COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. - The Ursinus College Field Hockey team will travel to face Scranton in the first round of the 2021 NCAA DIII NCAA Tournament on Wednesday evening.
Tickets: Admission to Wednesday's game is $5 for adults, $3 for students with school IDs and $3 for seniors 62 and older and ticket sales will be cash only.
Live Coverage: The Scranton Sports Information 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).
NCAA Tournament: Ursinus earned one of the at-large bids to the 32-team Division III Field Hockey Tournament. Meanwhile, the Royals earned an automatic qualifier berth to the tournament after winning the Landmark Conference title. The winner will travel to face undefeated Washington & Lee at Rowan on Saturday afternoon in the round of 16.
Records: Ursinus enters the tournament with a 13-5 overall record and finished Centennial play with a mark of 8-2. The Bears enter the NCAA Tournament having won four of their last five games. Meanwhile, the Royals finished their regular season with a 17-1 overall record and a 6-1 mark in Landmark Conference action. Scranton has won four-straight games after losing its lone game of the season thus far to Moravian.
Scouting the Bears: Ursinus ranks second in the Centennial Conference at 3.4 goals per game and rank third in shots per game at 15.6. Four Bears were recently named to the All-Centennial Conference team, led by first team selections Junior Jordan Moore, and senior Devon Carroll. Moore sits in the top five in the Centennial with 14 goals and 31 points on the season. Carroll continued her steady play with 16 points behind five goals and six assists. Senior Jamie Mayer earned her first All-Centennial selection Mayer after registering a career-high 14 points and eight assists along with scoring three goals. Sophomore Ellie Bruggeman has had a breakout first collegiate season with 24 points which ranks in the top 10 for the Centennial Conference. Senior Erin McIlhenny anchors the Bears defense with seven defensive saves and was named All-Centennial Honorable Mention.
Bears in the Playoffs: The Bears will be making their 13th overall appearance in the Division III Tournament and first since 2016. Ursinus defeated Trinity (Conn.) 2-1 in the second round before falling to Salisbury 1-0 in the quarterfinals of the 2016 tournament. Ursinus won the 2006 National Championship and holds a 21-11 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament.
Scouting the Royals: Scranton won its second-straight Landmark title with a 3-1 victory over Catholic on Saturday afternoon. The Royals feature a dynamic duo on offense with sophomore Katie Redding and senior Allie Benadon. Redding was named Landmark Rookie of the Year after posting 44 points on 17 goals and a new single-season program record 10 assists, and Benadon registered 14 goals and five assists to earn Offensive Player of the Year accolades. Junior goalkeeper Clare Maguire has been dominant in the net for the Royals as she leads all of Division III with a 0.50 goals against average and a save percentage of .870.
The Royals in the Playoffs: The Royals are making their second-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament, and third overall in program history. Scranton was defeated 3-0 by MIT in the first round during the 2019 season. The Royals dropped a 1-0 decision to TCNJ in their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 1997.
Series: This is the first official meeting between the two schools.
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 143-57 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 NCAA Tournament appearances and reached the national semifinals in 2011 and 2015. She has also led the Bears to five CC championships, including four in a row from 2013 to 2016,
Colleen Moyer is in her 16th season as the head coach at Scranton. She was named the head coach of the Royals in 2005 after just wrapping up a stellar collegiate playing career at Drew. Moyer became the program's all-time winningest coach in program history in 2019 and holds a 179-120 career record at Scranton. Moyer led the Royals to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1997 during the 2019 season after winning the program's first Landmark Conference title in its history.
Up Next: The winner will advance to face Washington & Lee in the round of 16 at Rowan University at 2 p.m. on Saturday, November 13th.