Huskies cap unbeaten season with 5-0 win

Playing for a program and a coach already crowned six times over, it must have seemed to the Bloomsburg field hockey players that only a perfect season would make the 2002 team stand out from its predecessors.

The Huskies achieved that perfection with a 5-0 blanking of defending national champion Bentley to cap an unblemished 21-0 season November 10 in the Division II Field Hockey Championship game.

"It's been a great group of kids," said Bloomsburg head coach Jan Hutchinson. "They have been so close, and they've just had so much fun together. Our goal coming into the year was to get into the championship game because we got shut out last year and didn't get here. It's a great finish -- I'm very happy for them; they've worked so hard to get it."

The title is Bloomsburg's first since 1999, and the 2002 squad is the third in Hutchinson's career to finish the season unbeaten and untied.

Corners were the difference in the first half as Bloomsburg scored three times on penalty corner attempts. The first came from Bloomsburg's Erin McConnell, who gained control of the ball at the top of the arc then shifted it down to the left of the cage where Sheila Zilinski knocked it in with just 6:15 gone in the game.

Then on a corner in the 23rd minute, Nikki Hartranft stopped the ball at the top of the arc and passed it to Sharla Partlon, who connected for a 2-0 Huskies lead.

Hartranft took the swing herself 10 minutes later on a penalty corner. But her shot was tipped over the crouching keeper and knocked into the top of the cage by Zilinski for her second goal.

The Huskies scored twice more in the second half to put the game out of reach. Stephanie Beck and Elyce Morring did the honors.

Bentley was limited to three shots on goal in the game and four corner opportunities. The Falcons did have three corner chances late in the second half, getting two shots on goal that were turned away by Bloomsburg goalkeeper Trish Leitzel.

The Falcons finished the season 17-5 and appeared in the championship game for the fourth straight year. Bentley advanced to the title game with a 1-0 win over Bryant, while Bloomsburg knocked off host Lock Haven, 2-1.

Zilinski, Hartranft, Partlon, Shanna Fritz and Leitzel were all-tournament team honorees from Bloomsburg, along with Bentley's Kristyn Bates, and Bryant's Maureen Burns and Melissa Manseau. Host Lock Haven placed Erika Grap, Jen DeNault and Janelle Ebaugh on the squad.

Semifinals

First half: Bentley -- Kristyn Bates (Lauren Galenski), 30:14.

Shots: Bentley 11, Bryant 7; Goalkeeper saves: Bentley (Liz Novis) 7; Bryant (Meghan Lovell) 9. Penalty corners: Bentley 3, Bryant 11.

First half: B -- Sheila Zilinski (Shanna Fritz), 14:34.

Second half: LH -- Kellie Kulina (Courtney Hughes), 48:06; B -- Erin McConnell, 67:37.

Shots: Bloomsburg 6, Lock Haven 7. Goalkeeper saves: Bloomsburg (Trish Leitzel) 4; Lock Haven (Melissa Stubblefield) 4. Penalty corners: Bloomsburg 6, Lock Haven 8.

Championship

First half: BL -- Sheila Zilinski (Erin McConnell), 6:15; BL -- Sharla Partlon (Nikki Hartranft), 22:54; BL -- Zilinski (Hartranft), 32:49.

Second half: BL -- Stephanie Beck, 43:02; BL -- Elyce Morring (Alison Poff), 55:56.

Shots: Bloomsburg 12, Bentley 3. Goalkeeper saves: Bloomsburg (Trish Leitzel) 2; Bentley (Liz Novis) 5. Penalty corners: Bloomsburg 12, Bentley 4 .