STORYLINE
The Bloomsburg University field hockey team looks to get back in the win column this weekend when it hosts Seton Hill on Saturday afternoon and then Frostburg State on Sunday afternoon at Steph Pettit Stadium. All three teams are searching for their first victory of the campaign as the Huskies are 0-4 to start the year while the Griffins are 0-3 and the Bobcats are 0-5 in their first season as a Division II program.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Bloomsburg is 15-0 lifetime against Seton Hill in the all-time series. The two teams met twice last season with the Huskies winning 4-0 at Seton Hill on September 15 and 5-1 in Bloomsburg on the final day of the regular season on November 10. The Huskies clinched the final postseason spot in the PSAC tournament with their win over the Griffins at home.
Tesa Hoffman (Freeburg, Pa./Selinsgrove Area) had three goals and an assist in the 4-0 victory while
Ali McKay (Dover, Del./Polytech) and
Willow Perkins (Bloomsburg, Pa./Central Columbia) each scored twice in the home win.
Bloomsburg and Frostburg State have met one previous time with the Huskies coming away with a 2-1 victory during the 1983 season.
SCOUTING BLOOMSBURG
The Huskies are 0-4 to start the year with the youthful Huskies struggling to find the back of the cage early on. Bloomsburg has scored only two goals through the first four contests - one from sophomore
Foto Tsioles (Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) and the other by freshman
Meghan Longenhagen (Catawissa, Pa./Southern Columbia). Tsioles scored in a 2-1 overtime loss to Bellarmine to open the season while Longenhagen notched her first collegiate tally in a 5-1 loss at #2 West Chester on September 11. Bloomsburg is coming off of a 3-0 home loss to third-ranked East Stroudsburg on Wednesday afternoon. Senior
Rachael Strockbine (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) has the lone assist on the year as she helped Tsioles in the opener. Freshman
Abby Shaffer (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) has started each of the last three games in goal for the Huskies and is 0-3 with a 3.33 goals against average and a .706 save percentage. She leads the PSAC in total saves (24) and saves per game (8.00). Junior
Hannah Barnard (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) started the season opener and turned aside five shots in the loss to Bellarmine.
SCOUTING SETON HILL
The Griffins enter with an 0-3 mark and, like Bloomsburg, have only two goals on the campaign. Seton Hill has dropped contests to Mercyhurst, Mansfield, and IUP, with its most recent setback coming on Wednesday afternoon against the Crimson Hawks where it lost by a 1-0 final. Wynnsome Gadson and Kylie Melnick have scored goals for the Griffins this season while Gadson and Zyah Newsome have been credited with assists. In goal, Elizabeth Armbruster and Emma Jorgensen have split time. Armbruster is 0-0 with a 2.86 goals against average and a .706 save percentage while Jorgensen with 0-2 with a 3.33 goals against average and a .765 save percentage.
SCOUTING FROSTBURG STATE
Frostburg State, which plays against Coker on Saturday, is looking for its first victory as a Division II program as the Bobcats enter the weekend with an 0-5 record on the year. They have played two schools from the PSAC - IUP and Slippery Rock - and dropped 5-1 and 8-0 decisions, respectively. The Bobcats are coming off of a 9-1 loss at Bellarmine on Sunday, September 15. Frostburg State has been outscored, 27-4, and outshot, 117-39, in its five contests to date. Gabby Rachuba and Logan Gladden lead the team with a goal and an assist each for three points apiece. Sam Coffey and Emily Hughes have also scored goals this season. In goal, Sierra Smizer has seen all but 30 minutes and is 0-5 with a 5.56 goals against average and a .667 save percentage. She has turned aside 50 shots in her five starts.
UP NEXT
Bloomsburg opens conference play on Saturday, September 28, when it heads to Shippensburg for a 5:00 p.m. start. The Huskies return home to Steph Pettit Stadium on Wednesday, October 2, against Kutztown at 4:00 p.m.
