield are seniors Hannah Caplan and Ashley Chioda, juniors Paige Harrold and Kelli Shapiro and sophomore Kristen English. Senior Melanie Shambuagh and junior Bailey Quinn are the tandem at forward, with senior Halle Frisco in her first season as the starter in goal.

McCarthy is one of six Warriors named All-PSAC and the only one on the first team. Quinn and Chioda are on the second team, and Shambaugh, Crampton and Frisco are on the third team.

ESU's 17 wins - tied for the second-most in school history - have been compiled by a team that returned just six starters from a 2016 squad that included four All-America selections. Back Emily Howell and midfielder Desiraye Mack were both two-time first team NFHCA All-America, along with second team selections in back Morgan Firestine and forward Robin Stevenson. Goalkeeper Danielle Ard was a three-year starter, including 34-8 record spanning the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

McCarthy, who has made a team-best 63 career starts, was an All-PSAC second team selection in the midfield last year before moving to the center back position vacated by Howell, who was named last year's Honda Broderick Award recipient for DII field hockey.

She has contributed 10 goals and 11 assists this fall - all but a handful from penalty corners, where ESU holds a 180-121 advantage - and has 17 goals and 18 assists in her career.

Quinn, a second-year starter, and Shambaugh, a first-year starter, have combined for 23 goals at forward. Both have 25 points - Quinn with 12 goals and one assist, and Shambaugh with 11 goals and three assists. Quinn had eight goals and two assists as a sophomore in her first year at ESU.

Shapiro has eight goals and three assists from her midfield spot, including six goals in the last seven games entering the NCAA Tournament. She started eight games at forward as a sophomore before moving into a full-time starting role.

Caplan (4 goals, 1 assist), Chioda (1 assist) and Harrold (3 goals, 8 assists) are all in their second season as starters in the midfield, while English (2 assists) is one of five first-year starters for the Warriors.

At back, Ceschini is a returning starter and Crampton (2 goals, 3 assists) is in her first year in the lineup after starting four games as a sophomore.

Seven Warriors have appeared in at least 10 games off the bench - junior forward Makenna Marhefka (5 goals, 1 assist), junior midfielder Karisa Turner (2 goals, 2 assists), sophomore midfielder Emily Spangler (3 goals, 1 assist), sophomore midfielder Karly Conway (2 goals), sophomore forward Sara Ober (1 goal, 2 assists), sophomore midfielder Grace Martini (1 goal, 1 assist) and freshman midfielder Lea Hughes. Marhefka, Spangler, Turner and Hughes have played in all 21 games.

In goal, Frisco has a 0.89 goals against average, allowing just 18 goals in her 21 starts, and a 0.786 save percentage. She has 10 total shutouts - tied for second-most in school history - and six solo shutouts, including eight saves in a 2-0 win vs. No. 1 Shippensburg on September 6.