USA Field Hockey News

PA/NJ's Katie O'Donnell leads the National Championships in scoring with eight goals

Pennsylvania/New Jersey, Midwest to Meet in Final of USA Field Hockey National Championships
 

Virginia Beach, Va. – High Performance Center teams from Pennsylvania/New Jersey and the Midwest will meet for USA Field Hockey's Women's National Championships as the six team tournament concluded round-robin play at the USA Field Hockey National Training Center.

The championship game is scheduled for 1 p.m. In Sunday's other classification matches,  the South HPC (2-2-1) will take on Maryland HPC (2-3-0) in the 3rd/4th place wile California HPC (1-2-2)will face New England (0-3-2) in the 5th/6th place match. Both consolation matches are scheduled for 11 a.m.

In a preview of Sunday's final, Katie O'Donnell and Angie Loy scored two goals each to lead Pennsylvania/New Jersey to an 8-3 win over Midwest. O"Donnell's two goals raised her tournament-leading total to eight while Loy moved into a tie for third in scoring with PA/NJ teammate Kathleen Sharkey with four goals.

With the win, Pennsylvania/New Jersey swept through the tournament pool play undefeated at 5-0-0 to earn its first berth in the championship game since the tournament adopted its current format in 2006.

In Saturday's other games, Shannon Taylor scored two goals to help lift Maryland  HPC to a 4-0 win over New England and a spot in the 3rd/4th place game. Shannon ranks second in scoring at the tournament with five goals.

The South HPC earned its spot in the 3rd/4th place game with a pair of first half goals by by Michelle Kasold and Lauren Miller to defeat California HPC 2-0.


Conducted under the format of an international tournament, the Women's National Championships features teams 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 slected to represent their regions at the National Championships.

In addition to the national title, athletes are also competing for spots on the 2007-08 U.S. national team. U.S. Head coach Lee Bodimeade and Technical Director Terry Walsh will announce the selections to the 2007-08 team at the conclusion of the tournament.

USA Field Hockey’s nominations to the U.S. Pan American Games team will also be publicly announced following the tournament. All Pan Am Games team nominations are subject to approval by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).

Complete rosters, schedules and results are available at the USA Field Hockey website at usafieldhockey.com.

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