Box Score
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sophomore Allie Benadon (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) scored the game-winner with 2:10 left in the first overtime and The University of Scranton field hockey team (6-3, 1-0 Landmark) topped Catholic (4-5, 0-1 Landmark) in a 2-1 overtime thriller on Saturday afternoon at Cardinal Stadium.
Benadon raced up the left side of the field and beat Catholic goalie Maysen Elliott with a shot to the far side of the cage to give the Royals the victory in the Landmark Conference opener for both teams.
This is the second straight win over Catholic after a 1-0 win in last season's Landmark semifinals.
The Cardinals opened the scoring just 4:35 into the game as Hannah Bateman took a feed from Claire Flannery and found the back of the net to make it a 1-0 game. Benadon tied the game with 1:32 left in the first half with a shot off a penalty corner.
Benadon leads the team with five goals on the year and this marks the first multi-goal game of her career. It is also the second consecutive game that the Royals have had a player score two goals after senior Nicolette Keale (Wall Township, N.J./Wall) tallied a pair in a 3-0 win over Wilkes on Wednesday.
Scranton withstood an onslaught of shots from Catholic in the fourth quarter as the hosts registered six shots in the quarter. Senior goalie Claire McAllister (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth-Whitemarsh) made a key save on a shot by Jess Waite with 12:47 to play and senior defender Lauren Earnshaw (Audubon, Pa./Methacton) tallied her conference leading fifth defensive save on a shot by Waite with 1:55 to play. The Cardinals also had two penalty corners in the final two plus minutes of regulation. In the first overtime, Catholic controlled play for the first half of the period before the Royals responded with offensive pressure and sophomore Amelia Sharp (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) hit the post with a shot with 4:10 left. Both teams had four shots in the overtime period.
Catholic held a 15-6 advantage in shots and Benadon paced the Royals with two shots. McAllister recorded two saves for Scranton, while Elliott had one save for the Cardinals.
The Royals return home to host Albright in a non-conference matchup on Wednesday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. Landmark Conference play resumes when Goucher comes to Weiss Field for a 1 p.m. tilt on Saturday, Oct. 5.
--ROYALS--
