Providence, R.I.--Providence College will host this weekend's BIG EAST field hockey tournament, the first conference championship event to take place on campus since 1993.

The tournament, which will be held at the Friar Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex, will follow a semifinal/final format, featuring the top four-seeded teams in the league. The champion will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The host Friars earned the No. 4 seed and will face the defending conference champion and regular-season champion, Syracuse University, in the first semifinal at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 7. The second semifinal will feature No. 2-seeded Connecticut and No. 3-seeded Louisville beginning at 1:30 p.m. The two winners will face off for the title on Sunday, November 8, at 1:00 p.m.

Providence finished 3-3 in regular-season BIG EAST action. All three losses were against the other tournament participants, a 4-0 defeat to Connecticut on September 19, a 2-1 loss to Syracuse on September 26, and a 2-1 home loss to Louisville.

During the regular season, PC had a 6-3 record on its home turf, winning each of its last four home games, including an 8-0 victory over Georgetown in the BIG EAST regular season finale. The Friars have a 22-12 all-time home record since the complex opened in August of 2005.

The Friars will rely heavily on forwards Nellie Poulin '10 (Oakland, Maine) and Ashley Hudson '11 (Stoughton, Mass.), who have combined for 22 goals this season, and goalkeeper Rachel Chamberlain (Branford, Conn.), who was recently named the league's Co-Defensive Player of the Year. Two weeks after the tournament, Poulin and Chamberlain will both take part in the NFHCA Division I Senior All-Star Game in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Poulin enters the tournament with a goal and an assist in five career postseason games. Chamberlain has a 2-3 career record in BIG EAST Tournament play with a total of 33 saves in those five games.

-Al Daniel '11

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