NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – While the location may have shifted to the southern end of Virginia, some of the names remain the same in the 2010 Division III Field Hockey Championship semifinals.
One of those teams, Ursinus, will be making its third straight appearance in the semifinals and while the surroundings will be Christopher Newport University, the opponent across the field will be a carbon copy of 2009.
The Bears will face off against top-ranked Messiah at 11 a.m. Saturday, with a berth in the title game on the line. Ursinus, ranked number two with a 20-1 mark, gets to face the team that gave them their lone blemish on their record back on September 3. The Falcons defeated Ursinus way back on September 3 by a 4-2 score at Eleanor Frost Snell.
While September 3 seems so long ago, the Bears will be looking for the first win over Messiah since 2006. Back then, the national championship was on the line in northern New York.
In order for Ursinus to advance to the title game, which will feature either Bowdoin on Skidmore, the Bears will have to shut down a Messiah team which allows on average less than one goal per game. Ursinus has the most potent offense in Division III, scoring close to six goals per game.
Ursinus is led by junior forward Alyssa Thren. Thren, a first-team All-Centennial selection, set the Centennial Conference record for goals in a career with 73 back in late October. Defensively, the Bears are led by senior defender Lindsey Doutt, who was also f irst-team All-Centennial selection and has led the Bears to 1.05 goals against average in 21 games. Thren has 78 points this season with 34 of them coming on goals.
One of the story angles of this game is Thren and Doutt are trying to join their sisters as national champions, and Nikki Thren and Allison Doutt were on the 2006 team that won it all.
Messiah, who is 18-2 overall and won the Middle Atlantic Conference championship, is led by senior midfielder Julie Barton. Barton, the 2010 Commonwealth Conference Co-Player of the Year, had 38 points this season. Senior forward Kourtney Ehly led the Falcons with 47 points.
The play of the goalkeepers will be important as well, as senior LauraLee Lightwood-Mater has 67 saves, and she will face off against Messiah freshman goalkeeper Kayleigh Stewart who has a 15-1 record and 48 saves with a 0.75 goals against average.
Another story angle that has come into play is this weekend serves as the finale of head coach Laura Moliken's career. Moliken, who has 182 wins and a school best .855 winning percentage, will step aside this weekend after 12 years at the helm to serve Ursinus as full-time athletic director.
It's fitting that Moliken's coaching career comes to a finale this weekend in Newport News, as she spent four years as a member of the Old Dominion University field hockey team across the bay in Norfolk. The 2010 Centennial Conference Coach of the Year, Moliken will finish her career third all-time in wins in the history of the program at Ursinus.