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NCAA Div. 2 field hockey title to be decided at Stonehill College

With the opening of a new stadium in September 2005, Stonehill College had an attractive centerpiece for its athletics complex.

The nearly $4 million facility, named W.B. Mason Stadium, gave the football, field hockey, lacrosse and men's and women's track teams an impressive new home.

It also gave Stonehill a stadium worthy of bringing events, such as high school football playoff games, to the Easton campus.

Now, Stonehill will be using its four-year-old stadium to host the NCAA Div. 2 Field Hockey Championships.

The two semifinal-round games will be played on Friday with the national championship to be decided on Sunday afternoon.

Three-time defending champion and top-ranked Bloomsburg University (20-1) meets second-ranked Shippensburg University (20-2) in a matchup of Pennsylvania teams at 2 p.m. on Friday.

Third-ranked Stonehill (17-4), the Northeast-10 Conference regular-season champion, hosts UMass-Lowell (17-5) at 5 p.m. with the winners playing at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Stonehill hosted the 2001 and 2003 women's lacrosse championships on campus before the new stadium was built.

"I think it's great,'' said Coach Shelly Morris, now in her second year at Stonehill. "It's obviously an indication of how well we did this year. The facility is perfect for something like this. We can do a great job of hosting.

"Being able to play here, the players are psyched. I know there's a lot of hype on campus as well as in the community.''

Having place like the 2,400-seat W.B. Stadium has afforded Stonehill the chance to make it all happen.

The stadium has been a bonus when it comes to recruiting football, field hockey, lacrosse and track and field athletes, and now it is allowing the Skyhawks to host a national championship event.

"To be associated with an NCAA championship is an honor,'' said Stonehill director of intercollegiate athletics Brendan Sullivan. "It's a credit to the team and he work they've done this year, but it's also a sign of what Stonehill represents and that the investment in our facilities puts us in a position to host something like this.

"We will be able to showcase the Stonehill team, the campus and the community. We are thrilled to have this opportunity. We are playing a conference opponent and they will travel well, and the Pennsylvania teams travel well.

"We are hoping to have a great atmosphere to make it feel like a national championship. We do anticipate a lot of support for our team from around campus and we're doing a lot of promoting to get our students out and supporting our team.''

Morris, a Massachusetts native who played and coached at Northeastern University and was the head coach at Ohio University for six seasons, said having a national championship tourney in the area is a rare chance to young players to see the game at this level.

"When I was in high school and even in college, if I had this right down the street, I would have loved to come and watch this level of play,'' said Morris. "It's some of the best field hockey in the area. It's not every day that a national championship opportunity comes to this region.

"I think Boston College hosted the last (Div. 1) final four several years ago, so we haven't had one here in a while.''

Locals in NCAAs:

Merrimack College, with senior captain Gabrielle Gramprey of Brockton, has made the NCAA Div. 2 women's soccer tournament for a third year in a row.

The fifth-seeded Warriors (13-5-3) play UMass-Lowell on Friday afternoon in the East Regional.

Gramprey leads Merrimack with 13 goals, seven assists and 33 points in 21 games. She has 41 goals and 31 assists in 80 career games.

Third-seeded Franklin Pierce is also in the East Regional and will play Holy Family on Friday afternoon.

The Ravens' roster includes junior back Kelly Weygand of Bridgewater and sophomore forward Amanda Panaro of Rockland (four goals, one assist).

Panaro made the All-NE-10 championship team after her performance in the conference tournament.

Contact Jim Fenton at jfenton@enterprisenews.com .