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Photo gallery (courtesy of Dan Ceccacci)
Photo gallery (courtesy of Emma Black)
SCRANTON, Pa.—Junior midfielder Nicholas Swift (Lafayette Hill, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) scored a goal with 1:47 remaining in the fourth period to lift The University of Scranton to a come-from-behind 9-8 victory over Goucher College in the Landmark Conference regular-season finale for both teams Saturday afternoon at Fitzpatrick Field.
Junior midfielder Alec Mikrut (Belle Mead, NJ/Montgomery) led the Royals, now 9-7 overall and 5-2 in the conference, with three goals and an assist, senior attackman Anthony Lombardo (Mendham, NJ/Mendham) finished with two goals and two assists, and senior midfielder Will Mahle (Montgomery, NJ/Montgomery) and Swift scored two goals apiece to help Scranton overcome a 6-3 halftime deficit.
The Royals, who locked up the number three seed in the Landmark postseason tournament which begins Wednesday, also got 13 saves from junior goalkeeper Nicholas McKaba (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris), two assists from junior midfielderNick Mullery (Clark, NJ/Arthur L. Johnson), and an assist from sophomore attackman Jake Haimson (Montville, NJ/Montville).
Goucher, which ended its season with a 7-7 overall record and 2-5 mark in the Landmark, was led by junior attackman Owen Demmerly (Medford, NJ/Shawnee) and senior attackman Sam Morgan (Wilmot, NH/Kearsarge Regional) with two goals apiece and senior midfielder Gavin Wilson (Charlestown, Pa./Great Valley), junior midfielder Michael Morgan (Austin, Texas/Westwood), freshman attackman Pierce Bailey (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Preparatory), and senior attackmanWill Brennan (Geneva, NY/Geneva) tallied one apiece.
Mahle scored back-to-back goals in the third period that kick-started a 5-0 rally that included a pair of goals from Mikrut and another by Lombardo as the Royals built up an 8-6 lead with 10:03 left in the fourth period.
Morgan then cut the lead to 8-7 with an unassisted goal with 8:38 left and the Gophers took advantage of a penalty to added a man-up goal by Morgan to tie it up with 7:27 remaining. The Royals then committed two penalties—one a two-minute non-releasable for an illegal body check—but Scranton was able to kill both penalties successfully, setting up Swift’s game-winning goal on a play set up by Lombardo.
Senior Matt Finor (Churchville, Pa./Council Rock South) won 12 of 21 face-offs and finished with five ground balls and an assist for Scranton, which held a 33-29 advantage in ground balls and pressured the Gophers into 14 turnovers.
Scranton will take on second-seeded Susquehanna University in one Landmark semifinal game this Wednesday, April 29, in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, beginning at 4:00 p.m.
--ROYALS--
