| Big Ten Coach of the Year Char Morett has already led Penn State to a Big Ten title this season, and will be looking for more success in the postseason. |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. November 8, 2005 - The NCAA released its Field Hockey Championship bracket Tuesday evening, and Penn State will face American University in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, Nov. 12. The game will begin at either 11 a.m. or 2 p.m. and will be hosted by the University of Maryland. The Terps will square off against the University of Richmond in the other game, and the winners of both contests will meet at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Sixteen teams participate in the NCAA Tournament, but only the top four teams are seeded. Maryland is the overall No. 1 seed, Wake Forest was awarded the No. 2 seed, Duke is the No. 3 seed and Old Dominion is the overall No. 4 seed.
Four Big Ten teams made the NCAA Tournament, including Ohio State, Michigan and Indiana. The Buckeyes are also a host site, and will face Old Dominion in the first round. Boston and Michigan will square off in the other game at that site. Princeton is the third host site and will face Duke. Uconn and Boston University will also play at that site. The final host site is Wake Forest, which will face Cal in the first round. Indiana and North Carolina will be the other game.
Penn State (17-3) is coming off a record-setting year. The Nittany Lions won a program-record 17 straight games, went a perfect 10-0 in their inaugural season at brand-new Astroturf Field, and captured their fourth Big Ten Championship with an unblemished 6-0 mark in Conference play. Head Coach Char Morett also won her 300th game at the University, which came on a 5-0 victory at Temple on Sept. 14.
The Nittany Lions are led by Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year Natalie Berrena (State College, Pa.) who has nine goals and seven assists for 25 points on the year. Shaun Banta (Gibbsboro, N.J.) leads the team in goals with 16, and finished the regular season second in the Big Ten in that category. Annelise Legel (Morgantown, Pa.) has 14 goals, and is tied for tops on the team with Banta in points, with 33. All-Big Ten midfielder Kiersten Wood (Lititz, Pa.) is Penn State's top set-up player, and leads the squad in assists, with eight.
Defensively, the Lions are anchored by second-team All-Big Ten back Sara Cahill. Cahill has led Penn State to nine shutouts this year, including a string of three straight earlier in the season. Goalkeeper Megan Akstin (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) is allowing just one goal per contest, and has a .792 save percentage.
The NCAA Championship is held in Louisville on Nov. 18 and 20.