Box Score GWYNEDD VALLEY, Pa. – The University of Scranton field hockey team (5-0) remained unbeaten with a 2-0 victory over the Gwynedd Mercy Griffins (2-4) on Wednesday afternoon at the Griffin Complex in Gwynedd Valley.
This marks the third time in four seasons that the Royals have gotten off to a 5-0 start.
Junior Bridget Abraldes (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem East) opened the scoring in the ninth minute as she was able to backhand a shot through the Gwynedd Mercy defense and into the far corner of the cage for an early 1-0 lead. Scranton was able to nearly extend the lead in the 19th minute when senior Maeve Kenny (Metuchen, N.J./Metuchen) had her shot turned away by Griffins' goalie Morgan Lawless and a few attempts later in the second quarter trickled just wide of the cage as it remained a 1-0 game at halftime.
The tally was Abraldes' third of the season.
Gwynedd Mercy's Laura Filchner kept it a one goal game in the early stages of the third quarter as she recorded a defensive save on a shot from sophomore Reagan Dolan (Broomall, Pa./Bonner & Prendergast) following a penalty corner. Lawless made another save in the 40th minute and Scranton continued to hold a 1-0 lead headed into the fourth quarter.
Sophomore goalie Gianna Travia (Havertown, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) came up big for the Royals with a pair of saves following penalty corner attempts that were just 18 seconds apart and junior Katie Redding (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) sealed the victory with an insurance goal in the 56th minute. Redding scored her team and Landmark Conference leading sixth goal of the season with a blast from the right half of the circle after a penalty corner feed by sophomore Lauren Franco (West Chester, Pa./B. Reed Henderson).
Head coach Colleen Moyer's team held a dominant 16-2 shot advantage on the afternoon led by eight from Redding.
Senior goalie Clare Maguire (Oreland, Pa./Mount Saint Joseph Academy) played the first three quarters in the cage for Scranton, while Travia made the two afore-mentioned key saves in the fourth quarter to preserve the shutout.
For Gwynedd Mercy, Lawless made five saves in the losing effort.
The Royals return home to host Catholic in a 2021 Landmark Championship game rematch on Saturday afternoon at Weiss Field with action set to get underway at 1 p.m.
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