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Brittany Owens scored two straight goals to turn a 1-1 tie into a two-goal IUP lead, and the Crimson Hawks went on to a 4-2 win at Millersville to clinch the PSAC regular season title and the top seed in next week's conference tournament. IUP, ranked No. 1 in the latest National Field Hockey Coaches Association poll, won its ninth in a row to improve to 15-2 overall and 12-1 in the PSAC. The Crimson Hawks will host the four-team tournament October 26-27 at Miller Stadium. IUP will take on either Mansfield or Shippensburg in the second semifinal next Friday at 4 p.m. Bloomsburg will face Kutztown in the first semifinal at 1:30. The championship game will take place the following day at 1 p.m. A Liz Martini penalty stroke for her 15th goal of the season gave IUP a quick 1-0 lead just 4:14 into the game. Millersville answered 13 minutes later on a goal by Tiffani Goff. Then Owens took over, scoring with 5:51 left in the first half off an assist by Liz Marosky to give the Crimson Hawks a 2-1 lead. Owens added her second goal the game and fifth of the season, taking a feed from Sylvia Guerrieri with 22:50 remaining in the game to increase the IUP advantage to 3-1. The Marauders (4-13, 2-11 PSAC) cut their deficit in half on a goal by Kristie Testa with 10:21 left, but Guerrieri put it out of reach with 1:39 on the clock, scoring her third goal of the year. Barbara Heemelaar assisted on the goal. IUP finished with a 16-8 edge in shots and took 17 penalty corners to only three for Millersville. Lydia Dolly made six saves for the Crimson Hawks. Before hosting the conference tournament, IUP will play its final regular season game on Saturday at Shippensburg in a game that will help decide who the Crimson Hawks will play in the PSAC semifinals.
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