PLYMOUTH, N.H. – For the third consecutive season, the Plymouth State College field hockey team has qualified for the Eastern College Athletic Conference post-season tournament.
The Panthers are the No. 1 seed in the ECAC New England Tournament, and will host eighth-seeded University of Southern Maine in a first round game at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday (Nov. 5) at Arold Field in Plymouth.
PSC finished the regular season with a 15-4 overall record, but fell short of reaching the NCAA National Championship Tournament. The ECAC Tournament bid marks the fifth consecutive season the PSC field hockey team has advanced to the post-season under coach Wynn Hohlt, participating in the NCAA Tournament in ’93 and ’94 and the ECAC Tourney the past two years.
The other first round ECAC games Wednesday include #7 Wellesley at #2 Middlebury, #6 Wesleyan at #3 Tufts, and #5 Amherst at #4 Keene State. The four first-round winners will meet for the semi-finals and final Saturday and Sunday at the site of the top remaining seed.
“We were disappointed in not making the NCAA Tournament,” said Hohlt, who has a 77-32-1 overall record in six years at PSC, “but we’re happy to be in the ECAC Tournament and to be playing at home. We’ll give it everything we’ve got, and try to win the tournament for ourselves and for our seniors.”
The Panthers have won their last five games by a combined 17-2 score. PSC also won nine in a row earlier this season, a streak that included a 2-0 win over Southern Maine at Arold Field.
The Huskies, 12-8 overall, will have plenty of emotion for the tourney. In addition to winning eight of its last nine games, USM will be playing for head coach Paula Hodgdon, who has announced her retirement after 31 years, effective at the end of the season.
Overcast. Temperature: 66; Wind: W at 6; Conditions as of Mon May 20 at 01:00 PM EDT