SARATOGA, SPRINGS, N.Y. (November 13, 2010) – The Stevens Institute of Technology field hockey team fell in a Regional semifinal of the NCAA Division III Field Hockey Tournament on Saturday afternoon in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. at Skidmore College. The Ducks (11-11) fell to No. 8 Eastern University (20-2) by a 1-0 final, ending the teams' thrilling postseason run.
Eastern was able to generate two early corners and on the second, created several strong shots, but senior goalkeeper Ellyn Griggs was able to make a pair of nice saves to keep the game scoreless.
Freshman Caitlin Chamberlain took the Ducks' loan shot of the first half, missing wide from the left wing 6:02 into the game.
Griggs and the Stevens defense was able to hold strong throughout the remainder of the first half, as the two teams went into the locker room with score knotted at zero and Eastern holding a 3-1 edge in shots and a 6-0 advantage in penalty corners.
In the 50th minute, the Ducks threatened when Chamberlain received a pass after a penalty corner, but her bid was turned away by Eastern goalkeeper Laura Ressler (Media, Pa.).
The Eagles turned up the heat in the second, totaling 11 shots and broke the scoreless tie in the 59th minute when freshman Jess Jaindl (Quakertown, Pa.) tallied her 17th goal of the season on a rebound off of a Yvonne Herbster (Middleburg, Pa.) shot that was originally saved by Griggs.
Stevens did not quit, and had a good chance to pull even late, but again it was Ressler turning away a Chamberlain attempt as Eastern went on to its 20th win of the season against just two losses.
The Eagles ended with a 14-4 shot advantage and an 18-3 advantage in penalty corners.
Griggs was marvelous in goal for Stevens making 12 saves on the day and keeping the Ducks within striking distance through the entire 70 minutes of game time. Ressler made two saves and earned the win in net.
The Ducks, who started the season 0-5 won 11 of their final 17 games to finish 11-11. They went 3-1 in postseason play, outscoring the opposition 5-1 and pitching three shutouts. Eastern defeated Stevens in the first round of last year's NCAA's by an identical 1-0 score.
