Millersville Slated First on PSAC Field Hockey Preseason Poll
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2014 PSAC Field Hockey Preseason Information
Lock Haven, Pa. – Backed by eight first-place votes, defending PSAC champion Millersville was selected by the league’s head coaches to repeat as the conference champion on the 2014 PSAC field hockey preseason poll.
Last fall Millersville captured its first conference title since 1986 with a 1-0 victory over Shippensburg. The Marauders earned the program’s first ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament and fell in the semifinals to eventual national champion Shippensburg. 2014 marks the first time the Marauders have been ranked atop the PSAC preseason poll. Millersville led Division II in shutouts last season with 12 thanks to PSAC Championship Most Valuable Player
Lauren Sotzin. Sotzin will anchor a 2014 defense that allowed just one goal at home and a league-low 17 goals in 2013.
West Chester received one first-place vote and ranks second on the preseason poll. The Golden Rams finished the 2013 season making their third straight NCAA Division II playoff appearance, as the Rams took the national title in both 2011 and 2012. West Chester will look to
Alayna Brown, who is the team’s top returning scorer with 11 goals and three assists last season.
Defending NCAA Division II national champion Shippensburg was granted two first-place votes and finished third on the preseason poll. The Raiders’ NCAA national title is the first for Shippensburg in any sport in school history. Shippensburg has reached the NCAA Tournament every year since 2003. Shippensburg lost its four top scorers from last season due to graduation and has not been ranked as low as third on the preseason poll since 2007.
No. 4 Bloomsburg holds the most PSAC Championship titles of any other PSAC institution with 18 and has also appeared in the NCAA postseason for a league-high 20 years. The Huskies finished 2013 fourth in the league standings with a 13-7 overall record, as they made their 12th straight PSAC tournament appearance.
Separated by just three points in the voting, East Stroudsburg edged IUP for the No. 5 slot. Both IUP and East Stroudsburg finished the 2013 season with matching 8-11 overall and 5-5 PSAC records. East Stroudsburg returns All-PSAC First Team forward
Ally Roth, who led the conference with 21 goals and 47 points in 2013.
Kutztown clinched the seventh spot, while Slippery Rock finished in eighth. Rounding out the poll is No. 9 Mercyhurst, No. 10 Mansfield and No. 11 Seton Hill.
Listed below is the preseason PSAC field hockey coaches’ poll. First-place votes are in parenthesis.
1. Millersville (8)
2. West Chester (1)
3. Shippensburg (2)
4. Bloomsburg
5. East Stroudsburg
6. IUP
7. Kutztown
8. Slippery Rock
9. Mercyhurst
10. Mansfield
11. Seton Hill