The Pioneer Trail: Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014
Field Hockey vs. Adelphi - 1 p.m.The second-seeded LIU Post field hockey team looks to bounce back from a loss in the NE-10 Championship Game as the Pioneers host third-ranked Adelphi in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium.
The Pioneers (16-3) are coming off of a 1-0 defeat at the hands of No. 1 Stonehill on Saturday (Nov. 22) as the Skyhawks won the conference crown in Brookville. Despite outshooting their opponents 15-12 in the contest, the green and gold could not beat Stonehill senior keeper Elizabeth Genovese (Street, Md.), who made seven saves in the shutout victory. Sophomore netminder Ericka Parks (Nesconset, N.Y.) was just as good, stopping six shots but senior forward Emily Sideris (Watertown, Mass.) scored for the Skyhawks off a penalty corner in the 45th minute to give her team the one-goal advantage.
Junior forward Keliann Margiotta (Sewell, N.J.) of the Pioneers was named the Northeast-10 Player of the Year after a record-breaking season, scoring 33 goals and adding 15 assists for a total of 81 points on the season. Graduate defender Dani Crouse (Westville, South Africa) received the conference's Defensive Player of the Year accolade in addition to her nine goals and seven assists this year. Parks has been stingy in net, posting a 14-2 overall record and allowing a goals-against average of 0.93.
Adelphi (14-6) fell to the top-seeded Skyhawks 3-1 last Thursday (Nov. 20) in the NE-10 Semifinals in North Easton, Mass. Junior midfielder Molly Cuevas (San Jose, Calif.) scored the only goal for the Panthers in the defeat. On the season, Cuevas led her team with 20 assists and was second on the squad with 44 points. Junior forward Mary Plotas (Brookeville, Md.) has paced Adelphi all season with a team-high 24 goals. Junior keeper Kelly Serrao (Lake Hiawatha, N.J.) has posted an 11-5 record this season, allowing just under two goals per game on average.
The Pioneers got the better of Adelphi in both previous matchups this season. LIU Post won a 2-1 decision in Brookville back on Sept. 30 on Margiotta's game-winning goal in overtime, with an assist to sophomore defender
Abi Sawyer (Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England). In the rematch on Oct. 29, the green and gold cruised to a 5-0 shutout of Adelphi at Motamed Field behind Margiotta's six-point (2 G, 2 A) performance. Freshman forward
Kaycee Zelkovsky (Lambertville, N.J.) also scored a pair of goals for the green and gold in the victory.