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By SIUC Women’s Sports Information Seven regional champions, in cluding top-ranked Penn State and perennially powerful San Jose State, head the field for the 1980 United States Collegiate Field Hockey Championships to be played Wednesday through Satur day at Southern Illinois University- Carbondale. The national championship, spon sored by the Association for Inter collegiate Athletics for Women and recognized by the United States Field Hockey Association, will fea ture 16 AIAW Division I schools vying for the national crown that last year was won by Cal State Beach. Favorites for the single elimi nation, consolation tournament in clude: Penn State (18-0-2), San Jose State (15-1-0), Ursinus College of Philadelphia (14-3-4), and Con necticut (13-2-6). Other contenders include Davis Elkins College of West Virginia (14 0), St. Louis University (18-3-3), William Mary (14-2-1), New (13-1-3)and Cal State- Long Beach (13-3-2). Cal-Berkeley (7-7-1), Old Domin ion (14-3), Iowa (19-5-1), Washing ton State (11-65), Delaware (9-5-2), Miami of Ohio (17-6-1), and host SIUC (12-8-2) round out the field. The tournament opens Wednes day with four contests slated simul taneously on McAndrew Stadium’s Astroturf and Wham Field’s grass, beginning at 8 a.m., 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. Key first-round match ups include St. Louis vs. Davis Elkins, William Mary vs. New Hampshire in the upper bracket, and Connecticut vs. Old Dominion, Delaware vs. Iowa in the lower bracket. Quarterfinals and first-round con solation tilts will be played the same times Thursday. Semifinals and second- and third-round con solation games will occur Friday, while the third-place game (8 a.m.) and champioship finals (10 a.m.) are scheduled for Saturday. Penn State and San Jose State probably rank a notch ahead of Connecticut and Ursinus as co-fa vorites for this year’s championship. The Nittany Lions return eight starters from last year’s team, which dropped a 2-0 title-game de cision to Cal State-Long Beach at. Heading the list of veteran stand outs is senior goalie Jeannie Fissi nger, who has allowed only four goals while posting 16 shutouts in 20 contests this season. Fissinger, the 1980 U.S. Olympic tender, was the difference in PSU’s 1-0 triumph over rival Ur sinus in the Region 1B finals at Col lege Park, Md. Ranked No. 1 nationally in the USFHA field hockey poll through out 1980, Penn State has not lost since last year’s 2-0 defeat in the national finals. However, this sea son the Nittany Lions have been tied by Connecticut (1-1) and Ohio State (1-1). Penn State and Cal State-Long Beach appear headed for a second round showdown, providing Miami of Ohio and Washington State do not pull upsets in the opening round. Connecticut looms as PSU’s most serious challenger in the lower bracket. The Huskies come to Car bondale fresh from impressive wins over Massachusetts (2-1) and New Hampshire (2-0) — the nation’s sec ond-ranked squads, according to the Nov. 4 USFHA poll. Connecticut, the newly crowned Region 1A champion, is led offensi vely by U.S. national team member Lauren Fuchs and junior forward Mary Taylor. The latter tallied a tournament-leading four goals in Region 1A action recently at Springfield, Mass., while defensive back Joanne Poirer chipped in with a marker and two flicks. San Jose State, ranked No. 3 na tionally most of 1980, appears primed to gain the championship fi nals through the upper bracket. The Spartans — top-eight finish ers in the previous three AIAW na tional tourneys — upended Cal State-Long Beach three times this year. Although, San Jose State pre vailed 3-1 in their last matchup with the 49ers, the game cost them the use of 1979 All American and Broderick Award winner Pommy MacFarlane. MacFarlane, long acclaimed the nation’s premier stickhandler, went down with a knee injury in the first two minutes of the regional final and will be sidelined for the re mainder of the season. Freshman forward Jeannie Gil bert sparkled for the MacFarlane less Spartans with a pair of break away goals in the recent win over Long Beach. San Jose State’s lone setback this year was to Chico State in mid-season. Davis Elkins, St. Louis U, Wil liam Mary and Ursinus stand in the way of San Jose’s national title bid. Ursinus, a three-time national runner-up (1975, 76, 77), will seek to add to its field hockey heritage be hind twin scoring threats: Laurie Holmes (15 goals), a second team All-American last year, and junior Traci Davis (14 goals). Penn State Photo Penn State goalie Jeannie Fissinger has allowed just 4 goals in 20 games this season
Newspaper Details
Southern Illinoisan
Carbondale, Illinois, US
Tue, Nov 18, 1980
Page 13
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