The NCAA News - News & Features

Division III

New name, same team at the top

Overview: There is an unfamiliar name atop the Division III rankings, but it belongs to a familiar team. College of New Jersey is the new name for defending champion Trenton State -- essentially the same team and same coach that went 20-0 last year. The seven-time champion Lions roared through their first seven games this season by a combined score of 32-5. Then, they ran into a roadblock October 1, losing to Rowan, 2-1, ending the Lions' 74-game league unbeaten streak. The Lions are led by two members of last year's all-tournament team, Laura Stryjkewski (13 goals, nine assists) and Melanie Vasofski (11, 10). Goalie Sara Hill has five shutouts .... Cortland State threatened to establish a dynasty of sorts after winning consecutive titles in 1993 and 1994, but the Red Dragons lost in the second round last year. This year's team, however, was undefeated in its first nine games under first-year coach Stacey Schilling before suffering a 3-0 loss to Division II Lock Haven. Dani Innerst, one of six Dragons who played on the 1994 team, paces the team in scoring with 14 goals and eight assists, followed closely by Jonna Macri (10, five) and Sharon Fredriks (10, three). "I'm very lucky," Schilling said. "(The team has) have been very adaptive and willing to try new things. There's never a sense of 'Well, we did it this way last year,' it's more like 'OK, let's do it' " .... Salisbury State also shows signs of being a contender. The Sea Gulls gave College of New Jersey all it wanted in a 3-2 overtime loss October 19. That was one of only two Salisbury State losses through 13 games .... Eastern Mennonite, which posted a 21-2 record last year, has shown an explosive offense.

Field: A total of 16 teams will be selected.

Dates and sites: Regionals will be November 9-10 on the campuses of competing institutions. The semifinals (November 15), third-place game (November 16) and championship game (November 16) also will be on the campus of a competing institutions.

Information/results: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/399-3060 (passcode 1915); request numbers are 1335 for bracket/schedule, 5086 for semifinal results, 5087 for the third-place game and 5088 for championship-game results. Championship results also will be available on the World Wide Web at www.ncaa.org. Results will be published in the December 2 issue of The NCAA News.

Championship notes: After a three-year "drought," the College of New Jersey reclaimed the trophy last season with a 2-1 victory over Messiah. It was Messiah's first title appearance since 1984 .... Salisbury State (1986) and Bloomsburg (1984) are the only teams from a state other than New York or New Jersey to win a championship in the event's 15-year history.