Box Score WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – Sophomore Bridget Abraldes (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem East) notched her first career hat trick and The University of Scranton field hockey team (10-0) toppled Wilkes (2-9) by a score of 7-0 in non-conference action on Wednesday night at Schmidt Stadium in Wilkes-Barre.
The Royals were receiving the most votes (101) among teams in the others receiving votes category in the latest Penn Monto/NFHCA Division III Coaches Poll that was released earlier this week.
Abraldes becomes the third Royals player to register a hat trick this season following senior Allie Benadon (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) on Sept. 14 vs. Marywood and fellow sophomore Katie Redding (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) on Sept. 25 at Susquehanna.
This marks the second 10-0 start for the program in the last four seasons after they won 15 straight to start the 2017 campaign.
The seven goals are also the most the Royals have scored since a 7-0 win at Susquehanna on Oct. 7, 2017.
Scranton put a series of chances on net in the early going and opened the scoring in the 8th minute as Redding found the back of the cage with her ninth goal of the season. Head coach Colleen Moyer's squad continued the offensive barrage early in the second quarter and sophomore Elle Collins (Long Valley, N.J./West Morris Central) nearly extended the lead as she had a shot hit the post and a follow up attempt saved by Wilkes keeper Carly Eidle. Just a couple minutes later, Collins sent a feed to senior Molly Sheehan (Haddonfield, N.J./Haddonfield Memorial) who notched her second goal of the season and 46 seconds after Sheehan's goal, Benadon beat Eidle with a blast to make it 3-0 going into the locker room.
Early on in the third quarter, Benadon and Abraldes struck just over a minute apart to quickly extend the lead for the visitors to 5-0. Abraldes notched her second of the game in the 38th minute off a pass from senior Amanda Gerenza (Stroudsburg, Pa./Pocono Mountain East) to make it 6-0 and closed the scoring off an assist from Benadon in the last two minutes of regulation.
The multi-goal game for Benadon was her third of the season and the fourth of her career as she leads the team with 11 goals on the year.
Scranton held a dominant 28-3 advantage in shots led by five from Collins. In the cage for the Royals, junior Clare Maguire (Oreland, Pa./Mount Saint Joseph Academy) made two saves in the first 45 minutes and freshmen Gianna Travia (Havertown, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) and Julie Rogel (Huntington, N.Y./Huntington) combined to play the final 15 minutes.
Eidle recorded 14 saves in the losing effort for the Colonels.
The Royals return to Landmark Conference play this weekend as they host Goucher on Saturday afternoon with start time at Weiss Field slated for 1 p.m.
--ROYALS--
