Field Hockey

Delaware Valley College 2, Wilkes University 0
DeSales Win Keeps Aggies Out Of Freedom Conference Playoffs

DOYLESTOWN (PA) - It was a bittersweet day for Delaware Valley as the Aggies posted a 2-0 home victory over Wilkes University, but a 5-0 win by DeSales over Manhattanville kept them out of the Freedom Conference playoffs.

Delaware Valley tied a school record with its 12th win of the season (12-8) and finished tied for third with both DeSales and Wilkes at 3-3. The three teams split games with each other and also had the same results against the remaining conference foes. The tiebreaker scenario went to head-to-head results against a common non-conference opponent (different sites) and all three played Moravian College.

Wilkes defeated Moravian while Delaware Valley and DeSales both loss to the Greyhounds. That gave Wilkes the third seed and DeSales got the fourth spot ahead of the Aggies thanks to a 4-1 victory in their head-to-head match-up. Wilkes will travel to second-seeded FDU-Florham while DeSales will head to top-seeded King's College for Wednesday's semifinals.

Delaware Valley is still hoping to play at least another game this year as it applied for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Mid-Atlantic Championships. That eight-team field will be announced after the NCAA selections on Monday, November 5.

The Aggies quickly took care of business on Sunday as they scored just 3:56 into the contest. A mad scramble took place in front of the cage and sophomore Danielle Heyne was able to put the ball in for her ninth goal of the season.

It stayed 1-0 until junior Bethany Pavlik drilled a shot from the top of the circle and Michelle Cernobyl redirected it in with 2:08 remaining in the half. If the season has ended for Delaware Valley, Cernobyl will have set the Aggie single-season record for goals (21) while Pavlik will have set the record for points (50).

Delaware Valley held a 19-17 advantage in shots and an 11-5 advantage in corners. Amy Stafford stopped four shots for her third shutout of the season. Julia Smith notched eight saves for the Lady Colonels.