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The NCAA News -- November 22, 1999

Bloomin' perfection:

Bloomsburg caps unbeaten season with another field hockey crown

Host Bloomsburg capped an unbeaten season with its fourth straight NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championship November 7, downing Bentley, 2-0.

Bloomsburg (19-0) scored two second-half goals to secure the win and become the first team at any level of NCAA field hockey to win four consecutive national championships.

"Thank goodness for second periods," said Bloomsburg head coach Jan Hutchinson. "We were tight in the first half with the added pressure of going for four straight titles in the back of players' minds. Bentley is a good team, and we just told the team to play the Bloomsburg game and to settle down."

Bentley (21-1) controlled play early on with six corners in the game's first six minutes. But the Huskies' defense denied the Falcons any shots on goal.

Bloomsburg had two corner shots of its own at the 29:16 and 28:49 marks of the first half. On the second corner, Aja Madsen passed to Amy Yoder for the Huskies' first shot on goal. The shot went wide of the goal and the momentum shifted back to Bentley.

The Falcons earned two more corner shots with 10 minutes remaining in the first half but failed to produce a shot on goal.

The second half saw Bloomsburg take control of play for the duration of the period. At the 31:52 mark, Yoder, Krista Engle and Belinda Price each took shots in front of the goal mouth. But Carolyn Cahill, Bentley's all-time leading goalkeeper, was able to protect the net.

The Huskies' continued attack wore down the Falcons' defense and the game's first goal came just two minutes later with Huskies senior Bridgett Heckman scoring off a rebounded shot by Jess Kircher.

After Cahill saved the shot by Kircher, Heckman was able to poke it in and give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.

"There were a lot of sticks near the ball, and I was fortunate to get mine in there and direct it to the goal," said Heckman. "It gave us a big lift."

Bloomsburg pursued another goal for the next 20 minutes, creating several scoring opportunities, but Cahill continued her strong play with two kick saves to stave off the Huskies.

With 9:52 left to play, the Huskies were awarded a free hit outside the circle. Kircher executed a pass to Price, who beat Cahill, giving the Huskies a 2-0 lead.

Despite Bentley's frequent penetration of the circle in the game's last 10 minutes, the Huskies were able to clear the ball, protect their lead and rewrite the records yet again.

Bentley coach Kelly West thought her team surprised the Huskies with its early play.

"We came out fired up and ready to play," West said. "We knew we had to adjust our game to the grass field, and we probably surprised them by our play in the early going. We were hurt, though, by playing on grass. We are a turf team, which focuses a lot on corners. We just couldn't get going today."

The loss was Bentley's second in as many Division II national title games. The Falcons lost to Pfeiffer, 5-3, in the first Division II title game in 1981.

For Hutchinson, the win was her ninth straight NCAA championship between Divisions II and III. Bloomsburg appeared in the final for the 17th time in its 19 NCAA championship appearances.

"Winning never gets old," West said. "Each of our nine championships is special because of the people involved. I cherish each of the titles."

Named to the all-tournament team were Cahill and Kristyn Bates of Bentley and Leah Conte, Heckman and Kircher of Bloomsburg.

CHAMPIONSHIP

Bloomsburg 0 2 -- 2

Bentley 0 0 -- 0

Second half: BL--Bridgett Heckman, 29:35; BL--Belinda Price (Jess Kircher), 9:52.

Shots: Bloomsburg 11, Bentley 0. Goalkeeper saves: Bloomsburg (Trisha Leitzel) 0, Bentley (Carolyn Cahill) 6. Penalty corners: Bloomsburg 7, Bentley 10.