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The IUP field hockey team has earned its fourth consecutive bid to the NCAA Division II tournament and will travel to Lowell, Mass., for the Final Four. IUP (17-3) is seeded first in the South Region. The Crimson Hawks received a bye in the quarterfinal round on November 3 and will play the winner of the game between Bloomsburg (18-4) and Kutztown (17-4) in the semifinals on November 9 at 4 p.m. in Lowell. In the North Region, host UMass-Lowell (18-2) is the No. 1 seed and will await the winner of the quarterfinal game between Bentley (14-6) and C.W. Post (16-3) in the second semifinal at 7 p.m. The championship game will be played on November 11 at 1 p.m. IUP earned its lofty seed on the strength of its first ever PSAC championship, including a 4-3 overtime victory over Bloomsburg in the championship game. The Crimson Hawks went 3-0 against the defending national champion Huskies this season, split two games against Kutztown and defeated Bentley 4-0 and lost to UMass-Lowell 2-1 on an August trip to New England. IUP has a record of 2-4 in its previous four NCAA tournament appearances. Last year, the Crimson Hawks defeated Shippensburg 2-1 in the quarterfinals before dropping a 2-0 decision to Bloomsburg in the semifinals. In 2005, IUP lost 2-1 in overtime to Bloomsburg. The previous season IUP posted a 2-0 win over Shippensburg at Miller Stadium before losing to Bloomsburg 3-1 in the semifinals, also in Lowell, Mass. IUP’s first trip to the NCAA tournament came in 2000 when the team was eliminated by Lock Haven in the opening round.
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