Box Score WASHINGTON – At the end of 70 minutes of action on a misty unseasonably warm evening at Cardinal Stadium, three Catholic University field hockey student-athletes led the charge and secured the program's fifth consecutive Landmark Conference Title appearance on Wednesday.
"The game was great. We came out playing at a high tempo and we were able to sustain it all game long," said CUA Head Field Hockey Coach Gia Cillizza.
The top seeded Cardinals defeated the No. 4 University of Scranton 3-0. With the victory, CUA improves to 15-2 overall (7-1 LC), as the Royals concluded the season at 13-6 (4-4 Landmark).
Catholic's Kim Hermann scored her fourth goal of the season, snapping a 15-minute back-and-back scoreless bout between the two teams at the 20:16 mark. Hermann tipped in a shot past the outstretched Scranton goalkeeper on a send from Hayley Wright from five yards out.
Two minutes later in the 23rd minute, Wright scored a goal of her own, wrapping up Taylor Elliott's pass from the top of the arc.
As the clock trickled down to the halftime intermission, both teams remained scoreless for a 2-0 Catholic lead. By the breather, CUA outshot Scranton 8-1 and were awarded three penalty corners.
"I told them that Scranton was capable of coming back from a 2-0 deficit and if we wanted to win we had to tighten up a couple things defensively and keep up the tempo and power on attack," said Cillizza.
Scranton opened the second half with vigor, winning the middle field battle and sending the Cardinals on their heels after being awarded five penalty corners in the first seven minutes of action.
"Our corner defense has been very good all year long, so I was pretty confident that they would be able to make stops," said Cillizza.
Not only did the Cardinals make crucial stops, but CUA extended its lead to 3-0 with an unassisted goal from Marisa Martinelli in the 44th minute. For her second goal of the season, Martinelli maneuvered through the Royals' defense and slapped one to the right of the Scranton keeper into the back of the cage.
By the end of evening, Catholic outshot Scranton 12-7, while Scranton finished with six penalty corners to CUA's four.
Standout Cardinal goalkeeper Analisa Scott recorded her 14th win of the year with six saves.
"Analisa had a great game. She made some nice saves, but I was very impressed with her clears. They were so strong that Scranton wasn't able to get many rebound shots off," said Cillizza.
Catholic's three goal shutout secured the squad's fourth conference tournament game appearance on Saturday, November 8 against the third-seeded Juniata College Eagles at Cardinal Stadium in Washington, D.C. The contest is slated for 7:00 p.m.
"To be honest, I haven't thought about it being our fourth consecutive championship. We really are just taking each game as a one-off and focusing on our strengths and a couple things to counter the opponent. I do know that our players are very excited to be going to the championship," said Cillizza.
Notes: The Cardinals are the number one seed coming in to the tournament, with their only conference loss of the season coming on Sunday against the Eagles. Catholic is currently ranked 7th in the nation by the NFHCA. The Eagles have won four of their titles at Catholic. The last time Juniata defeat the Cardinals in D.C., was in 2010.
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