SCRANTON, Pa. – Senior Allie Benadon (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) registered her first career hat trick and The University of Scranton field hockey team (3-0) rolled to a 4-0 victory over the Marywood Pacers (2-3) on a humid Tuesday night at Weiss Field in Scranton.

The Royals are off to a 3-0 start for the fourth time in six seasons and have not allowed a goal in 180 minutes of action.

Benadon is the first Royals player to notch a hat trick since Gracie McClatchy accomplished the feat on Sept. 29, 2018 at Goucher and has scored six goals in three games this season.

The Hillsborough, N.J., native opened the scoring just 1:33 into the game as she took a centering feed from sophomore Katie Redding (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) and found the back of the cage to give the hosts a 1-0 lead. Scranton controlled much of the first quarter and Redding had a shot turned away with 4:45 left in the first quarter before Benadon gathered a loose ball out of a scrum in front of the cage and fired it home to make it 2-0. Redding extended the lead to 3-0 just 20 seconds into the second quarter as she collected the ball on the edge of the circle and ripped a shot to the far post for her first goal of the year. Head coach Colleen Moyer's squad held a 10-3 shot advantage over the opening 30 minutes.

In the early stages of the third quarter, a Redding shot led to a Scranton penalty corner and Benadon lifted a shot from the top of the circle into the top left corner of the cage to finish the hat trick and make it a 4-0 game. Marywood had a couple chances in the fourth quarter, but freshman goalie Gianna Travia (Havertown, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) made a nifty save on Lauren Youngken to keep the game scoreless with 8:48 to play.

The Royals held a 14-7 shot advantage on the night led by five shots apiece from Benadon and Redding. Junior goalie Clare Maguire (Oreland, Pa./Mount Saint Joseph Academy) made two saves in 45 minutes of play and Travia tallied the afore-mentioned save in the fourth quarter to preserve the shutout.

Rachel Yohn recorded five saves in the losing effort for the Pacers.

The University of Scranton field hockey team hits the road for two games this weekend as they will take on Misericordia on Friday at 7 p.m. before heading to Allentown to battle Muhlenberg on Sunday at 3 p.m.

--ROYALS--