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		October 28, 2001 LHU Field Hockey Heading to NCAA Championships

	(Lock Haven, Pa.) - Fresh off Saturday’s Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference tournament victory, the Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania field hockey team has earned a bid to the NCAA Division II National Field Hockey Championships which will run Friday and Sunday, November 2-4, at Bentley College in Waltham, Mass. The Lady Eagles, 20-1, were selected as the first seed from the South region, and will take on the region’s second seed, East Stroudsburg University (15-6), in a semifinal round on Friday evening at 5 p.m.. Host institution Bentley College, (20-1) the top seed in the North region, will face second-seeded St. Michael’s (Vt.) College (14-5) in the other semifinal round game at 8 p.m.. The championship game will be played on Sunday, November 4, at 1 p.m. This will be Lock Haven’s 10^th appearance in the NCAA Division II playoffs. The Lady Eagles have five Division II championship titles on the books, and seven national titles overall (1989 – NCAA Division III, 1981 – AIAW Division II). The 2001 Lady Eagles are led by a trio of returning All-Americans, forwards Shannon Spease (Liverpool/Greenwood) and Erika Grap (Van Etten, N.Y./Spencer-Van Etten) and goalkeeper Tara Beach (Greene, N.Y./Greene). Senior forward Shannon Spease is the PSAC’s leading scorer, pocketing 25 goals and 12 assists for 62 total points. Spease most recently earned PSAC Championship MVP honors after LHU’s 4-0 victory over East Stroudsburg, scoring two goals and assisting on the other two. Junior forward Erika Grap has posted 14 goals and seven assists, and together with senior forward Val George’s (New Oxford/New Oxford) 46 points (19 goals, 8 assists), rounds out a balanced and highly talented attack. Defensively, senior keeper Tara Beach has recorded 12 shutouts this season and has a .250 goals against average. As a unit, the entire LHU defense has allowed an average of only 4.4 shots per game and just six goals all season. In head-to-head competition against NCAA tournament teams, Lock Haven has defeated East Stroudsburg twice (1-0 / 4-0), but has not met up with either Bentley or St. Michael’s.
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