With its NCAA Division III first round win over Wilson College now in the record books, the State University of New York at New Paltz field hockey team begins the climb to the next level of NCAA competition. On Saturday afternoon on the campus of Middlebury College in Vermont, the No. 14 ranked Hawks will take on the No. 7 ranked Jumbos of Tufts University in the second round of NCAA Tournament play.

"Being a senior and being in this situation is amazing. Everyone on the team — seniors, sophomores, juniors, freshmen, especially being in this situation, playing at Middlebury, obviously they're a good school and a good facility, we're just ready to use this and take everything we got to play our game [Saturday] and just kill it on the field," said SUNY New Paltz senior midfielder Courtney Kruzikas. "Winning Saturday would just be an amazing moment for this school, for the team, for the league, for everything. That's just a huge steppingstone. I feel like that would really put us into great prospective for the other teams and really just show our skills that we have been working on over the past year and this season in general."

As one of the storied field hockey programs in the country, Tufts is appearing in its ninth NCAA tournament under coach Tina Mattera. With a 226-66 record over 18 years, Mattera has taken her teams to five NCAA finals, winning the championship in 2012. As one of the most respected and decorated field hockey coaches in the country, Mattera has managed to accomplish all this while playing in the uber-competitive New England Small College Athletic Conference. Four NESCAC teams were selected to this year's NCAA Tournament, more than any other conference in the country. All four are still alive and ready for the tournament's second round this Saturday. The NESCAC has dominated Division III field hockey since 2010, with seven national champions and five national finalists. 

 

The Jumbos toughed out a 1-0 victory over Johnson & Wales University (RI) Wednesday night to improve their overall record to 14-4 on the strength of Gillian Roeca's goal in the 58th minute. Tufts outplayed the Wildcats with a 22-2 shots and 12-0 penalty corner margin. Only the outstanding play of Wildcat goalie Madison Flaxington (10 saves) kept the Jumbos at bay until the end of the game.

Tufts has been led by Roece (Baltimore, MD/The Bryn Mawr School), a Second Team All-NESCAC senior forward, who has 12 goals, nine assists, and five game winners this year. Close behind is senior forward Claire Foley (Louisville, KY/Louisville Collegiate School) with 10 goals, three assists and two game winners. With eight goals, five assists, one game winner and one defensive save is junior midfielder Reegan McCluskey (Los Gatos, CA/Los Gatos HS). Second Team All-NESCAC graduate midfielder Beth Krikorian (Windham,NH/Phillips Academy Andover) is next with seven goals, five assists and two game winners. With six goals and one assist is first-year forward Kylie Rosenqist (Carmel, NY/Carmel HS). Junior forward/midfielder Melissa Manzello (Shoreham, NY/Shoreham-Wading River HS) follows with five goals, six assists, one game winner and three defensive saves. Six other Jumbos have contributed to the Tufts attack which has scored 58 goals thus far.

The center midfielder position could prove to be a key position on Saturday. Two conference Defensive Players of the Year will match up against each other in Tufts senior Sophie Schoeni and SUNY New Paltz senior Jessica Ascencao.

Schoeni (Ann Arbor, MI/Ann Arbor Pioneer HS) is a two-time First-Team All-NESCAC selection, along with a First Team NFHCA All-New England West recipient in 2019. She has anchored the Jumbo defense while scoring three goals and five assists with one game winner.
Joining Scoeni as a First-Team All-NESCAC selection is senior midfielder/defender Marin Waddington (Dexter, MI/Dexter HS). According to coach Mattera, her strength and intelligence are the keys to the Jumbo defense, which recorded 11 shutouts in 18 games, with a 0.71 goals-against-average. She is also the key to the Jumbo's transition attack.

Senior goalie Andie Stallman (Barrington, RI/Moses Brown HS) has started all 18 games for the Jumbos. Playing 570 minutes and giving up six goals for a .63 goals-against-average with 15 saves. Against Johnson & Wales, she recorded one save. Joining her between the pipes with 498 minutes played and six goals allowed for a 0.72 goals-against-average to go along with 23 saves is junior goalie Sam Gibby (Bethesda,MD/National Cathedral School). Along with senior goalie Emma Smith (Lakeville, CT/Hotchkiss School), the Jumbos keepers have allowed a total of 13 goals, with 11 shutouts and a 0.71 goals-against-average.

"They're obviously a good team. They've had a lot of practice. They've been here before and are obviously well known," Kruzikas said. "They have a lot of good skills. They're a solid team, they're fast, they're dynamic and they definitely have good control with the ball, so it's important that we make sure that we stay composed, stay confident and just overall play our game. They're going to play their game, we have to play ours and we just have to come out stronger, faster and ready to go with no concerns about what their doing. Obviously, they have the experience, but we have the heart and the pride that they don't even have, so we're excited."

The No. 14 ranked Hawks, sporting a record-setting 17-2 mark, find themselves in a familiar position as they move on to the NCAA second round. New England colleges seem to be the usual opponents for SUNY New Paltz; of the eight NCAA opponents faced by the Hawks since 2012, five have represented New England, with the region holding a 3-2 victory margin over SUNY New Paltz.

Leading the charge for the Hawks is Ascencao (Mohegan Lake, NY/Lakeland HS), as the senior tallied a goal and an assist in Wednesday's win over Wilson. She raised her season totals to five goals and a team leading 14 assists, with the latter tying a single-season record. 
SUNY New Paltz's offense has netted 62 goals thus far with two sophomore forwards topping the scoring column. First-Team All-SUNYAC Hannah Ackerman (Nesconset, NY/Smithtown East HS) has netted 12 goals, with five assists and four game winners; Morgan Woolley (Blue Point, NY/Bayport-Blue Point HS) has scored 11 goals, with three assists and four game winners.

Second-Team All-SUNYAC junior forward Natasia Plunkett (Holland Patent, NY/Holland Patent HS) follows offensively with 10 goals, three assists and three game winners. Junior forward Jamie Wagner (Cicero, NY/Cicero North Syracuse HS) has seven goals, one assist and one game winner on the year. Second-Team All-SUNYAC back, Julia Cummings (Mohegan Lake, NY/Lakeland HS) follows with six goals, eight assists and three game winners. First-year forward Amanda Quenneville (Centerport, NY/Harborfields HS) has added four goals and one assist, while senior midfielder/back Shannon Bernhardt (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa HS) has contributed three goals and four assists.

A stingy and solid defense limited Wilson College to just six shots and one penalty corner Wednesday afternoon. The ever-present Ascencao leads the defense with 10 defensive saves in addition to her offensive prowess. Joining her on a defense that allowed 20 goals and a 1.03 goals-against-average is Cummings with two defensive saves. Second-Team All-SUNYAC senior back Kayla Ahern (Blue Point, NY/Bayport-Blue Point HS) has totaled three defensive saves, while senior midfielder Courtney Kruzikas (Ballston Lake, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake HS) has recorded five defensive saves with senior back Kyra D'Amico (Holtsville, NY/Sachem HS East) following with two defensive saves.

Standing strong between the pipes have been the Hawks two senior goalies, Ryan Dowling (East Northport, NY/Northport HS) and Mackenzie Mortimer (Fairport, NY/Fairport HS). Mortimer has logged about 377 minutes with 11 goals allowed for a 1.75 goals-against-average, a 9-1 record, 34 saves and one shutout and parts of three others. Dowling has played nearly 769 minutes, including full time for the SUNYAC Championship tournament and the NCAA first round game. For the season, Dowling has allowed nine goals for a 0.70 goals-against-average, four shutouts and parts of four others, with an 8-1 record and 62 saves.

Courtney Kruzikas NCAA Preview Interview


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