DELAWARE BLANKS DREXEL TO WIN CAA FIELD HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP
#2 Delaware 1, #1 Drexel 0
Box Score
PHILADELPHIA
- Junior forward Amanda McCardell's goal with 43 seconds left in the first half
of Sunday's CAA Field Hockey Championship proved to be the game-winning tally,
as the second-ranked Delaware Blue Hens defeated the top-seeded Drexel Dragons
1-0 in the championship game at Buckley Field.
The Blue
Hens (14-5) held the top-scoring offense that averaged 3.84 goals per match to
no goals for the first time since Nov. 3, 2007 (40 matches), when the Dragons
fell to James Madison 3-0 in the conference semifinals.
One week
ago, Drexel took down the Blue Hens 4-2 in Newark, Del. to earn home-field
advantage for the championship.
With the
game scoreless and inside a minute from halftime, senior forward Casey Howard
found Amanda McCardell on a two-on-one for the lone goal of the match.
Howard
was named the Most Outstanding Player of the championship after tallying two
assists in the team's two victories this weekend. She is currently seconds in
the league with 22 goals.
In the
second half, Drexel kept the pressure on, outshooting Delaware 14-2 and held an
8-1 lead on penalty corners.
Sophomore
goalkeeper Noelle Diana posted her league-high fourth shutout of the season
after making 12 saves on the afternoon, including seven in the second stanza.
Drexel (18-3)
kept the pressure on the Hens defense, with three penalty corners in the final
ten minutes.
Drexel
had a 22-4 advantage on total shots, and had 12 shots on goal to Delaware's
three. This was the first game this season both junior forwards Susan Ciufo and
Christina Mastropaolo were held scoreless this season.
Following
the championship, the CAA All-Tournament team was announced. Joining Howard
were teammates Kim Schlezes, Rae Everson and Noelle Diana. For Drexel, Susan
Ciufo, Carolina Gibernau, and Kim Tunell were honored. JMU's Kelsey Cutchins
and Tara King and Hofstra's Amy-Lee Levey and Genna Kovar were also named to
the team.
This is
Delaware's second CAA championship and first since 2004.
The 16 team
field for the 2009 NCAA Tournament will be announced Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 8 p.m.
and will be shown on NCAA.com.
The
first and second rounds will take place at campus sites on Nov. 14-15 with the
final four and national championship game being held on Nov. 20 and 22 at Wake
Forest's Kettner Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C.
CAA
All-Tournament Team
|
Susan
Ciufo
|
F
|
Drexel
|
|
Kelsey
Cutchins
|
GK
|
James
Madison
|
|
Noelle
Diana
|
GK
|
Delaware
|
|
Rae
Everson
|
B
|
Delaware
|
|
Carolina
Gibernau
|
MF
|
Drexel
|
|
Casey
Howard
|
F
|
Delaware
|
|
Tara
King
|
B
|
James
Madison
|
|
Genna
Kovar
|
MF
|
Hofstra
|
|
Amy-Lee
Levey
|
F
|
Hofstra
|
|
Kim
Schlezes
|
F/MF
|
Delaware
|
|
Kim
Tunell
|
B
|
Drexel
|