Landmark Teams Ready For Championships

MADISON, N.J. - Four Landmark Conference Team Championships will be decided on Saturday as the newly-formed conference completes its first season of competition. Championship matches will be held in field hockey, men's and women's soccer and volleyball at the site of the highest seed remaining in the four-team postseasons.

The Landmark Field Hockey Championship will take place at The Catholic University of America as the top-seed Catholic hosts second seed Juniata College at 4 p.m. Both teams finished 5-1 in conference play during the regular season, with Juniata's only loss coming at the hands of Catholic by a 4-1 score. Eleven players from the All-Landmark Field Hockey Team will be in action in the contest, including Juniata senior Kim Wagner who was the Landmark Offensive Player of the Year and led the conference with 23 goals. Catholic's Michelle Repass scored nine goals on the season, while the Cardinals have First-Team All-Landmark goalie Marian Cassilly and Andrea Baick who was the Landmark Co-Defensive Player of the Year.

The Landmark Men's Soccer Championship will be at Drew University with second-seed Drew hosting fourth-seed the University of Scranton at 2 p.m. Scranton upset top-seed United States Merchant Marine Academy in the semifinals with a double-overtime win, and will try and ride the offense of Landmark Offensive Player of the Year Tim Logan. The Rangers outlasted second-seed Susquehanna in overtime on a goal from Greg Zizek. Drew won the regular-season meeting between the two teams as they scored a pair of second-half goals to claim a 2-1 win. Drew had the stingiest defense in the conference during the regular season as All-Conference defender Dan Bonder and All-Conference goalie Jeff Rogers helped limit foes to just eight goals in eight conference matches.

The Landmark Women's Soccer Championship will feature the top two seeds as number one Scranton hosts second seed Moravian College at 1 p.m. Both teams were 5-1 in conference action during the regular season, with Scranton prevailing by a 2-0 margin when the teams met during the regular campaign. First-Team All-Landmark forward Beth Stepens had both goals in the victory. The Royals boast the toughest defense in the conference as the surrendered only two goals in seven matches. Leading the way is Landmark Defensive Player of the Year Laura Gibbons. The Greyhounds feature the conference Offensive Player of the Year in junior Tracy Fitzpatrick who has a conference-leading 13 goals. Goalkeeper Caitlin Corrigan was also an All-Landmark pick and posted 11 shutouts on the season.

The Landmark Volleyball Championship will be decided at top seed Juniata College as the Eagles welcome number two seed Scranton at 7 p.m. The Eagles swept Moravian 3-0 in the semifinals to reach the championship match, while Scranton went on the road and blanked second seed Catholic 3-0. Juniata went unbeaten in conference play during the year and is currently ranked second in Division III. The Eagles are led by Landmark Player of the Year Amber Thomas who is first in the conference in kills per game. Scranton was 4-2 in Landmark play during the regular season, and is one of the toughest defensive teams in the conference. Led by first-team All-Landmark middle hitter Brooke Hinkley, and All-Landmark libero Meaghan Curtin the Royals rank first and second respectively in the conference in digs and blocks per game.

Following the Championships on Saturday, the Landmark teams will wait until Sunday night and Monday morning to see if any team earned a spot in the NCAA Division III Tournament. As a first-year conference, Landmark Champions do not earn automatic qualification to the NCAA Tournament, but all Landmark programs will be eligible for either Pool B (Independent) or Pool C (At-Large) tournament bids.