STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - University at Albany's field hockey team begins its NCAA tournament run on Saturday as it takes on fourth-seeded Penn State in State College at 11:30 a.m. The winner will advance to Sunday's second round and take on the winner of the Syracuse-UMass first-round contest.

Albany (13-7) qualified for the NCAA tournament by winning its third America East title in five years. The Great Danes, which also made NCAA appearances in 2008 and 2010, earned decisive wins over Maine and New Hampshire, respectively, in the America East Championship to earn is third-ever NCAA bid. Junior Daphne Voormolen, the championship's Most Outstanding Player, scored four times over the weekend, tying the tournament record, including three times in a 4-1 win over Maine in the semifinals, also tying the tournament record. The Great Danes, who are ranked 17th nationally, head into the tournament having won eight in a row by a combined score of 29-4.

Penn State (17-3), the nation's third-ranked team, won the Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles and is riding a seven-game win streak heading into Saturday's game. The two programs have never met before.

America East has 11 all-time wins in the NCAA Field Hockey Championship, the last coming in 2007 when Boston U. beat Iowa, 1-0, in double overtime. Albany nearly pulled off an upset in 2010, taking Ohio State to overtime before falling 2-1.