State College, Pa., November 11, 2003 - The Penn State Field Hockey team, ranked seventh nationally in the final STX/NFHCA Coaches Association Poll, will travel to the University of Maryland for the first two rounds of the NCAA Field Hockey Championship. Its first round opponent, the Tigers of Princeton finished the season with a 12-5 overall mark, including a 3-2 setback to Penn State on September 14th. Penn State, led by seniors Timarie Legel, Heather Conroy and Annie Zinkavich, posted a 17-6 overall mark and 3-3 in conference play. Legel finished the regular season among the conference leaders in shots (first), points (third) and assists (first), while Conroy and Zinkavich anchored a backline that gave up just 28 regular season goals (1.4 per game). Penn State made school history last season, by making it to the NCAA Championship game for the first time in school history. The 2002 run saw respective 3-2 victories over Kent State and Princeton in the first and second rounds and another 3-2 win over Old Dominion in the Championship's Semifinals. The Nittany Lions eventually dropped the Championship contest by a 2-0 mark to Wake Forest. The Saturday contest with Princeton will mark the sixth time the two schools will have met in postseason play, with the Nittany Lions posting a 3-2 mark in the previous five contests. The last such meeting, a 2002 second round contest, saw Penn State top the Tigers by a 3-2 mark. The 2003 meeting will mark the fourth time in Penn State's last five postseason appearances that it has faced Princeton, dropping two out of the last three such contests. The winner of the Penn State/Princeton contest will take on the winner of the Maryland (18-3, 2-2 ACC) versus California (13-3, 6-0 NorPac) match-up for the right to advance to the Tournament's Semifinals at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA November 21st. NCAA First and Second Round Games Saturday, November 15th Sunday, November 16th
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