BOX SCORE

St. Davids, Pa. (Nov. 4, 2006) – Senior forward Christy Miller (Elverson, PA/Twin Valley) scored twice in the second half to lead top-seeded Eastern University to a 2-0 win over #2 Alvernia College Saturday afternoon in the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference Championship at Eastern.

            Miller carried the ball up the left sideline all the way to the endline on a counterattack in the 55th minute, pulled the ball back inside the circle, and fired a shot past Alvernia keeper Audrey Hoffman (Mertztown, PA/Brandywine Heights) for the first score of the game.  The Eastern offense generated a corner in the 59th minute and once again Miller was on the finishing end as she cracked the ball just inside the right post for a 2-0 lead.

            Eastern held the balance of pressure early in the contest, but could not break through the Alvernia defense.  Alvernia responded holding the ball in the offensive half for a few offensive surges, but also could not tally the opening score.  The Crusaders best early chance coming perhaps on a full wind up by senior Megan Novogratz (Allentown, PA/Central Catholic) from the penalty spot, but the shot sailed harmlessly wide.  Novogratz finished the day with a team-high five shots.

            Eastern did find the back of the cage on a Stephanie Moyer (Telford, PA/Christopher Dock) shot midway through the opening half, but after a lengthy discussion the goal was disallowed when the officials ruled the initial shot of the series was too high.  Eastern held a 9-6 advantage in shots in the opening frame, but Hoffman made nine of her 12 saves in the first 35 to keep the game scoreless at the half.  Eastern keeper Kelly Garland (Lanhartsville, PA/Kutztown) made four saves in the first half and posted four more in the second.

            Possessions and penalty corner chances went back and forth for the start of the second half before Miller’s first goal at 54:04.  Eastern opened with a pair of shots from Jamie Heck (Butler, NJ/Butler), but Hoffman turned both aside and the hosts followed with back-to-back corners without a shot.  Alvernia countered with four straight penalty corners, but Garland was tested only once by Novogratz and the Eastern keeper was up to the challenge.

            Alvernia responded to the 1-0 deficit with increased offensive pressure and again earned three straight corners in a span of just over one minute, but the set offense couldn’t find a way to test Garland.  Eastern countered on the last of three Alvernia corners earning one of its own and June Antes (Manheim, PA/Manheim Central) found Moyer at the top of the circle and her pass set up Miller for her second goal of the match.

            Alvernia took a timeout after the goal and changed the formation to generate more offense, but the Eagles turned aside each rush.

            Eastern wins its fourth PAC Field Hockey Title and will represent the conference in the NCAA Championships which begin on Wednesday.  Alvernia’s next postseason match will be determined by Monday morning.

#1 Eastern 2, #2 Alvernia 0