GAFFNEY, S.C. – The No. 7-seeded Saint Anselm field hockey team will face No. 3-seeded East Stroudsburg University in the semifinal round of the NCAA Tournament. The match is scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 22, at Saints Field, in Gaffney South Carolina.

HOW TO FOLLOW:

• The match will be broadcast on NCAA.com.
• Live stats will be available at GoLimestoneSaints.com.
• Tickets will be available at NCAA.com.

SETTING THE STAGE

• The Saint Anselm College field hockey team, ranked No. 8 nationally by the National Field Hockey Coaches' Association, is set to face the third-seeded Warriors from East Stroudsburg University on Friday, Nov. 22, at Limestone University in the NCAA Division II Semifinals.
• In NCAA First Round play, the seventh-seeded Hawks are coming off a dramatic 3-2 overtime victory against the second-seeded Greyhounds of Assumption University—a team that had recently handed Saint Anselm back-to-back shutout losses in a span of eight days.
• Saint Anselm's regular season ended with a narrow 1-0 loss to Assumption on Saturday, Nov. 2. The Hawks then fell 3-0 to the fourth-ranked Greyhounds in the Northeast-10 Conference Championship game on Sunday, Nov. 10.
• Both Saint Anselm and Assumption have faced off in each of the past three NCAA First Round games, with the Hawks' recent victory ending a two-game losing streak to the Greyhounds. Notably, Assumption entered the game riding a 16-game winning streak in 2024, and 12 of the last 13 match-ups between the two teams were decided by just one goal.

LAST TIME OUT
• Trailing 2-0 for the first 43 minutes of Saturday's NCAA postseason opener, the Saint Anselm College field hockey team mounted an incredible comeback, scoring three unanswered goals to secure a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory against the host Greyhounds.
• Senior Amanda Lewandowski (Franklin, Mass.) started the rally with a goal late in the third quarter, narrowing the deficit to 2-1 with just 1:07 remaining in the period. Senior Maddie Davis (Exeter, N.H.) then tied the game with just over 10 minutes left in regulation.
• After a scoreless first overtime, junior Millie Forster (Cholmondeley, Cheshire, England) delivered the game-winning goal just 2:24 into the second overtime period, sending the Hawks to the NCAA semifinals.
• The game's momentum shifted dramatically as the Hawks, out-shot 7-2 in the first half, dominated the second half with 20 shots while limiting the Greyhounds to just four.
• Senior goalkeeper Sidney Falterer (Fairfield, Conn.) anchored the defense, earning the win with six saves on eight shots.

SCOUTING SAINT ANSELM
• Saint Anselm has compiled a 16-6 (.714) record to date as the team is a perfect 13-0 when scoring first and leading after the first half of play in 2024. Saint Anselm last lost when scoring first on Nov. 18, 2022 against Adelphi in the NE10 Semifinals. The last loss for the Hawks when leading at halftime was against Bellarmine on Aug. 31, 2018, a span of 129 games.
• The Hawks rank second nationally in penalty corners per game (10.82) and fifth in goals per game (3.14). Saint Anselm has tallied 10 or more penalty corners in 11 games this season and set single-season program records in shots attempted (457) and shots on goal (315) in 2024.
• The Hawks have also struck quickly, scoring within the first 90 seconds of play four times in 2024. Lewandowski netted the fastest goal of the season, scoring 32 seconds into a Sept. 18 game against Saint Michael's.
• When playing at Grappone Stadium, the Hawks have won 85 of their last 100 games dating back to the start of the 2015 season. While on the road during that same time frame, the Hawks still boast a respectable 61-26 record and have produced 10 wins in 13 road games this season.
• Under Head Coach Carolyn King-Robitaille, the Hawks have posted a 167-76 (.687) record and have won at least 14 games in each of the last nine full seasons of play. Prior to her arrival on the Hilltop, the Hawks were a combined 49-139 (.261) since the team's modern-day inception in 2001.
• With their victory over Assumption in the NCAA postseason opener, the Hawks have moved above .500 as a program for the first time since their inaugural modern-day season. Saint Anselm began that campaign with six wins in their first 10 games but fell to an even .500 record following a 4-2 home loss to Bryant on Oct. 16, 2001—a mark they would not rise back above until Saturday's triumph.
• Among active NCAA Division II coaches with at least 100 games coached, King-Robitaille ranks third with a .687 winning percentage behind only Shippensburg's Tara Zollinger (118-24, .831) and West Chester's Amy Cohen (247-112-1, .688).

MEET THE HAWKS
• A trio of Hawks seniors earned First Team All-Conference honors, including Davis, Grace Michael (Hampton Falls, N.H.), and Lewandowski. Saint Anselm has had three NE10 First Team picks in each of the last three seasons.
• Davis is presently ranked fourth in the NE10 in goals per game (0.59) and is averaging 1.18 points per tilt, ranking in the top 15 of the conference. She has recorded a career-high 13 goals this season and has matched her career high with 26 points on the season.
• Davis has compiled 98 career points via 36 goals and 26 assists in a career that began during the 2020-21 academic year. The program's all-time leader in career points per game (1.18), Davis has produced 36 goals for the Hawks and trails Hannah Friend '20, the team's record-holder for career goal scoring, by just one.
• With 26 career assists, Davis ranks second all-time behind Friend's four-season total of 27.
• Lewandowski leads the Hawks with 31 points this season, scoring a career-high 11 goals this season while ranking eighth in the conference with 0.41 assists per game. Lewandowski matched the program record for points in a game with seven earlier this season against Saint Michael's, scoring three goals and adding an assist.
• With 85 career points in just 75 games, Lewandowski ranks third all-time in career point scoring for Saint Anselm.
• Michael, last season's NE10 Defensive Player of the Year, has helped the Hawks to a 1.46 team goals-against average in 2024. In 2023, Michael earned First Team All-America honors from the NFHCA after earning the league's top defensive honor, the fourth in Saint Anselm history to be so recognized.
• Forster captured Second Team All-NE10 honors after the regular season and has scored four goals with five assists for 13 points (4-5=13) while first-years Ruby Reid (Fitchburg, Mass.) and Maggie McCready (Canton, Mass.) collected All-Rookie Team nods from the conference.
• Reid tallied four goals and two assists in her first year with the Hawks, seeing action in 14 games this season, while McCready saw action in 13 games this year for Saint Anselm at midfield and defense.
• Falterer has started all 22 games this season, earning 15 wins. A start against East Stroudsburg on Friday would set the program record for starts in a single season with 23.

ABOUT SAINT ANSELM
• The Saint Anselm field hockey team is one of just two varsity sports in College history to play for a National Championship, doing so in 2019 - the Hawks fell to top-ranked West Chester by a 2-1 margin in the championship tilt. The Hawks softball program, despite playing in the snowy East Region of the United States, made it all the way to the best-of-three championship series in 2018, falling to Southern Indiana in two games.
• Including the NCAA First Round victory last time out, the Hawks are 3-6 in NCAA postseason play since 2016, with a First Round win over Stonehill that year and a semifinal victory in 2019 when Emily Bevens '21 scored on a penalty stroke in double-overtime against East Stroudsburg sent Saint Anselm to the championship game.
• Limestone takes over hosting duties from Saint Anselm, who was awarded the privilege for the entire National Championship in 2023, the first such honor bestowed on any Hawks sports team in the College's history.

LAST TIME OUT vs. EAST STROUDSBURG
• Earlier this season, East Stroudsburg cruised past Saint Anselm with a 6-0 victory on Friday, Sept. 6. The Warriors were highly efficient, scoring six goals on just eight shots on target, while limiting the Hawks to seven shot attempts—all of which came during the third quarter.
• Falterer made one save but conceded five goals before being replaced by sophomore Mackenzie Wehrum (Garden City, N.Y.), who made her collegiate debut in relief. Wehrum allowed one goal on two shots faced.

ALL-TIME vs. EAST STROUDSBURG
• Saint Anselm and East Stroudsburg first met in the semifinals of the 2019 NCAA Division II National Championship, where the Hawks claimed a thrilling 1-0 double-overtime victory. The game was decided by a penalty stroke goal from Bevens, securing Saint Anselm's NCAA Division II record 20th shutout win of the season.
• Since then, the teams have faced off during the regular seasons in 2021, 2022, and 2023, with East Stroudsburg holding a decisive edge. The Warriors have outscored the Hawks 10-1 over those three games, and Saint Anselm has been held scoreless in each of the last two match-ups.

A LOOK AHEAD: 
The winner of Friday's semifinal game will face the winner of the Shippensburg/Kutztown game in the championship game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
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