Box Score SCRANTON, Pa. – Sophomore Elle Collins (Long Valley, N.J./West Morris Central) scored the eventual game-winner in the 43rd minute and The No. 2 seed University of Scranton field hockey team (17-1) captured a second straight Landmark Conference Championship with a 3-1 victory over the No. 4 seed Catholic University Cardinals (7-12) on Saturday afternoon at Weiss Field in Scranton.
The Royals advance to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year after the 2019 Landmark title and the third time in program history.
Scranton's historic season continues with their 17th victory of the year, which is a new single-season program record.
With things tied at one apiece late in the third quarter, Collins was able to corral a loose ball in the circle following a penalty corner and tapped home a shot from the near post to give the Royals a 2-1 lead for the time being.
Junior goalie Clare Maguire (Oreland, Pa./Mount Saint Joseph Academy) made five saves in the victory and earned Landmark MVP honors. In the two postseason games, Maguire, who is the nation's leader in goals against average and save percentage, tallied seven saves.
Maguire made some key saves in the early going as she turned away shots from Catholic's Niki Micciche and Grace Jung to keep the game scoreless. The Royals got on the board in the 10th minute as freshman Reagan Dolan (Broomall, Pa./Bonner & Prendergast) ripped a shot from the top of the circle off a corner and sophomore Cori Davis (Millerstown, Pa./Greenwood) tipped home the initial shot for her second goal of the season and a 1-0 lead. The lead would hold until the 20th minute when Lauren D'Emilio tied the game for the Cardinals as she redirected a shot from Carly Bateman and found the back of the cage. Catholic threatened with 10 penalty corners in the first half, but the Royals were able to limit the opposition to just the one goal.
In the early stages of the third quarter, Scranton had consecutive chances on shots from sophomore Katie Redding (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) and senior Amanda Gerenza (Stroudsburg, Pa./Pocono Mountain East), but both opportunities were denied by Cardinals goalie Maysen Elliott. In the 43rd minute, Collins scored the afore-mentioned eventual game-winner after a Royals penalty corner to give the hosts a 2-1 edge. Maguire and the Royals defense stood tall for the final 17 plus minutes of the contest to seal the program's second straight Landmark title. The junior stoned Niki Micciche in the 52nd minute and Bateman in the 55th minute to keep it a one goal game. With just over four minutes to play, the Cardinals pulled Elliott for an extra attacker, but were unable to find the equalizer. Sophomore Bridget Abraldes (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem East) took a feed from Davis and fired home into the empty cage with 49 seconds left for the insurance goal.
Catholic held a slight 12-10 advantage in shots and Redding led the Royals with four shots in the contest.
The 2021 NCAA Division III Field Hockey bracket will be unveiled in a press release on NCAA.com around 10:30 p.m. on Sunday night. Check back to athletics.scranton.edu tomorrow night to find out who the Royals' first round opponent will be.
--ROYALS--
