WALTHAM, Mass. – Making its first appearance in the NCAA Division II championships in a dozen years, the Bentley University field hockey team will be in Stroudsburg, Pa. this weekend to take on East Stroudsburg University in an NCAA first round game. Game time is set for 1 pm and fans can watch live on the PSAC Sports Digital Network.

The winner will advance to next weekend's championships in Millersville, Pa. and will face top-seeded and undefeated Shippensburg University in the national semifinals on Friday. The national championship game will be two days later.

East Stroudsburg will bring a 15-4 record into the game while Bentley is 14-5 after winning nine of its last ten. The lone Falcon loss since October 1 came in the Falcons' last outing, Nov. 1 against New Haven in the quarterfinals of the Northeast-10 Championships. The two teams played 80 scoreless minutes before the Chargers upended Bentley in a shootout.

Seven Bentley players have started every game this season, including captain and grad student Sam Simione (Cheshire, Conn./Cheshire HS), who has been out there for the opening whistle in 57 straight games. The team's only first-team All-Northeast-10 honoree is second in Division II in defensive saves and has scored five times.

The other fixtures in Coach Jessica Spencer's lineup have been sophomore Emily Crowell (Oakland, Maine/Messalonskee HS), junior Madison Halas (Danbury, Conn./Immaculate HS) and a quartet of seniors: Erin McCool (Amherst, N.H./Souhegan HS), Kaitlyn McGuigan (Nesconset, N.Y./Smithtown East HS), Meghan Moran (North Andover/North Andover HS) and Christine Murray (Walpole/Walpole HS).

Junior Ava Bevilacqua (Dedham/Notre Dame Academy) leads the team in scoring with ten goals and sophomore Katie Thies (Liverpool, N.Y./Cicero North Syracuse HS) follows with seven. Murray and freshman Lida Coco (Litchfield, Conn./Canterbury School) join Simione as Falcons who have put the ball in the net five times.

Goalies for the Falcons are freshman Mia Trottie (Cinnaminson, N.J./Bishop Eustace HS) and junior Madison Clark (Natick/Natick HS). Trottie got the start in the playoff game and has a 1.68 goals against average. Clark has three shutouts and an 0.83 GAA in 12 starts.

East Stroudsburg also was shutout in their conference championship tournament, 2-0 by Millersville, with the loss ending an eight-game winning streak. The Warriors split four games against Northeast-10 opponents this season with wins over Adelphi and Saint Anselm following losses to Stonehill and Assumption.

ESU outscored their opponents 49-15 this season with Celeste Veenstra leading the team in scoring with 10 goals and two assists for 22 points. Hannah Barbush had eight assists and 14 points, and Morgan Mesembrink scored six times.

Amy Supey started every game in goal and posted a 0.84 goals against average and a .773 save percentage. She recorded four shutouts and combined on four others.

This will be the first time these two programs will meet in the NCAA tournament since 2001 when the Falcons, playing on their home turf, captured the national championship with a 4-2 victory.

BENTLEY BRIEFS: Spencer, a former Bentley field hockey captain, is in her 14^th season as head coach at her alma mater and has a 138-111 record. Overall, in 23 seasons as a head coach, she is 185-221 … Bentley has been in the NCAA Division II Championships 14 times and has an all-time record of 10-12. The Falcons last win came against C.W. Post in 2007 and they've been in the national championship game seven times, most recently in 2006 … Bentley is 6-2 all-time against East Stroudsburg with the most recent meeting coming in 2002. In 1996, ESU edged Bentley, 1-0, in the ECAC Division II championship game.