USA Field Hockey News

Maryland, South Remain Unbeaten at USA Field Hockey's Women's National Championship Tournament
Schedule & Results

April Fronzoni's second half goal gave Midwest a 2-1 win over New Jersey/Pennsylvania at the USA Field Hockey Women's National Championships.

Virginia Beach, Va.  - Teams from USA Field Hockey's Maryland and Southern-based High Performance Centers remained undefeated while the New Jersey/Pennsylvania squad suffered its first defeat on day three of USA Field Hockey's Women's National Championship tournament.

Maryland climbed to the top of the tournament standings with a 4-0 win over Northern California (0-2) to go to 2-0-1 (7 points), while the South team scored three goals in a six-minute span in the first half to topple New England 6-0 and remain unbeaten at 2-0 with 6 points.

USA National Team members Rachel Dawson, Kelsey Keeran and Carrie Lingo scored three quick goals to give the South team a 3-0 half time lead and Katie Grant and Ali Tanner added second half goals to keep New England (0-2) winless at the tournament.

Meanwhile, New Jersey/Pennsylvania suffered its first defeat of the tournament with a 2-1 loss to Midwest (1-1). Mary Fox (Univ. of Michigan and U.S. National Team member April Fronzoni scored goals to give Midwest a 2-0 lead and the Midwest defense squelched a late NJ/PA rally to give the team its first win of the tournament.

In the evening's late game, Maryland displayed its own quick-strike ability when National Squad member Melissa Leonetti and Univ. of Richmond's Alex Malatesta scored back to back goals in the 17th and 18th minutes to give their team a quick 2-0 lead. Old Dominion's Dana Sensenig capped the first half with a field goal to give Maryland a 3-0 halftime advantage. Megan Dean added a field goal midway through the second half to give Maryland its final margin of victory.

Games between Midwest and South and New England and Northern California were suspended on Thursday night after thunderstorms interrupted play early in the second half. The games will be resumed on Sunday with Midwest and South tied at 1-1 and New England leading Northern California, 3-1.

The six-team tournament continues with round-robin play before concluding with the championship and classification games at 11:15 and 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday July 4.

The teams at the tournament are comprised of college-aged and older athletes including current members of the USA National Squad and recent college All-America selections. Athletes are selected to train at regionally-based high performance training centers and are selected to compete at the National Championships based on their performances during the spring. In addition to National Championship honors, the tournament serves as a selection opportunity to the USA National Squad and USA Junior National Camp.

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