The NCAA News - News & Features

Franklin Pierce, Lynn appear strong

Overview: Two of the top powers this year are former champions. Two-time defending Division II champion Franklin Pierce is strong again behind the sophomore tandem of Pauliina Miettinen (23 goals, 16 assists) and Anne Parnila (21 goals, 15 assists). But the 14-1 Ravens aren't the top-ranked team in the land. That distinction goes to Lynn, the 1995 NAIA champion, which is unbeaten this year at 16-0. Opponents have found the net just four times against Lynn goalkeepers Keri Lief and Jen Ludwig, and Katie Katzmark has netted 20 goals to lead the high-octane Lady Knights offense. Lynn has scored 73 goals overall and has scored at least five in a game on 10 occasions .... Bloomsburg (14-1-1) is vying for its first tournament appearance behind junior Kelly Conn, who with 19 goals is just one off the school record .... UC Davis also is a potential newcomer to the field at 11-3-1, including a win over Northern Colorado. The trio of Andrea Guijarno, Molly Orton and Danielle Fagan has combined for 17 goals and nine assists.

Field: Twelve teams from six regions will be selected November 4. Each of the six regions will receive two berths.

Dates and sites: All games will be played on the campuses of competing institutions. First-round games will be November 9 or 10. Quarterfinal games will be November 16 or 17. The semifinals will be November 22 and the championship game will be November 24.

Information/results: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/399-3060 (passcode 1915); request numbers are 1455 for bracket/schedule, 5151 for semifinal results and 5152 for championship-game results. Game scores and pairings also will be available on the World Wide Web at www.ncaa.org. Championship-game results will be published in the December 2 issue of The NCAA News.

Championship notes: This is the first year for the 12-team bracket. The championship field included eight teams last year and six teams during the previous seven years .... Franklin Pierce rolled though last year's tournament, setting or tying 12 tournament records. The Ravens continued a trend of shutting out the opponent in the final, downing Barry, 5-0 .... Six of the eight championship games have been won by shutouts.