Note: The Warriors open the 2010 season this weekend with games at Merrimack on Saturday and Stonehill on Sunday. Their first home game is on Sunday, Sept. 12 vs. Adelphi.

East Stroudsburg University will eye a return trip to the NCAA field hockey playoffs when the 2010 season gets underway this fall under the direction of veteran head coach Sandy Miller.

Seniors Caitlin Brownley and Joanna Reckley, both All-America selections in 2009, are among 10 returning starters from a team that went 14-7 a year ago and was one of six squads picked for the NCAA Division II championship field.

The Warriors bring back players who scored 51 of their 54 goals last season, including Brownley (19 goals, eight assists) and senior forward Jessica Frantz (14 goals, 10 assists), but also have all three starters returning along the back line along with junior goalkeeper Maureen Ordnung, who was second in Division II in save percentage (.807) in her first year as a starter.

The number and quality of returning players has the Warriors hopeful of not only a repeat appearance in the NCAA tournament, but also a deep postseason run while extending the program's streak of 23 seasons with at least a .500 record.

Brownley was first team All-PSAC East, first team All-America, and one of the top scorers in the country during a breakout junior season. She was fourth in DII in points per game (2.19) and sixth in goals per game (0.90), and sat atop the DII rankings with 16 goals through the first 13 games of the season as ESU ran out to an 11-2 record.

Frantz already had an All-America certificate on her resume entering her first year at ESU after transferring from IUP. A former Pleasant Valley standout, Frantz was second team All-PSAC East last year after ranking fifth in the country in assists per game.

Senior Brittany Kocis (six goals, four assists) and sophomore Alyson Becker (two goals) also return at forward. Kocis, who has 15 goals as a three-year starter, will finish her career as the third Kocis sister to earn four letters in field hockey at ESU, following Nicole '05 and Ashley '07.

Senior Katie Anderson, sophomores Mallory Pope and Lauren Ventrella and freshman Brielle Kessel are also expected to see time in the regular rotation at forward. Ventrella is also a standout sprinter and hurdler on the Warriors' track and field team, and Kessel played scholastically at East Stroudsburg South and is the daughter of Gary and Debra Kessel, both members of the ESU Athletic Hall of Fame.

Other potential contributors at forward include sophomores Kaitlin Blum, Kate Conklin, Karen Delle Donne and Brandi Smith and freshman Taylor Kerkusz.

Reckley has started 50 games as a center midfielder over the last three years and was recognized as a second team All-American last season, finishing with three goals and eight assists.

Seniors Kayla Cilenti, Angela Frantz and Amanda McGuire will also be key players in the midfield. Cilenti is a two-year starter as a midfielder and back and was All-PSAC as a sophomore, and McGuire had three goals and two assists last year and was ESU's Coaches Award recipient.

A pair of juniors, Tesla Atkins and Devin Whalen, will also be counted on to contribute, while a few of the Warriors' forwards may also step back into the midfield.

The backs are led by sophomore Mical Fink, the PSAC East Freshman of the Year and a first team all-conference selection last season at center back. The Warriors also have returning starters at the outside back positions in senior Kira Edelman, who has made 48 career starts, and junior Lucrezia Manzione, a starter over the past season and a half.

Four players are also expected to compete for playing time in junior Michelle Tewell, sophomore Jessica Bachman and freshman Rebecca Smith.

Ordnung had an outstanding season as the Warriors' goalkeeper last year as one of just four players in Division II to have a save percentage above .800. She started all 21 games, playing all but 47 minutes in goal for the season, and posted a 1.65 goals against average to rank fourth in the PSAC.

Ordnung will be backed up by senior Jennifer Mullen, who has a 3-0 record in 10 career appearances in goal, and sophomore Sarah Dobroskey.