Field Hockey Advances to ECAC
Championship
WILKES BARRE, Pa. (11/15/08) - Junior
Brittany Gibbs (West Deptford, N.J.) scored twice
and senior Katie McGee (Cherry Hill, N.J.) had
three assists to lead the Kean University field hockey team to a
4-3 victory over Wilkes University and advance the Cougars to the
Eastern College Athletic Conference Mid-Atlantic Tournament
Championship Game.
The third-seeded Cougars (16-5) broke the school record for wins
in season with their 16th victory, while the
second-seeded Lady Colonels finish the season 18-4.
Kean will host #4 Catholic University, a 1-0 overtime winner
over top-seeded William Paterson University, for the title on
Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. It is the second time in four
years the Cougars will play for the ECAC Mid-Atlantic Championship.
Gibbs got the Cougars on the board just seven minutes into the
game, scoring off the tip-in from McGee following a penalty
corner.
The Cougars increased the advantage to 2-0 less than six minutes
later when freshman Olivia Triano (Keyport,
N.J.) (pictured right) scored off the assist from
McGee at 12:26.
Just 27 seconds into the second half, Gibbs scored off of
McGee's third assist of the contest as the Cougars extended the
lead to 3-0.
Wilkes got on the board just three minutes later when senior
Devon McKay (Secane, Pa.) scored off a penalty stroke.
The Cougars pushed the lead back out to three goals, as senior
Stephanie Cirino (Warminster, Pa.) scored off a
rebound to give the Cougars a 4-1 lead with 23:11 remaining in the
game.
With less than 20 minutes remaining, the Lady Colonels pulled to
within 4-2 as McKay and centered a pass from the right sideline
that was redirected by freshman Amanda Peters (Catasaqua,
Pa.) to freshman Lindsey Raleigh (Toms River, N.J.)
for the goal with 19:01 remaining.
The Lady Colonels were awarded another penalty stroke with just
54 seconds remaining that McKay converted to put the final score at
4-3.
In goal, sophomore Ashlie Berghold (Boyertown,
Pa.) made two saves in the victory, as the Cougars held a
15-11 edge in shots and a 13-11 advantage in penalty corners.
