Hempstead, NY – The Hofstra Field Hockey team returns to the Colonial Athletic Association Field Hockey Championship on Friday, November 6 when the third seed Pride (14-5, 4-2) face the second seed and 15th ranked Delaware Blue Hens (14-5, 4-2) in the second semifinal contest at the James Madison Field Hockey Complex. Game time is 5:45 p.m.

The top seed and 16th-ranked Dukes of James Madison (13-5, 6-0) will face the fourth seed Drexel Dragons (8-10, 4-2) in the first semifinal at 3 p.m. The two winners of the semifinals will square off against each other for the CAA championship and the automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship on Sunday at 2 p.m. The CAA will provide live stats for all games in the tournament and all games will be streamed live on CAA.TV. Links can be found on GoHofstra.com.
 
Hofstra is making its ninth appearance in the CAA Championship tournament and its first since 2012. This will be the sixth semifinal appearance for the Pride. Hofstra has advanced to one conference title game and that came in 2004 when fourth-seed Hofstra knocked off number one seed William and Mary in overtime, 1-0 before falling to third seed Delaware, 5-1 in the championship game.

Hofstra will be meeting the Blue Hens for the third time in the CAA Championship with a 2-1 win over UD in the first round in 2006 and the title game loss in 2004. The two teams met on October 9 in Hempstead with the Blue Hens posting a 4-2 victory.

The Pride, who have won 12 of their last 14 contests, are coming off a 1-1 weekend in Virginia with a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over William and Mary last Friday and an 8-1 loss to James Madison on Sunday in a game that decided the regular season champion. Junior Stella Schoen had two goals and one assist and classmate Claudia Marin Samper had a goal and two assists in the win over William and Mary. On Sunday at JMU, the Dukes scored six first half goals on the way to victory. Marin Samper's second half goal spoiled the shutout for JMU.

After 19 games this season, Hofstra continues to be led in scoring by Marin Samper with 19 goals and 16 assists for 54 points. Junior Stella Schoen has added 16 goals and seven assists and sophomore Simca Schoen has added 12 goals and eight assists. Senior captain Charlotte Loehr has posted five goals and eight assists while junior co-captain Colby Hussong has six goals and five assists. Sophomore Carys Swan, who missed the last five games with an injury, has a 2.29 goals against average with 61 saves and a .670 save percentage in 14 games while red-shirt sophomore Lauren Saltus has a 2.39 goals against average with 16 saves and a .533 save percentage in six games (5-1) this season.
 
The 15th-ranked Blue Hens of Delaware are 14-5 overall and finished the CAA regular season in a three-way tie, with Hofstra and Drexel, for second place with a 4-2 slate. UD, which enters the CAA Championship having won three of its last four contests, is coming off a 4-3 win at Northeastern last Sunday. The Blue Hens have wins over Central Michigan (10-3), Michigan State (3-1), Fairfield (4-1), Cornell (5-0), Temple (7-4), Princeton (4-3), Bucknell (5-3), Pacific (1-0), Richmond (3-2), William and Mary (4-0), Hofstra (4-2), Towson (9-0), Old Dominion (2-1) and Northeastern. The Blue Hens' losses came to Duke (5-1), James Madison (2-1), Liberty (6-2), Virginia (3-2 in OT) and Drexel (2-1).
 
The Blue Hens average 3.79 goals per game (72 goals in 19 games) and allow 2.16 per outing (41 goals) this season. Like Hofstra, Delaware is led by four European student-athletes headed by German senior Michaela Patzner with 10 goals and eight assists.  Dutch junior Esmee Peet has chipped in 11 goals and four assists while German freshman Greta Nauck has 10 goals and five assists. Dutch freshman Lisa Giezeman with 10 goals and three assists. The Blue Hens have 15 players who have scored at least one goal this season. Dutch sophomore goalie Emmeline Oltmans has played in all 19 games and has posted a 2.13 goals against average with 57 saves and a .582 save percentage.
 
Delaware holds a 22-7 series advantage over Hofstra but the two teams have split the last two meetings. The Pride defeated the Blue Hens, 5-2 in Newark in 2014 and the Blue Hens topped the Pride, 4-2 in Hempstead this season.