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NCAA Division II Championship Preview: Destiny Calling for Saint Anselm

11/23/2024 6:42:00 PM

GAFFNEY, S.C. – The stage has been set for Sunday's NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championship as defeating Champions No. 4-Seed Kutztown will take on the No. 7-Seed Saint Anselm.
 

HOW TO WATCH:
No. 4 Kutztown and No. 7 Saint Anselm will go head-to-head from Saints Field in Gaffney, South Carolina at 1:00PM EST on Sunday November 24th.
Live Stats: https://www.ncaa.com/sports/fieldhockey/d2
Live Stream: https://www.ncaa.com/sports/fieldhockey/d2
 

SETTING THE STAGE:
  • The Saint Anselm College field hockey team, ranked No. 8 nationally by the National Field Hockey Coaches' Association, is playing to win the institution's first National Championship in any sport on Sunday, Nov. 24. This marks the Hawks' first return to the National Championship game since 2019.
  • The seventh-seeded Hawks are set to take on the No. 4-seeded Golden Bears from Kutztown University at 1 p.m. on the campus of Limestone University in the NCAA Division II National Championship game.
  • The Hawks toppled the third-seeded Warriors from East Stroudsburg University on Friday by a 3-0 margin in the NCAA Semifinals. Saint Anselm scored one goal in the first period and tucked home two more in the fourth period to capture the victory.
  • In the NCAA First Round, Saint Anselm posted a dramatic 3-2 overtime victory against the second-seeded Greyhounds of Assumption University, snapping the team's 16-game winning streak in the process.
  • Kutztown opened the season with a convincing 4-0 home victory against Saint Anselm on Thursday, Sept. 5. The Golden Bears controlled the game with 15 shots on goal while holding the Hawks without a single shot, also earning 13 of the game's 18 penalty corners.

LAST TIME OUT:
  • Senior Maddie Davis (Exeter, N.H.) reached 100 career points for Saint Anselm. She scored the game-winning goal 12:18 into play, assisted by junior Millie Forster (Cholmondeley, Cheshire, England).
  • The second shot on goal for Saint Anselm found its way into the cage as sophomore Laurentien van den Akker (Geldrop, The Netherlands) blasted home a shot at the top of the circle off a leftward pass from senior Chloe Kapsambelis (Merrimack, N.H.) only 2:23 into the fourth quarter.
  • Senior Stephanie Sutton-Brown (Ashby, Mass.) scored the game's third and final goal just 48 seconds later. Sophomore Meghan Smith (Uxbridge, Mass.) picked up an assist on the play.
  • The Hawks placed three shots on net and scored on each of them.
  • East Stroudsburg earned six penalty corners as opposed to just three for Saint Anselm.
  • Senior goalkeeper Sidney Falterer (Fairfield, Conn.) made five saves in the shutout victory, setting the single-season program record with 23 starts in net.
  • Saint Anselm secured its first NCAA regulation win since defeating Stonehill 3-1 in the First Round on Nov. 12, 2016.

SCOUTING SAINT ANSELM:
  • Saint Anselm has compiled an 17-6 (.714) record to date as the team is a perfect 14-0 when scoring first and leading after the first half of play in 2024. The Hawks last lost after scoring first on Nov. 18, 2022, in the NE10 Semifinals against Adelphi. The last loss for the Hawks when leading at halftime was against Bellarmine on Aug. 31, 2018, a span of 129 games.
  • The Hawks entered the NCAA Semifinals ranked 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 (458) and shots on goal (318) in 2024.
  • The Hawks have also struck quickly, scoring within the first 90 seconds of play four times in 2024. Amanda Lewandowski (Franklin, Mass.) 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 11 wins in 14 road or neutral-site games this season.
  • Under Head Coach Carolyn King-Robitaille, the Hawks have posted a 168-76 (.689) 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 second with a .6885 winning percentage, passing West Chester's Amy Cohen (247-112-1, .6875) with Friday's NCAA Semifinals win. Both coaches trail Shippensburg's Tara Zollinger (118-24, .831).
 
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.
  • With 37 career goals and 26 career assists, Davis is just the second student-athlete in team history with 100 career points. Hannah Friend '20 holds the program's all-time record of 101 points (37-27=101), accomplished in 87 games for the Hawks. Davis has played in 84 games entering Sunday's National Championship.
  • Davis and Friend are tied for first in program history with 37 goals. Davis needs one more assist to tie Friend's all-time program record of 27 assists.
  • Davis is presently ranked third in the NE10 in goals per game (0.61) and is averaging 1.26 points per tilt, ranking in the top 15 of the conference. She has recorded a career-high 14 goals this season and has exceeded her career high with 29 points on the season
  • Lewandowski leads the Hawks with 31 points this season, scoring a career-high 11 goals while ranking eighth in the conference with 0.39 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 76 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 1.43 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 six assists for 14 points (4-6=14) 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 15 games this season, while McCready saw action in 13 games this year for Saint Anselm at midfield and defense.
  • Falterer has started all 23 games this season, earning 16 wins. Across a four-year career on the Hilltop, Falterer has produced a 19-7 overall record and a 1.53 goals-against average.
  • Rayfield has reached 20 points (9-2=20) this season after eclipsing a personal-best figure of 12 points (4-4=12) a season ago.
  • van den Akker has reached double-digits in points (4-2=10) for the first time in her career. Last season, she produced a goal and an assist for three points (1-1=3) in the same number of games (22).
  • Davis, Lewandowski, Falterer, Michael, Kapsambelis, senior Abby Breznyak (Oakland, Maine), and senior Sarah Woods (Belfast, Maine) can each set single-season program records for games played (24) with an appearance on Sunday against Kutztown.

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, first 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 Semifinals victory last time out, the Hawks are 4-6 in NCAA postseason play since 2016.
  • In 2023, Saint Anselm hosted the National Championship—the first such honor for any Hawks sports team. This year, Limestone takes over hosting duties.
 
ALL-TIME vs. KUTZTOWN:
  • Including the 4-0 victory over Saint Anselm earlier this season, Kutztown owns a 2-1 record against the Hawks in program history.
  • Saint Anselm used four different goal scorers to come away with a 4-3 win at Kutztown on Sept. 6, 2014, in the first meeting, but the Golden Bears blanked the Hawks by a 2-0 score on Sept. 3, 2016.
 
DII FIELD HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP PREDICTION:
  • Last year we saw DII field hockey history as Kutztown won its first-ever national championship. While there is a strong history of repeat national champions in the sport, this seems to feel like destiny may be calling for St. Anselm.
  • First of all, the PSAC has won 12 DII field hockey national championships in a row. Sometimes you throw logic out the window and wonder if going for No. 13 in a row may be a little unlucky and further enhance St. Anselm's fate. Secondly, a simple look at the stats shows St. Anselm is (again, statistically) stronger across the board, leading Kutztown in just about every category.
  • The Hawks were in the championship game in 2019 but lack the experience Kutztown is bringing to the table. Still, the Hawks just shut out the seventh-best scoring team in DII — and they should be riding a ton of momentum. Give me St. Anselm to take home the program's first title. 
 
Prediction: St. Anselm 3, Kutztown 1 (Wayne Cavadi)
 
 
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