Box Score SCRANTON, Pa. – The top seeded University of Scranton women's soccer team (16-0-1) scored a goal in each half and blanked the No. 3 seed Elizabethtown Blue Jays (7-7-3) by a score of 2-0 in the Landmark Conference Championship match on Saturday evening at Weiss Field in Scranton.
This marks the second consecutive Landmark crown for the Royals and the eighth overall for the program since joining the conference for the 2007 season.
Scranton is headed to the NCAA Tournament for a fifth straight year and has won a first round game in each of their last three appearances.
Senior Callie Deola (Churchville, Pa./Council Rock South) scored in the second half for the Royals and garnered Landmark MVP honors for her impressive play throughout the match.
The Royals threatened out of the gate as Blue Jays keeper Trinity Soto made two saves in the first 10 plus minutes of the match to keep things scoreless for the time being. In the 25th minute, senior Grace Elliott (Westfield, N.J./Westfield) sent a cross into the box and sophomore Emily Tantala (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy) was able to tap it home at the far post to put the Royals on the board. Junior Teresa Hegarty (Bryn Mawr, Pa./Merion Mercy Academy) nearly extended the lead in the 42nd minute, but Soto made a save and sent the game into halftime at 1-0.
In the early stages of the second half, Scranton had a series of chances and in the 57th minute, an errant clearance from an ETown defender went right to Deola who blasted a shot into the top left corner of the net from about 30 yards out for a 2-0 lead. During the final 30 plus minutes of regulation, Royals senior goalie Amanda Steinberg (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Sachem North) made two saves to preserve the team's 14th shutout of the season.
Scranton held a dominant 16-3 edge in shots led by three apiece from Elliott and sophomore Niamh Healy (Orangeburg, N.Y./Tappan Zee).
Steinberg recorded two saves for the clean sheet, while Soto tallied eight in the losing effort for the Blue Jays.
The Royals were ranked No. 18 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Top 25 poll and No. 2 in the Region V rankings that were released earlier in the week. Johns Hopkins was No. 1 in the Region V rankings, but fell to Franklin & Marshall in the Centennial Conference semifinals on Friday night.
The 2021 NCAA Division III Field of 64 will be announced in a live selection show on Monday afternoon on NCAA.com with air time slated for 1 p.m.
--ROYALS--
