SCRANTON, Pa. – Senior Niamh Healy (Orangeburg, N.Y./Tappan Zee) scored a pair of goals in the first half and The top-seeded University of Scranton women's soccer team (13-3-3) blanked the No. 2 seed Catholic University Cardinals (11-5-3) by a score of 3-0 to capture the program's fourth straight Landmark Conference Championship on Saturday afternoon at Weiss Field in Scranton.

This is the Royals' fourth straight title and 10^th Landmark championship overall.

With the victory, Scranton has secured the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and is headed back to the Big Dance for a seventh straight year. The Royals have also won a first round game in each of the last five seasons.

Healy opened the scoring in the seventh minute when fellow senior Mary Haggerty (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City) delivered a free kick into the box and Healy headed it home for the early 1-0 edge. Catholic recorded their first shot of the game in the 11^th minute, but junior goalie Nicole Olson (Stoughton, Mass./Ursuline Academy) turned away Peyton Coron's attempt to keep it a one-goal game for the time being. Scranton continued to mount the pressure offensively and registered several quality chances before extending the lead in the 29^th minute when senior Claire Mulholland (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) played a pass from the wing and Healy tapped it home at the far post for her 19^th goal of the season.

Healy's 19 goals are tops in the Landmark Conference and are the most by a Scranton player since Sara Suchoski tallied 20 in 2003.

The Royals continued to hold the Cardinals at an arms' length in the second half and made it 3-0 in the 75^th minute as junior Samantha Goffice (Gilbertsville, Pa./Boyertown Area) sent a feed to classmate Emily Bannon (Middletown, N.Y./Minisink Valley) who slid home a shot for her fourth goal of the year.

Scranton's backline of junior Caroline Connolly (Lutherville, Md./Notre Dame Prep), sophomore Liv Enderle (Sparta, N.J./Sparta) and seniors Sam Lowe (Parsippany, N.J./Gill St. Bernard's), Kaylee Murphy (Lafayette Hill, Pa./William Penn Charter) and Devyn Tanajewski (Ringwood, N.J./Lakeland Regional) limited Catholic to just five shots in the game.

Head coach Colleen Pivirotto's team held a 12-5 edge in shots led by six from Healy and Olson recorded one save for her eighth shutout of the season.

The NCAA Tournament Field of 64 will be unveiled in a live selection show on NCAA.com on Monday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.

--ROYALS--