COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. - The No. 13 Ursinus College Field Hockey team will host Dickinson in the semifinals round of the Centennial Conference Tournament on Friday evening at 6 p.m.
Tickets: No Tickets are required for Centennial Conference Championship Tournaments
Live Coverage: The Ursinus Athletic Communications office will provide live video and live stats for the game. Live updates will also be available throughout the game on the official Twitter feed for Ursinus athletics (@UCathletics).
Centennial Conference Tournament: Ursinus is the No. 2 seed in the Centennial Conference Tournament and Dickinson is the No. 3 seed. Johns Hopkins earned the No. 1 seed after an unbeaten regular season and will host No. 4 Swarthmore in the other semifinal matchup on Friday. The winners will meet at Homewood Field in Baltimore on Saturday night at 7 p.m. The game will be hosted by Johns Hopkins even if the Blue Jays are defeated by the Garnet.
Records: Ursinus enters the tournament with a 13-4 overall record and finished Centennial play with a mark of 8-2. The Bears are entering the tournament on a four-game winning streak and finished second in the Centennial standings. Meanwhile, the Red Devils finished the regular season with a record of 8-9 overall and a 7-3 mark in Centennial play. Dickinson closed the regular season out with a 5-1 triumph over Washington College on Saturday afternoon.
Scouting the Bears: Ursinus ranks second in the conference at 3.5 goals per game and rank third in shots per game at 15.4. Junior Jordan Moore has paced the Bears offense this season as she sits third in the Centennial with 29 points and is tied for second with 13 goals. Moore scored a career-high three goals against Muhlenberg back on October 6th against Muhlenberg. Sophomore Ellie Bruggeman has been a nice compliment to Moore on offense by ranking fifth in the conference with 24 points. Bruggeman was recently named Centennial Offensive Player of the Week after tallying six points in two wins last week.
Bears in the Playoffs: Ursinus has made the Centennial Conference tournament in all but one season since they began Centennial play in 2002. The Bears have won the Centennial Conference 12 times in program history, including eight-straight times from 2004 to 2011. Ursinus last won the Centennial Conference title back in 2016 to complete a run of four-straight championships.
Scouting the Red Devils: Dickinson rallied from a 2-6 start to the season by winning six of their last eight contests. The Red Devils average 1.4 goals per game and have allowed 1.9 goals per game. Senior defender Hannah Spiri has established herself as a top two-way player by leading the team with 15 points behind six goals and three assists. Junior goalkeeper Saige Stevens has posted a 1.78 goals against average in the net this season, and made a season-high nine saves against Ursinus.
The Red Devils in the Playoffs: Dickinson is making its first appearance in the Centennial Conference Tournament since the 2016 season when they were defeated by Ursinus, 5-2. Dickinson won its first-ever Centennial Conference Tournament game in program history by defeating Muhlenberg in the 2015 first round.
Series: The Bears hold a 19-2 edge in the overall series dating back to their first meeting in 2002 after moving from Division I and into the Centennial Conference. The Red Devils snapped a 19-game skid against Ursinus in 2019 with a 3-2 win in Carlisle. The two teams have met twice in the Centennial Tournament with the Bears coming out on top in 2013 and 2016.
Last Meeting: The Red Devils came out on top in the 2021 regular season meeting by a score of 2-0 at Snell Field back on October 16th. Dickinson scored on an untimed penalty corner to end the first quarter before scoring four minutes into the second quarter. Ursinus held sizable advantages in shots and penalty corners but were unable to crack the scoreboard.
Head Coaches: Janelle Benner is in her 10th season as the head coach of Ursinus. Benner started as an associate head coach in 2010 before being promoted the following season in 2011. Benner has compiled a 143-56 overall record and an 82-18 Centennial Conference mark, including a perfect 10-0 standing in the conference in 2014. Benner has led the Bears to five CC championships, including four in a row from 2013 to 2016, and to five NCAA Tournament appearances. Ursinus reached the national semifinals in 2011 and 2015.
Carly Zinn is in her sixth season as the head coach at Dickinson. She served three seasons as the top assistant for the Red Devils from 2010-2013 before moving on to become the head coach at York College. Zinn led the Spartans to a pair of appearances in the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) semifinals before returning to Carlisle in 2016. The Red Devils broke school records for goals, assists and points in the 2016 season under Zinn, and advanced to the Centennial Conference semifinals.
Up Next: The winner will advance to the Centennial Conference Tournament Finals against either No. 4 Swarthmore or No. 1 Johns Hopkins. The championship game will be played at the Blue Jays' Homewood Field in Baltimore at 7 p.m.