Box Score SCRANTON, Pa. – The University of Scranton field hockey team (12-0, 4-0 Landmark) broke the game open with five goals in the second half and remained unbeaten with a 7-0 win over the Drew Rangers (3-10, 0-4 Landmark) in conference action on Wednesday night at Weiss Field in Scranton.
The Royals led 2-0 at halftime and added three goals in the third quarter and two in the fourth to account for the final margin of victory.
This marks the third straight game that Scranton has scored seven goals or more following wins over Wilkes (7-0) and Goucher (9-0).
It is also the second time in four seasons that Scranton has gotten off to a 12-0 start after they won 15 in a row to open the 2017 campaign.
Head coach Colleen Moyer's squad was receiving the most votes (69) among teams in the others receiving votes category in the latest Penn Monto/NFHCA Coaches Poll that was released earlier this week.
The Royals put pressure on Drew from the outset as Rangers goalie Olyvia Jackson was forced to make consecutive saves just a few minutes into the game. In the ninth minute, sophomore Bridget Abraldes (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem East) took a feed from senior Allie Benadon (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) and found the back of the cage to put the Royals on the board. Scranton extended the lead in the 19th minute following a penalty corner as senior Shaelin de Wit (New Tripoli, Pa./Northwestern Lehigh) tipped the initial shot from Abraldes and extended the lead to 2-0. The hosts held a 13-1 shot advantage in the first half as Jackson made seven saves for Drew.
Just over two minutes into the third quarter, freshman Reagan Dolan (Broomall, Pa./Bonner & Prendergast) notched her first career goal with a backhanded shot at the far post to make it a 3-0 game. Dolan added an assist in the 37th minute when Abraldes deflected her shot past Jackson and two minutes later, sophomore Katie Redding (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) buried her own rebound to stretch the lead to 5-0. de Wit added her second of the game in the fourth quarter, while Benadon blasted a shot from the top of the circle to close the scoring in the 55th minute with her team-leading 12th tally of the season.
Abraldes has recorded three straight multi-goal games after scoring consecutive hat tricks last week, while it is the first multi-goal game of de Wit's career.
For the game, the Royals held a 22-1 advantage in shots led by seven from Redding and five from Benadon.
Freshman Gianna Travia (Havertown, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) got the start in goal for the Royals and notched her third shutout of the year as she has not allowed a goal in 257:54 of action.
Jackson tallied eight saves in the setback for the Rangers.
Scranton heads down to Catholic for a key Landmark Conference battle on Saturday evening with start time in Washington, D.C. slated for 5:30 p.m. The two teams currently sit tied atop the conference standings with a 4-0 mark.
--ROYALS--
