RELEASE DATE: 8/26/09

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Mansfield field hockey ranked #9 in nation in preseason NCAA Division II poll

MANSFIELD – The Mansfield University field hockey team has been ranked #9 in the nation in the 2009 Kookaburra/NFHCA Division II Preseason poll released today by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association.

Bloomsburg, the defending national champion, is ranked first in the poll followed by UMASS-Lowell with Shippensburg and IUP tied for third. Bentley College and Kutztown tied for fifth with East Stroudsburg and Stonehill ranked seventh and eighth respectively.

Mansfield is ninth followed by Mercyhurst.

Seven of the 10 teams in the poll are members of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) including four of the five teams in the PSAC West (IUP, Shippensburg, Mansfield, Mercyhurst).

Mansfield opens the 2009 season with a pair of games at the Shippensburg Tournament. The Mountaineers play St. Michael’s (VT) on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and Southern Connecticut at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday.

2009 Kookaburra/NFHCA Division II Preseason Poll

1.      

Blo