From staff reports

EASTON, Mass. -- The Lady Raider field hockey team put forth a determined effort against the No. 1 team in the nation on Friday afternoon, but dropped a 4-2 decision to Bloomsburg in the NCAA Division II Field Hockey Semifinals.

Shippensburg (20-3) concluded the 2009 campaign having matched the franchise record for victories in a season, a mark that was originally set in 2005. The Lady Raiders reached the national semifinals for the second consecutive season, with the team's only three setbacks in 2009 coming at the hands of the Huskies (21-1).

SU head coach Bertie Landes said, "It was a great game, as it always is between Shippensburg and Bloomsburg. I'm really proud of this team and where they've come."

SU opened the scoring in the eighth minute of play off a penalty corner. The Lady Raiders, who led the PSAC this season in penalty corner opportunities, capitalized when freshman defender Ashley Taylor fired a volley into the cage off an assist from senior Laura Wylde.

Just three minutes later, the Huskies countered with a goal off a penalty corner. Erin Hench finished a pass from Aubrey Carmen with a re-direct past drawn out senior goalkeeper Amanda Houser to tie the score at 1-1.

While each squad had additional penalty corner opportunities, the score remained tied at 1-1 at halftime. Shippensburg mustered eight penalty corner opportunities to just one for Bloomsburg over the first 35 minutes of play while firing seven shots

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in the opening half.

Two minutes into the second half, Bloomsburg forward Amanda Riley nearly gave the Huskies the lead off a penalty corner, but her second of back-to-back shot attempts was prevented with an excellent defensive save by senior Lois Kaschenbach. She added another marvelous defensive save in the 63rd minute to prevent another goal.

Bloomsburg gained momentum in the second half. Maggie Bloskey scored off a rebound in the 40th minute that gave the Huskies a 2-1 lead. The margin was extended to 3-1 in the 47th minute with a goal by Riley off an assist from Bloskey.

The Lady Raiders continued to press and got within one goal of Bloomsburg with eight minutes to play. Shippensburg advanced with a rush up the right side in the 62nd minute when sophomore Kristina Taylor sent a cross that was finished by sophomore Katie Pufnock for her seventh goal of the season.

A penalty corner with five-and-a-half minutes to play nearly resulted in the game-tying goal, but Shippensburg sent a shot that was deflected just wide of the cage. About a minute later, Bloomsburg's Aime Sgarlat increased the Husky lead to two goals with a shot from the edge of the circle.

Senior Jamie Doughty said, "It's been an awesome experience. We had a vision to make it here, and to do that in back-to-back years is such an honor and something that we don't take for granted."

Shippensburg's 2009 squad had a mix of young players and established veterans. The Lady Raiders featured seven seniors that over the course of their careers won 67 of their 89 total games. That group included Houser, Doughty, Kaschenbach, Wylde, Lauren Hollingsworth, Kim Tully and Mariah Wooters.

Landes said, "These seven seniors committed to each other last spring to do some things off the field that hadn't been done before and do them in a positive way. This group has prayed together, played together and stayed together, and what else can you ask for when you have kids like that?"

Bloomsburg will play UMass-Lowell or Stonehill in Sunday's national championship game. Bloomsburg 4, Shippensburg 2

Shippensburg 1 1 -- 2

Bloomsburg 1 3 -- 4

Shippensburg scoring -- G -- Ashley Taylor, Katie Pufnock. A -- Laura Wylde (penalty corner), Kristina Taylor.

Bloomsburg scoring -- G -- Erin Hench, Maggie Bloskey, Amanda Riley, Aime Sgarlat. A -- Aubrey Carman (penalty corner), Bloskey.

Shots -- Ship 12; Bloom 9. Penalty corners -- Ship 12; Bloom 3. Saves -- Ship 3 (Amanda Houser); Bloom 8 (Caitlin Koczynski).

Next game: Season is over.