The Bentley University field hockey team is back in a familiar place looking ahead to matches against familiar opponents.
It might all seem all too ordinary if it wasn't so very extraordinary.
With a 2-1 victory over Stonehill College in the Northeast-10 Conference championship game on Sunday, the Falcons won for the 15th time in 17 games and avenged two of their four losses during the regular season. One of their other losses came to UMass-Lowell, which Bentley also bested, 1-0, in NE-10 tourney play this weekend.
The conference crown earned the Falcons the second seed in the North Region of the NCAA Division II tourney and potentially another meeting with both of their fiercest rivals. Bentley (16-4) hosts third-seeded UMass-Lowell Saturday at 1 p.m. with the winner advancing to play at regional top seed Stonehill next Friday in the semifinals. The national championship will be decided Nov. 15 in Easton.
After rallying from a 1-5 start to reach the NCAA semis in King's first season last year, the Falcons chipped out of a less-daunting 1-2 hole this year before tearing through the bulk of their schedule.
``This year our early schedule was very difficult,'' King noted. ``It always is. It took us a while to find our identity. Once we did, we were winning very consistently.
``Early on, we were trying a couple of new formations. Then we finally found the one that fit our personnel. It just took a little while to figure that out. Once that clicked, (the players) said they felt very comfortable, and we were able to thrive in that environment.''
Bentley improved as the season progressed and was at its best during this weekend's twin killing.
``I think we didn't feel as much of a burden as we did last year with the 1-5 start,'' said sophomore Stephanie Sideris, the Watertown High alumna who was named NE-10 Freshman of the Year last season and this year is the team's second-leading scorer with 28 points (10 goals, 8 assists) in 19 games. ``I felt like we were more consistent and no matter happened we stuck together as a team. This past weekend showed a lot of that. Those were the two games where people could say we really, really pulled it together as a team and won for each other.''
Sideris scored the game's only goal against UMass-Lowell on Friday. She and senior Nicole Murphy then assisted on freshman Nicole Dion's game-winning goal in the first half Sunday against Stonehill.
``We just get ourselves personally fired up,'' Sideris said. ``This weekend there was a fire under me, I guess, everyone was saying. It was lot of positive talk on the field and keeping everyone motivated.''
Senior Allison St. Jean scored Bentley's other goal and senior goalie Alyssa Sliney made five saves. Sliney, Sideris and Murphy were named to the All-Tournament team with Murphy named the event's Most Outstanding Player.
``Over the two days, her efforts were off the charts - with the ball, without the ball,'' King said of the Dedham High alumna. ``When she didn't have it, she got it back shortly thereafter.''
Bentley had lost to Stonehill 4-1 in Waltham on Sept. 2 and 2-1 in Easton on Sept. 27.
``We learned from our mistakes this time against them,'' Murphy said. ``Everything they had been doing this season to shut people down, we just countered it. We just really worked well together. We maximized everything we could have done against them and did it very well.''
The Falcons hope to maintain the golden touch this weekend when they face UMass-Lowell for the third time in 17 days.
``All the games we played with Lowell were very close,'' King said. ``The stage is so big that I don't think we're going to consider what happened before. It will just be preparing for what we know to expect. We will make some adjustments, so they don't know quite what to expect, and see if that works.''
Other than the slight variations in game plan, King said she will try to keep things as normal as possible.
``It really is just UMass-Lowell coming here to play us,'' she said. ``You'll know it's the NCAAs on Saturday. It's a lot of fanfare and a lot distractions. But focusing on that isn't really going to help us win.''
Neither will focusing a potential fourth game of the year against Stonehill next week, or the national title game that may follow.
``It is a game-by-game thing where you focus on the task at hand and don't think about what's to come,'' Sideris assured. ``You keep each other motivated. That's what got us through this weekend.''
``It changes in the sense that your attitude becomes: `This is it,''' Murphy allowed. ``If you lose, you go home.
``And no one wants to go home.''
(Scott Souza is a Daily News staff writer. He can be reached at 781-398-8006 or ssouza@cnc.com.)
