Box Score SCRANTON, Pa. – Sophomore Niamh Healy (Orangeburg, N.Y./Tappan Zee) scored both goals in the match and The top seeded University of Scranton women's soccer team (15-0-1) blanked the No. 4 seed Moravian Greyhounds (6-5-4) in Landmark Conference semifinal action on Wednesday night at Weiss Field in Scranton.
The Royals will host No. 3 seed Elizabethtown (8-6-3) in Saturday's championship game that will get underway at 5 p.m. at Weiss Field in Scranton. The Blue Jays played to a 2-2 draw against second seed Susquehanna on Wednesday and advanced in a thrilling 10 round penalty kick shootout.
Head coach Colleen Pivirotto's program is in search of their fourth Landmark title in the last five seasons following championship victories in 2016, 2017 and 2019.
Scranton was ranked No. 18 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Top 25 poll that was released earlier this week.
For Healy, this marks the fourth time in five games that she has scored a goal and it is also her second multi-goal game of the season following a two-goal effort in a 4-0 win over Lebanon Valley on Sept. 16.
The Orangeburg, N.Y., native opened the scoring in the 15th minute as fellow sophomore Claire Mulholland (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) sent a feed to the near post and Healy was able to slide a shot past Moravian keeper Payce Korpics. In the final 25 plus minutes of the opening stanza, Korpics tallied a pair of saves to keep things at 1-0 for the time being as the Royals held a 6-0 shot advantage in the half.
In the early stages of the second half, the Royals threatened on a couple of different occasions before junior Teresa Hegarty (Bryn Mawr, Pa./Merion Mercy Academy) played a ball to Healy who got behind the defense in the 61st minute and found the back of the net for her ninth goal of the season and a 2-0 lead. Perhaps the best chance of the Royals in the final 30 minutes came in the 79th minute when senior Callie Deola (Churchville, Pa./Council Rock South) ripped a shot from the top of the box, but Paige Harrison made the save for the Greyhounds.
Healy's nine goals are tied for the team and Landmark Conference lead along with senior Grace Elliott (Westfield, N.J./Westfield).
Scranton's defense once again proved to be dominant as they held Moravian without a shot in the match en route to their 13th clean sheet of the season. Healy paced the Royals with five shots in the contest as they held a 19-0 advantage in that category.
Harrison made four saves and Korpics added two of her own in 45 minutes of action apiece for Moravian.
The Royals and Blue Jays battled to a 2-2 draw last Saturday in what was the regular season finale for both teams. A full preview of Saturday's title game will be posted at athletics.scranton.edu on Friday.
--ROYALS--
