Box Score SCRANTON, Pa. -- Sophomore Katie Redding (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) notched her second hat trick of the season and The University of Scranton field hockey team (15-1, 6-1 Landmark) rolled to a 6-1 win over the Elizabethtown Blue Jays (7-11, 3-4 Landmark) in the team's regular season finale on Saturday afternoon at Weiss Field in Scranton.
With the win, the Royals have matched their single-season program record for victories that was set in 2017 and clinched the No. 2 seed in this week's Landmark Conference Tournament. Scranton will host No. 3 seed Susquehanna in a semifinal matchup on Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m.
Redding previously scored a hat trick in a 3-0 win at then-No. 17 Susquehanna on Sept. 25 and has put together a season for the record books with 40 points on 16 goals and eight assists. The eight assists are tied for the second most in a single season in program history, while the 40 points are tied for fifth most in a single season and her 16 goals are tied for seventh best.
The Blue Jays had a couple of chances off a penalty corner in the seventh minute before Redding put the Royals on the board shortly after as she got behind the defense and converted the opportunity for a 1-0 lead. In the 14th minute, fellow sophomore Bridget Abraldes (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem East) fed Redding in front of the cage and the Havertown, Pa., native extended the lead to 2-0. ETown cut the lead to 2-1 at the halfway point of the second quarter with a tally from Sydney Aguilar and Royals goalie Clare Maguire (Oreland, Pa./Mount Saint Joseph Academy) turned away a shot from Grace Hardy that would have evened the game in the 25th minute. Scranton would strike with two goals in a 38 second span in the 28th minute as sophomore Elle Collins (Long Valley, N.J./West Morris Central) deflected an initial shot from freshman Reagan Dolan (Broomall, Pa./Bonner & Prendergast) and Redding ripped a shot from the top of the circle to make it a 4-1 game at the half.
The goal for Collins was her second of the season.
Maguire tallied a pair of saves in the third quarter to keep the visitors at bay and in the 42nd minute, senior Allie Benadon (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) blasted a shot past Rachel Murphy to extend the Royals' lead to 5-1. Head coach Colleen Moyer's squad closed the scoring with under a minute to play as Redding sent a pass to senior Shannon Broderick (New Fairfield, Conn./New Fairfield) who beat Murphy to make it a 6-1 game.
Benadon's goal was her 14th of the season and it was the second for Broderick.
The Royals held a slight 13-10 advantage in shots led by four apiece from Benadon and Redding, while Maguire registered four saves in the win.
Prior to the game, the Royals honored the senior class of Benadon, Broderick, Shaelin de Wit (New Tripoli, Pa./Northwestern Lehigh), Amanda Gerenza (Stroudsburg, Pa./Pocono Mountain East), Ellie Lindauer (New Freedom, Pa./Susquehannock), Ashley Moore (Conshohocken, Pa./Mount Saint Joseph Academy), Madison Nord (Bryn Mawr, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) and Molly Sheehan (Haddonfield, N.J./Haddonfield Memorial).
Wednesday's semifinal matchup versus Susquehanna will serve as a rematch of each of the last two Landmark title games in 2018 and 2019.
--ROYALS--
