MANCHESTER, N.H. – Despite holding a 1-0 lead less than three minutes into the game, the No. 1 East Stroudsburg University field hockey team ended its season in heartbreaking fashion as the Warriors fell to No. 3 Kutztown, 2-1, in the 2023 NCAA Division II National Championship on Sunday afternoon at Grappone Stadium on the campus of Saint Anslem.
Graduate student
Lia Parker found the back of the cage just 2:17 into the game to put the Warriors ahead 1-0, but the Golden Bears got second half goals from Jillian Buchman (43:18) and Greenleigh McGehee (51:27) to come out on top.
The Warriors wrapped up another historic season 18-3 overall while the Golden Bears (19-3) captured the program's first ever national championship.
ESU's senior class arguably concluded the best stretch in program history as
Amy Supey,
Lisa Larsson,
Hanna Lewis,
Grace Hoelbinger,
Maddy Barbush,
Grace Lesh and
Karaline Stelma accumulated 54 wins and only 10 losses in three seasons.
Madison Kline,
Nicole Krozser and Parker, who were a part of the program since 2019, aided ESU to 73 wins, three PSAC titles and a national championship.
Notables
- Parker scored a goal for the second straight game and her fourth of the season as the East Stroudsburg native was assisted by Lesh with a pass off the penalty corner
- Supey notched six saves while finishing her career 52-7 overall to go along with a school record 17 solo shutouts
- The Golden Bears finished with a slim edge in shots (17-12), shots on goal (8-6) and penalty corners (7-6)
- 39th-year head coach Sandy Miller, who has led ESU to all five NCAA Division II title appearances remained at 497 career victories and will continue her to 500 career wins in 2024
- The Warriors moved to 9-9 all-time in the Division II Tournament and 2-3 in the title game
- Sunday's game was just the fourth time since 1998 that two teams from the PSAC faced each other for the national championship (SHIP defeated ESU in 2018, SHIP defeated WCU in 2021, ESU defeated SHIP in 2022)
How It Happened
2:17 | The Warriors converted the game's first penalty corner as Lesh inserted the pass to Parker at the top of the circle, who proceeded to unleash a rocket into the back of the cage
43:18 | Kutztown took advantage of ESU being two players down following a pair of yellow cards as Buchman cleaned up a rebound to tie the game at 1-1
51:27 | The Golden Bears took the lead at 2-1 a little more than six minutes into the fourth quarter when an initial shot that went wide landed on the stick of McGehee, who was able to shovel in the game-winning goal
