SCRANTON, Pa. – Senior Mary Haggerty (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City) scored the lone goal of the game in the 64th minute and The University of Scranton women's soccer team (10-3-3, 7-1 Landmark) remained atop the Landmark Conference standings with a 1-0 victory over the Susquehanna River Hawks (2-8-5, 1-3-4 Landmark) on Saturday afternoon at Weiss Field in Scranton.
Haggerty lined up for a free kick to the left of the 18-yard box and curled a shot into the upper right corner of the net for her fourth goal of the season and a 1-0 advantage.
With the win, the Royals sit in first place in the Landmark standings and can secure the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Landmark Conference tournament with a victory next Saturday versus Moravian.
The first chance of the game for the Royals came in the fourth minute when senior Claire Mulholland (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) saw her shot roll just wide of the target. Susquehanna goalie Kayleigh Saboja made a save on Haggerty's shot in the ninth minute and Royals' junior goalie Nicole Olson (Stoughton, Mass./Ursuline Academy) denied Gillian Maack in the 22nd minute as things remained scoreless. Each goalie made one more save over the final 20 plus minutes of the half and the 0-0 deadlock held at halftime.
A shot from Haggerty in the 51st minute struck the crossbar and Scranton continued to mount the offensive pressure in search of the game's first goal. Saboja tallied consecutive saves in the 57th and 58th minutes, but Haggerty's afore-mentioned clutch goal proved to be all that the Royals would need. Following the goal, the Royals limited Susquehanna to just one shot in the final 25 plus minutes to preserve the clean sheet.
Scranton held a 13-3 advantage in shots led by eight from Haggerty and Olson tallied a pair of saves in net to record her sixth shutout of the season, which is tied for tops in the Landmark.
The Royals will host Moravian on Senior Day next Saturday at Weiss Field with action slated to get underway at 3:30 p.m.
--ROYALS--
