National champs
UD club field hockey team tops Virginia for title
11:24 a.m., Nov. 8, 2011--The University of Delaware's club field hockey team capped a stellar season the weekend of Nov. 5-6 by winning the National Field Hockey League's 14th annual championship.
UD defeated the University of Virginia 3-2 in overtime on a penalty stroke by JaJa Kentwell to win the championship, which was contested at the National Field Hockey Training Center in Virginia Beach, Va.
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Virginia was unbeaten and ranked No. 1 in the nation entering the tournament.
The teams played to a 2-2 tie in regulation and the game went into a sudden death 7 v. 7 overtime period when UD was awarded a penalty stroke and Kentwell scored to win the game and the national championship.
It was the UD club's first national championship.
UD reached the championship by defeating Duke University 4-0 in the semifinals and the University of Connecticut 2-1 in the quarterfinals, a game that also went to overtime.
UD advanced to the quarterfinals from pool play, where it defeated Old Dominion University 4-3,Penn State University 3-0 and the University of Maryland 4-0.
UD had a dominating regular season before nationals, compiling a record of 14-1.
There are 87 teams in the National Field Hockey League -- the governing body of club field hockey -- from all over the United States and the top 16 teams were chosen to compete in the national tournament. The UD team was ranked third entering tournament play.
Throughout the tournament, the UD team wore yellow ribbons on their jerseys in honor of Nicole Marzano, a member of the UD women's club soccer team who died Oct. 30 in an automobile accident.