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NCAA Division II Field Hockey Central


UMass Lowell received the No. 1 seed and will host the 2012 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championship Friday, Nov. 9 and Sunday Nov. 11 at Cushing Field.

The River Hawks (18-3), who have hosted the Championship three times (2003, 2004 and 2007), will meet No. 2 Merrimack Friday at 4:00 while Shippensburg, who received the No. 1 seed in the South Region, battles No. 2 West Chester (17-2), the 2011 NCAA Champion.

Merrimack defeated No. 3 Bentley in the North quarterfinal, 3-2, while West Chester defeated No. 3 Indiana in the South, 5-2.

On Saturday, Nov. 10, UMass Lowell will also host the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II North-South Senior All-Star Game.

“We are super-excited to host,” said head coach Shannon Hlebichuk. “With the NCAA Championship and the Senior All-Star Game, it's going to be a great weekend of field hockey. We are very excited to showcase our University.”

The bid marks UMass Lowell's 10^th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The River Hawks won the title in 2005 and 2010 and have been to the NCAA Championship match seven times, including the last five years.

“The NCAA Tournament is another new season,” Hlebichuk explained. “We know in each tournament you can go one-and-done. We are looking at ourselves as 0-0 going into it.”

UMass Lowell (18-3) is fresh off its third straight Northeast-10 Tournament Championship in which it defeated Merrimack 1-0 on Sunday. The victory was the 199^th for Hlebichuk (199-49 over 11 seasons, .802), who is the winningest active coach in Division II.

“We just played hard and smart field hockey over the last two weeks, and it's just so amazing our players were recognized for the body of their work,” Hlebichuk said. “There is no question that this is the reward for the way we played the last week, avenging two regular season losses and winning the NE-10 Championship.”

UMass Lowell and Merrimack split two meetings this season. The Warriors won the regular season clash, 2-1, in Lowell on Oct. 16 before the River Hawks captured the rematch in the NE-10 title game Sunday.

UMass Lowell also has a history with West Chester and Shippensburg. The Rams trumped UMass Lowell, 2-1, in last year's NCAA title game in Bloomsburg, Pa., while the River Hawks defeated Shippensburg, 1-0, for the 2010 championship in Louisville, Ky.
 
 
2012 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Tournament
 
Semifinal – Friday, Nov. 9
No. 1 Shippensburg vs. West Chester (1:00)
No. 1 UMass Lowell vs. Merrimack (4:00)
 
NFHCA Division II North-South Senior All-Star Game
Saturday, 2:00
 
Championship
Sunday, Nov. 11 (1:00)