Field Hockey News:

Angie Loy was named Player of the Match in the championship game in helping lead PA/NJ to the national title.

Pennsylvania/New Jersey HPC Wins USA Field Hockey National Title

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (June 24, 2007) – The Pennsylvania/New Jersey High Performance Center broke open a close match with six straight goals - including four goals in the final 14 minutes of play - to defeat Midwest HPC 6-1 in the USA Field Hockey Women's National Championship game at the USA Field Hockey National Training Center.

Angie Loy and Sarah Dawson scored two goals each to lead PA/NJ to the championship. A member of the USA National Squad and the newly-announced U.S. Pan American Games team, Loy was named the Player of the Match for the championship game in leading the PA/NJ team to its first national title.

In the day's other classification games, South HPC defeated Maryland HPC 1-0 on Lauren Crandall's first half penalty stroke goal for third place in the tournament, while Melissa Leonetti connected on a penalty corner goal three minutes into overtime to hand California HPC a 2-1 win over New England in the fifth place match.

After falling behind to Midwest 1-0 on April Fronzoni's penalty corner tip in goal, PA/NJ struck for six straight goals to finish the tournament undefeated. Loy scored on a penalty corner play in the 22nd minute to tie the game at 1-1 at halftime before her team erupted for five straight goals in the second half.

Dawson put PA/NJ ahead for good in the 45th minute to spark an onslaught of goals that included additional scores by Loy and Dawson as well as goals from two of the team's younger members, Katie O'Donnell (18) and Kathleen Sharkey (17).

O'Donnell was named the Young Player of the Tournament and concluded the championship as the event's leading goal scorer with 9 goals.

In other individual honors, New England goalkeeper Amy Tran was named Goalkeeper of the Tournament while Midwest midfielder Kayla Bashore was named the Player of the Tournament.

Team members for Pennsylvania/New Jersey in the final included Alexandra Malatesta, Allison Scola, Candica Arner, Natalie Martirosian, Katie Evans, Laura Suchoski, Carey Fetting-Smith, Sarah Dawson, Kathleen Sharkey, Maren Ford, Jennifer Long, Kaitlyn Perrelle, Katie Reinprecht, Tracey Larson Arndt, Katie O’Donnell, Angie Loy and goalkeepers Allison Nemeth and Linz Markwart.

The Midwest roster for the championship included Stephanie Hoyer, Mary Fox, Kadi Sickel, Heather Schnepf, Beth Latham, Jessica Javelet, April Fornzoni, April White, Roslynn Ellis, Meghan Beamesderfer, Kayla Bashore, Lauren Pfieffer, Caitlin McCurdy, Caroline Blaum, Elizabeth Sanders, Katherine O’Connell and goalkeepers Christina Kirkaldy and Barbara Weinberg

Conducted under the format of an international tournament, the Women's National Championships features squads of current U.S. national team members and top college players. Team members train during the spring at regionally-based training sites with the top players selected to represent their regions at the National Championships.

The tournament also served as the selection event for the 2007-08 U.S. National Squad and the USA Pan American Games team.

Sun Safe Play!: USA Field Hockey and the USA National Team promote healthy and sun-smart decisions through their sun safety program, Sun Safe Play. Dedicated to the memory of former field hockey coach and USA team member Maria Whitehead and in partnership with the Melanoma International Foundation, Sun Safe Play seeks to educate young athletes on the prevention and detection of melanoma and skin cancer. Whitehead died of cancer in November 2006 at the age of 25.