SCRANTON, Pa. – Senior Elle Collins (Long Valley, N.J./West Morris Central) scored the game-winner with just 0:16 left in regulation and The University of Scranton field hockey team (4-1) recorded a third straight victory with a 2-1 win over the Marywood Pacers (1-3) on Tuesday night at Pacer Field in Scranton.
Following a penalty corner, fellow senior Cori Davis (Millerstown, Pa./Greenwood) centered a feed to Collins who was able to slide a shot home for the late 2-1 edge. The goal was Collins' third of the season and her third in as many games.
Scranton nearly took the lead in the fourth minute when sophomore Annie Shaw (Exton, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) saw her shot turned away on a defensive save by Marywood's Aliyah Heintzelman and then Davis' shot in the ninth minute was saved to keep things scoreless momentarily. Just 0:12 after Davis' attempt, Marywood took the lead with a Cydney Lahr goal as she deflected the initial shot by Cassie Slusser. Things remained 1-0 until the 21st minute when Davis gathered her own rebound and poked one home past Leah Ewing to even things at one apiece. Later in the quarter, Collins and Davis continued to threaten but Ewing made consecutive saves in the 27th minute as the score remained 1-1 at the half.
The Royals continued to find quality chances in the third quarter and tallied three shots in the final minute of the quarter when Ewing made a save and Shaw's opportunity rolled just wide in the waning seconds. In the fourth quarter, things were still deadlocked at one apiece in the final seconds when Davis inserted the pass to senior Katie Redding (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) on a corner who gave it back to Davis and the former then found Collins for the afore-mentioned game-winner.
Head coach Colleen Moyer's team held a 20-5 advantage in shots led by six from Davis and five from junior Reagan Dolan (Broomall, Pa./Bonner & Prendergast). In the cage for the Royals, junior Gianna Travia (Havertown, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) tallied one save.
Scranton opens Landmark Conference play on Saturday at Moravian with start time slated for 1 p.m.
--ROYALS--
