West Chester Heads to Bloomsburg For NCAA Semifinals

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BLOOMSBURG, PA – West Chester University's field hockey squad will finish up preparations for the NCAA Division II National Semifinals up in Bloomsburg, Pa., where the Golden Rams are slated to take on Newberry College Friday morning at 11 a.m. at Steph Pettit Stadium on the campus of Bloomsburg University.
 
Tickets to the national semifinal are $10 for adults and $7 for students and senior citizens. Children are $3. Ages 5 and under are free. Single-day tickets can be purchased online along with an all-session pass that would give you admission to both semifinals and the national championship game on Sunday. Those prices are $15, $10 and $4.
 
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The national championships will also be streamed live on NCAA.com. Brendan Gulick will be calling the semifinals and championship game with Kelsi Lykens on color commentary.
 
West Chester (14-6) advanced to the national semifinals for the eighth time since 2011 and first time since 2022 with the win over East Stroudsburg last Saturday. The Golden Rams improved to 13-6 in the Division II Tournament with the win and will take on Newberry College (19-0) for the second time this fall. The game will be a rematch of a regular-season encounter between the Golden Rams and Wolves, won by Newberry, 3-0, on Sept. 20.
 
"I think (Newberry) will see a much different team this weekend," junior back Gianna Funari (Voorhees, N.J./Bishop Eustace) said. "We have improved a lot since that game. We are much more disciplined and structured on defense.
 
"Newberry has a lot of speed and is very talented. We just have to stay patient defensively. Before the East Stroudsburg game, we talked about playing our style of game and controlling the pace of the game. I think that's what we have to do this weekend."
 
The Golden Rams have a little bit of history on their side this weekend. West Chester won the NCAA Division II Championship on Steph Pettit's turf in 2011. They are 2-1 on that field in the NCAA Tournament.
 
West Chester and head coach Amy Cohen are in search of their fourth Division II National Championship. Cohen steered the Golden Rams to the title in back-to-back seasons, 2011 and 2012, and then again in 2019.
 
A win over Newberry in the semifinals would improve West Chester's record in that round to 5-3 all-time, but more importantly, it would send them to the Division II National Championship Game on Sunday at 1 p.m. for the fifth time. Cohen and the Golden Rams are 3-1 in the D2 national title game since 2011.
 
Five seniors on West Chester's roster are making their second appearance in the national semifinals. Bella Aulisio, Kennedy Graham, Gianna Jaszczak, Ella Shockley and Caitlynn Szarko were all freshmen on the 2022 squad that lost to Shippensburg in Seattle, Wash., the last time the Golden Rams reached the national semifinals. Only Shockley and Szarko saw action in the contest with Shockley earning a start that evening. Assistant Coach, Dara Spavlik, was also a senior captain on that 2022 squad.