MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - The No. 10 Mansfield Mountaineers field hockey team (11-6, 5-4 PSAC) have earned their first trip to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) postseason tournament since 2019 after their road victory against No. 9 Millersville (9-8, 3-6 PSAC) where the Mounties came out on top, 3-2, in a shootout thriller to earn the four seed.
This will be the second time in the Brittany Hansrote era that the Mounties make a postseason run. Also under her direction, the team will host their first home playoff game in program history at Karl Van Norman Field after earning the fourth seed to host the fifth seed in the PSAC Quarterfinals.
The first fifteen minutes of the game saw three corners by the Mounties, but the only shots on goal came from the Marauders, with two.
Millersville was the first to capitalize off a penalty corner after taking numerous shots on goal and placing the first goal into the back of the cage in the second quarter.
Kalin Duke picked up the first goal of the game, off an assist from Alex Esterling, for Mansfield after multiple penalty corners were awarded and the Mounties found the rhythm to even the scoreboard, going into the half, 1-1.
Coming into the second half, Mansfield stuck to the game plan and the penalty corners delivered with Hannah Meyer sending a backhand into the cage for the team to take the 2-1 lead early into the third quarter.
The defense and the momentum stayed with the Mountaineers heading into the final fifteen minutes looking to place their name in the postseason bracket.
Millersville pressured in the final minutes and found the equalizer for the Marauders to keep their playoffs hopes alive off a penalty corner with three minutes remaining to make the score 2-2 before the top ten thriller headed to overtime.
Through overtime, the teams battled back on each side looking to close the other team's season. Mansfield saw five penalty corners throughout the extra time, but could not capitalize on any of them, which sent this highly watched matchup into the shootout showdown.
August Lewis saved the season making four saves to keep the team's postseason run alive.
In the final stand, the Mounties made three of their five attempts compared to the Marauders two attempts, and with fantastic effort from
August Lewis in the cage.
With attempts made by Esterling,
Kenedy Stroup, and
Eilie Holland, Mansfield punched their ticket to the 2023 PSAC Field Hockey postseason, winning the conference thriller, 3-2.
SHOOTOUT ORDER
UP NEXT:
For the Mounties, their 2023 PSAC postseason run starts on their home field on Tuesday, October 31. As the four seed, the team will host the five seed Bloomsburg at 4 p.m. on Karl Van Norman Field for the first home playoff game in program history.
