Highlanders Heading to Championship Match with 2-0 Win over SMS

Saint Louis, Mo. -- Radford field hockey made a little bit of school and NorPac history today. With their 2-0 win over Southwest Missouri State in the NorPac semifinals, the Highlanders will be playing in their first NorPac Tournament Championship Match. It will also mark the first time in six years of the tournament that Stanford and California-Berkeley will not be playing for the Championship.

The Highlanders will take on #20 Cal at 12:30 CDT tomorrow, who defeated Stanford, 3-0 in the other semifinal, setting up the first ever meeting between the schools. The winner of the Championship match will qualify for the NCAA play-in game. The match will be played at the winner of the Atlantic 10 tournament on Tuesday.

The Highlanders scored one goal in each half and Tina Caiazza (Fairfax, Va./Chantilly) posted her second straight shutout in the RU's victory. Freshman Kiera Gambeski (St. James, N.Y./Smithtown) put the Highs on the board in the 16th minute. After a nice run by junior Jenny Bell (Virginia Beach, Va./First Colonial), she flipped the ball over to Gambeski, who one-timed it into the back of the cage.

Radford doubled their lead 2:59 into the second half when seniors Erin Lenhardt (Hayes, Va./Gloucester) and Sarah Meriwether (Fairfax, Va./Lake Braddock) combined on a penalty corner. Lenhardt scored after receiving the initial push from Meriwether.

Caiazza made five saves. The Highlanders were outshot 11-6 and outcornered 10-5.