Drexel wins field hockey tourney debut

Drexel achieved another sports milestone Saturday afternoon when its 10th-ranked women's field hockey team made its NCAA tournament debut with a 3-2 upset of No. 5 Connecticut in College Park, Md.

It's the first win for Drexel in any NCAA Division I tournament since 1996, when the men's basketball team upset Memphis.

The game also provided a measure of revenge for a 5-2 regular-season loss to Connecticut in Storrs.

The field hockey team's ranking is its highest ever.

"Coming off a loss in our conference championship game, the team stepped it up this week to prepare for UConn," Dragons coach Denise Zelenak said. "After receiving an at-large bid, the team came through with their best performance to date."

The Dragons (19-3) took a 3-1 lead late in the game against the Huskies (19-3) on a pair of goals by Kim Tunell of Wilmington and a goal and two assists by Carolina Gibernau, a native of Uruguay.

"Against UConn, our quick passing game created many opportunities for our offense," Zelenak said. "We had exceptional execution on our penalty corners. We scored on three of our nine corners, which is a high percentage against a very talented defense."

Drexel outshot UConn, 20-10, and earned nine penalty corners to the Huskies' five.

The Dragons' Sofia Sanguinetti, also from Uruguay, the 2009 Colonial Athletic Association Defender of the Year, played smothering defense against Loren Scherer, the NCAA's leading scorer, allowing her just three shots.

Goalie Jenna Phillips from Hatboro-Horsham High had four saves.

Although the squad had Saturday night to relish the win over one school known for athletic victories, a tougher challenge awaits Sunday, when the Dragons face defending champion Maryland, the No. 1 seed.

"Maryland is a very dangerous attacking team that has exceptional finishers," Zelenak noted. "They are 20-0, but we are going to bring our best game. We have an opportunity to play the No. 1 team in the country . . . we are in the final eight . . . we are excited for the opportunity to play to get into the Final Four."

The unbeaten Terrapins (23-0) advanced with a 6-1 win over American University (12-9).

Senior cocaptain Jennifer Bolger of Berlin, N.J., has been part of the Drexel squad's growth from its days of struggling to be competitive.

"It was awesome to come from freshman year when this team had never been to an NCAA tournament," Bolger said after the win. "We've worked so hard, and this year we finally achieved our goal to reach the NCAAs.

"Today we proved to ourselves that we can not only make it, but we can win. We didn't just make the tournament, we showed up ready to play."

In another breakthrough last spring, the women's basketball team captured its first-ever Colonial Athletic Association regular and postseason titles, setting a season record for wins at 24, and making a first-ever NCAA tournament appearance.

Along the way, coach Denise Dillon's team defeated Old Dominion in the conference semifinals, making it the first loss for the Monarchs in the tournament in 17 years since joining the CAA.