Richmond Earns Top Seed in 2012 A-10 Field Hockey Championship


NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – No. 16 University of Richmond earned the top seed for the 2012 Atlantic 10 Field Hockey Championship, which gets underway on Fri., Nov. 2, at Garber Field on the campus of the University of Massachusetts.

Richmond (15-4/7-0) will take on fourth-seeded VCU (13-5/4-3), while No. 18 Massachusetts (12-8/6-1), the host team, squares off against third-seeded Temple (12-8/5-2).

The Spiders, reigning A-10 Champions and seven time league winners, enter the tournament undefeated in conference play. Richmond led the league in both conference and non-conference wins, having won 15 games overall, including 10 straight victories. The Spiders are led by sophomore midfielder Rebecca Barry who leads the squad with 15 goals and 39 points on the season.

Massachusetts holds 12 tournament titles, and looks to earn their 13th conference title at the 2012 Championship. The Minutewomen set the stage earlier this month after upsetting No. 1 Syracuse, 2-1. UMass is led by senior forward Nicole Cordero, who leads the squad with 12 goals on the season and senior midfielder Kim Young who leads the team with 27 points.

Temple looks to garner its first A-10 Championship title since 1994, having qualified for the tournament in each of the past nine seasons. The Owls are led by sophomore forward Amber Youtz who is the conference leader in goals (21) and points (52).

VCU looks to earn its first A-10 tournament title in its inaugural season with the Conference. The Rams are led by senior forward Kelsey Scherrer, who is ranked second in the league with 16 goals and 41 points.

The Championship Semi-Finals:
Friday, Nov. 2
11:00 am Richmond vs. VCU
2:00 pm Massachusetts vs. Temple

Saturday, Nov. 3
2:00 pm The Finals

The winner of the single-elimination tournament will host the Northeast Conference champion in an NCAA Tournament play-in game on Tuesday, Nov. 6, at 1:00 pm. The winner will advance to the 2012 NCAA Field Hockey Championship.

http://www.atlantic10.com/sports/w-field...12aab.html