ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE FIELD HOCKEY
Tuesday, October 16, 2001

Etown Clinches Playoff Berth With 2-1 Win Over Moravian.

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Elizabethtown closed out its 2001 Commonwealth Conference regular season with a 4-3 mark and improved to 9-7 overall with a 2-1 win over Moravian Tuesday. With the win, Elizabethtown clinched a berth in the conference playoffs set to begin Wednesday, October 24.

Moravian (4-9, 2-5) jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a goal by Lissy Geistel with 16:56 left in the first half.

The Blue Jays tied the game at 8:42 remaining in the first half on an unassisted goal by Kate Gwilliam (Quakertown, PA/Quakertown). Etown took the lead to stay with 5:19 left in the first half when Lauren Potosky (Wrightsville, PA/Eastern York) scored on an assist from Erin Duffy (Media, PA/Penncrest).

Etown goaltender Kate VanValkenburgh (Malvern, PA/Great Valley) made eight saves, including five in the second half, to preserve the victory.

Elizabethtown returns to action on the road against non-conference opponent Scranton Thursday, October 18. Game time is 7:00 p.m.

When the playoffs begin October 24, Elizabethtown will likely face Lebanon Valley in Annville, since Messiah defeated Susquehanna 4-1 today. Susquehanna dropped to 4-3 in the conference with the loss, a record identical to Elizabethtown's, and since Etown defeated Susquehanna on Saturday, the Blue Jays would get the third place playoff berth while Susquehanna gets the fourth place bid.

Messiah improved to 6-1 in the conference and clinched first place with the win since the Falcons defeated Lebanon Valley earlier this season. Lebanon Valley is currently 5-1 in the conference, so it will finish second no matter whether it wins or loses its last conference regular season game. The second place team is supposed to host the third place team in the first round of the playoffs. The start time for the October 24 game is to be determined.

At Bethlehem, Pa.
Elizabethtown 2, Moravian 1
Elizabethtown (9-7, 4-3) 2 0 — 2
Moravian (4-9, 2-5)      1 0 — 1

First Period Scoring:
MC—Lissy Geistel (Suzy Wargo), 16:56
EC—Kate Gwilliam, 8:42
EC—Lauren Potosky (Erin Duffy), 5:19

Shots: EC 16, MC 7. Corners: EC 7, MC 6. Goalie Saves: Kate VanValkenburgh (EC) 8, Kristi Spinks (MC) 11.