HOBOKEN, N.J. (September 27, 2019) – After starting the season 6-3 overall, the Stevens Institute of Technology Field Hockey team is set to begin play in the MAC Freedom Saturday as they travel to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to take on King's College at 5:00 p.m.

Currently riding a four-game winning streak, the Ducks have been led offensively this season by senior Ireland Tawney and junior Brynn Froehlich, who each have four goals apiece. In addition, junior Skylar Migliaccio and Michaela Thompson both have multiple goals on the season, while Thompson leads the team with five assists.

Stevens has also been stellar on the defensive side of the ball as well, allowing no more than three goals in any game while averaging less than 1.4 goals allowed per contest on the season. Sophomore goalkeeper Emily Franco has produced 47 saves this year while posting a pair of shutouts to lead the way.

Coming into the season, the Ducks were selected to finish third in the MAC Freedom Coaches Preseason poll, only behind DeSales and FDU-Florham.

Head coach Meredith Spencer-Blaetz is happy with her team's progress and is ready to kick off conference competition.

"I'm happy with our progression thus far," Spencer-Blaetz said. "It's been nice to start conference play later than we are used to. We were able to get time to practice and figure out any of our glitches. We have talked about using each game is a learning opportunity from each game to prepare for conference play."

Winning the Close Ones

• This season, Stevens is 4-2 in games decided by one goal after going 6-4 in such games in 2018.
• The Ducks have produced the game-winning goal with less than 10 minutes to play in each of those four wins, with each goal coming from a different player.
• Stevens has been effective late in games all season, outscoring opponents 13-6 in second halves of games on the year.
• "Two years ago, when we did not have a great season, our record wasn't that great, but I think seven of those losses were by one goal," Spencer-Blaetz said. "I think that really motivated our entire team. Our junior class were freshman during that year, and I think that really fired them up to want to improve on that record."

Balanced Offense

• In total, 13 different Ducks have either found the back of the net or assisted on a goal in just nine games this season.
• In addition, all six of Stevens' game-winning goals have come from a different player.
• The Ducks been able to play a multitude of players on the field, with 20 players seeing action in at least seven of the nine games on the year.
• Stevens also ranks ninth in the all of NCAA Division III with 11.11 penalty corners per game.
• "I love having a balanced attack," Spencer-Blaetz said. "When you have a balanced attack, you make it hard for your opponents to key in on someone. If you want to take away one of our players, no problem. We have six others who can score as well."

Defensive Prowess

• After allowing 11 goals over the first five games of the year, the Ducks have now given up only two goals over their last four contests including producing a pair of shutouts.
• In goal, Franco currently ranks third in the MAC Freedom allowing 1.4 goals per contest while also ranking second in the conference with a .797 save percentage.
• Additionally, sophomore Aryana Muscara has been a force on the back line for Stevens all season, leading the MAC Freedom and sitting tied for 19th in DIII with three defensive saves.
• "Our coaching staff is full of defenders, so I think there's no mystery that we want to be solid on defense," Spencer-Blaetz said. "I think our love and understanding of the idea that it takes defense to win games has trickled into the program. We are really lucky to have a goalie who works really hard and wants to get better every practice."

Veteran Leadership

• Despite only having three seniors on the team, Stevens is still able to find veteran production as each of the top four goal-scorers this season are upperclassmen.
• Tawney is tied for the team lead with four goals on the year. The senior out of Hopkinton, New Jersey, has scored 19 goals in her career including the game-winner in the Ducks last contest against Drew.
• Thompson, meanwhile, has already tied her season assist output from 2018 with five on the year through nine games. She currently ranks third in the MAC Freedom with 0.56 assists per contest this season.
• "The seniors are a fantastic group. I couldn't be happier to have them my first class for all four years here at Stevens," Spencer-Blaetz said. "They have each had really different journeys, and I think that is what gives them the best leadership qualities. They have each played different roles for our team, and I think what that does is it shows the younger players that there isn't just one way to be an effective Stevens field hockey player."

Freshman Phenoms

• In total, the Ducks have had three different players registered their first career goal this season.
• Lynda Farinella, Emily Hyde and Natalie Logan all found the back of the net in their first season with Stevens.
• Logan has also been effective in the passing game for the Ducks, producing a pair of assists to be one of only three players with multiple assists on the season.
• Farinella, meanwhile, has been fantastic coming off the bench all season, hitting the game-winner with less than 10 minutes remaining in the Ducks' 1-0 victory over Ramapo.
• "We don't talk too much about who should be scoring and when they should be scoring," Spencer-Blaetz said. "It is all about who is in the best position to score for the given situation. I think the younger girls are recognizing that it doesn't matter where you are on the field, anybody can score a goal for us."

New Conference, New Challenges

• The Ducks will return to action in the MAC Freedom for the first time in over 40 years when they take on King's.
• After finishing the 2018 season in third place in the Empire 8, Stevens heads into conference play with the second-best winning percentage in the MAC Freedom.
• Seven of the Ducks' final nine games on the season will be in conference play. Stevens will take on the conference's top two preseason teams, DeSales and FDU-Florham, at home this season.
• "My hope is that we play our game for every conference game," Spencer-Blaetz said. "What I mean by that is implementing everything we do in practice into our gameplay. We want to play at a very consistent level throughout every game and throughout all our games. The hope is that we have put in the work and learned the lessons to where the results will go our way in a lot of those games, if not all of them."