MADISON, N.J. – The University of Scranton women's soccer (9-3-3, 6-1 Landmark) dropped a 3-2 heartbreaker to the Drew Rangers (10-5-1, 5-1-1 Landmark) in Landmark Conference action on Tuesday night at Ranger Stadium in Madison.
Despite the setback, the Royals continue to sit atop the Landmark standings with two regular season games remaining. The top six teams will qualify for the conference tournament that will begin on Oct. 31.
Scranton got on the board just 1:52 into the game when senior Mary Haggerty (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City) delivered a corner kick into the box and classmate Niamh Healy (Orangeburg, N.Y./Tappan Zee) headed it home for her team and conference-leading 15th goal of the season. Drew nearly tied the game in the eighth minute as a shot by Alexa Krause hit the post and the hosts then found an equalizer in the 13th minute when Isabella Grof-Tisza lofted a shot into the net. After a shot by Haggerty rolled just wide of the target in the 29th minute, Krause gave the Rangers the lead just over a minute later and the 2-1 score held until halftime.
Krause scored her second goal of the day in the 58th minute to make it a 3-1 game and Scranton began to mount a comeback, but came up just short. Haggerty saw her shot turned away by Drew goalie Sarah Crowley in the 78th minute and the Royals then cut the lead in half in the final minute of play as senior Alaina McLaughlin (West Chester, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) buried her first goal of the season on a rebound effort after the initial shot by fellow senior Claire Mulholland (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee).
The Royals held a 13-9 edge in shots led by two apiece from four different players and junior goalie Nicole Olson (Stoughton, Mass./Ursuline Academy) made one save on the night.
Crowley tallied five saves for Drew.
Scranton returns home to host Susquehanna in Landmark action on Saturday afternoon at Weiss Field with start time set for 3:30 p.m.
--ROYALS--
